Rick Warren's Blog, page 657

Path to Miracle: Goes Through Uncomfortable Territory

“Then the LORD spoke his word to Elijah, ‘Go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.’ So Elijah went to Zarephath.” (1 Kings 17:8-10a NCV)

When you’re scared to death and vulnerable, you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t know how long it’s going to take, and you don’t know what’s going to happen when you get there, what do you do?

God Always Provides. It’s Your Job To Ask

“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32 NLT)

When I was a kid, any time I needed something, I’d go talk to my dad. Sometimes what I needed was expensive, but I remember that not once as a kid did I worry about where my father was going to get the money for whatever I needed. That wasn’t my job! It was my dad’s job to figure out where the money was going to come from. It was my job as a kid to simply ask.

Stress Management Step 1: Don’t Worry!

“Don’t worry about anything.” (Philippians 4:6 NLT)

The number one source of stress in your life is not work. It’s worry. Work doesn’t keep you up at night; worry does

Happiness Requires Letting Go

“I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT)

Happiness requires letting go and learning to forget. Worry won’t change the past, so forget what can’t be changed and focus on the future.

Happy People Never Stop Growing

“I don’t mean to say I’m perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I’m still not all I should be.” (Philippians 3:12-13 LB)

Following Jesus is a decision and then a process for the rest of your life. You can’t follow without walking. You’ve got to have movement!

Get to Know God Better

“For my determined purpose is that I may ... progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly.” (Philippians 3:10 AMP)

You were made to live in relationship with God, and if you think you can be joyful without getting to know him better, you’re just fooling yourself. Happiness is found in getting to know God a little bit better every day.

Don’t Lose Your Happiness Over the Small Things

“Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8a NLT)

Every day when you get up, you need to remind yourself what counts and what doesn’t count. Don’t be distracted by what’s inconsequential and petty in life.

Happy People Relax in God’s Grace

“I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” (Philippians 3:9 NLT)

You can’t earn God’s approval. You can’t earn his love. You can’t earn his recognition. God is love, and he loves you unconditionally. If you want to be a happy person, you need to relax in God’s grace every day.

The Power of Grateful Prayers

“Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace.” (Philippians 4:6-7a NLT)

In Philippians 4:6-7 we find one of the most difficult verses in the entire Bible to obey: “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace” (NLT).

Say Thanks for Answered Prayer

"O Lord, now I have heard your report,
and I worship you in awe." ( Habakkuk 3:2a LB)

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

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 LB). God gives you a vision. God gives you a dream. You know what
God wants you to do, so now you thank him for answering your prayer. That's
part of worshiping God.

What I want
you to do is to stop seeing your prayers as a monologue and start seeing them
for what they truly are: a dialogue. Prayer is a conversation with God. God hears
you when you pray, and he answers you when you ask questions. He wants to talk
to you every day. If you will faithfully talk to God every day throughout the
day, it will revolutionize your life.

Now, you
can't hear God until you know God, and there are three levels of knowing God:
recognition, acquaintance, and friendship. You may be at the recognition level;
you know God is there, but you don't really know him. Or, you may be at the
acquaintance level; you know God a little bit, but you don't know him very
well.�

God wants you
to live at the friendship level. He wants to be your friend, and he wants you
to be his friend. God wants you to talk with him all the time.

Talk It Over

Pray this
prayer today: "Dear God, I'm amazed that you would want me for a friend. I
really want to learn to have conversations with you. Help me to spend time with
you every day. Thank you that you care about every detail of my life. Jesus, I
want to know you more and more every day, and I want to depend on you for
guidance in my job, my family, my future, and in every other area of my life. I
invite you to be the manager of my life, my Lord and Savior, as I follow you
and trust you. In your name I pray. Amen."