Rick Warren's Blog, page 570

Thank God When He Answers Your Prayers

If you want to hear God speak, then worship him.

In other words, thank him for being a part of your life and for being interested in the details of your life. Thank him for answering your prayers: ���O Lord, now I have heard your report, and I worship you in awe��� (Habakkuk 3:2a TLB). God gives you a vision. God gives you a dream. You know what God wants you to do, so now you thank God for answering your prayer. That���s part of worshiping God.

Two Steps to Knowing God���s Will

If you want to know God���s will, you need to do a couple of things:

1. Admit that you need guidance.
We don���t really like to admit when we���re confused. Men especially don���t like to do this! It���s not in my nature to say, ���Hey! I���m lost!��� and stop and ask for directions. That���s why, when it comes to knowing God���s will, it takes some real courage to admit that we���re confused and need direction.

How Do You Find God���s Will?

God���s not playing games with you. He wants you to understand his will, his purpose, and his plan for your life.

You may say, ���I want God to guide me, but I still get confused. I don���t know what to do.��� Often the problem is we���re looking for the wrong thing. You need to know what you���re looking for before you can find it.

Positive Prayer Makes Strong Relationships

I want you to think of somebody who irritates you ��� maybe somebody you���ve got a strained relationship with or someone who just rubs you the wrong way. I have two questions for you: Do you pray for that person? Or do you just complain and grumble and nag and nitpick? If you prayed more, you���d have a lot less to grumble, complain, nag, and nitpick about. It���s your decision.

Fear Rejection? Keep Eternity in Mind

One way to overcome the fear of rejection is by keeping the right perspective. You can listen to the opinions of others, but never overvalue what they say.

Learning to Love Difficult People

One of the most important skills we can develop as we walk with Christ is to love difficult people.

Choose Forgiveness, Not Gossip

Let���s just admit it: When you have some crazy-maker in your life, and she���s (or he���s) just done the craziest thing again, it���s almost impossible not to get in the car, pull out your phone, and call somebody and say, ���You won���t believe what she (or he) just did!��� In fact, you may even be texting as she���s (or he���s) doing it! That���s what we do with crazy-makers. We want to tell somebody else. We want affirmation from somebody else. It���s the most difficult thing in the world to let go of it. It may feel good when we call someone to spread the word about the crazy-maker���s craziness, but it���s also unloving.

Let Go of Your Hurt

Many of us have someone in our lives who has done some crazy, hurtful thing to us or, maybe even more importantly, to somebody that we love. In our minds we think, ���I know the Christian thing to do is to forgive, so I will. I will forgive him as soon as he gives me an apology.���

How to Give Grace to the Irritable

When you���re dealing with people who are offensive or irritating, you need to look past the behavior to the pain. Because everything we do is motivated by something. When people hurt others, it���s because they���re hurting on the inside. Hurt people hurt people.

Remember the Best and Forget the Rest

What do you remember about people ��� the good experiences or the bad experiences? The apostle Paul said, ���I like to remember the good things about people, focus on the good times we���ve had, and remember the positive experiences.���