“Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
Many people have one goal in life: to be happy. But they often go about it the wrong way. There’s good news, though. God has a four-part formula for happiness that will help you be more joyful—if you practice and apply it to your life.
We’ve already looked at the first two parts of the happiness formula: Worry about nothing and pray about everything. The third part focuses on the importance of gratitude: Thank God for anything.
God wants you to talk to him about anything and everything. But you should pray more than just “give me” prayers: “God, give me this. God, give me that.”
Imagine if every time you talked to your parents, you said, “Dad, give me 50 bucks. Mom, give me a car.” What kind of relationship would you have? Parents want their kids sometimes just to stop and say, “Thank you for what you’ve already given me.”
God is the same way. He also wants you to stop and say, “Heavenly Father, thanks! Thanks for what you have given me.” This is the kind of prayer that leads to happiness. No matter how bleak your situation gets, you can always find something to be thankful for.
The Bible says, “Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6 NLT).
The story of Jesus healing 10 people with leprosy is a good example of how thanking God “for all he has done” affects happiness.
In the Bible, people who had leprosy were social outcasts. Nobody wanted to get close to them for fear that they might get leprosy. But Jesus treated all 10 with compassion, healing each one of them. Yet the Bible says that, after being healed, only one turned back: “And he lay face downward at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]” (Luke 17:16 AMP).
Like the leper who turned back, are you grateful for what Jesus has done for you? Then turn to God in prayer, and happily thank him “over and over.”
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