20 Comments

  1. I’ve often heard that it’s better to seek joy instead of happiness, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the point that happiness is up to us and is an outgrowth of gratitude and contentment. So thanks for that!

  2. Diane, your thoughts apply in many areas—not just happiness. We pray for peace of mind, but we must take our thoughts captive and trust God. God hears our prayers, but we must also do what He’s told us to do. Great wisdom here.

    1. Amen to that Debbie! You are 100% right. We rely so heavily on feelings in this life and feeling good in this world is not what we are here for. In fact, the Bible says we WILL face trials and persecution. We need, as you said, to pray and obey! That is our job! Thank you so much!

  3. Wow..this sure gives me a lot of food for thought. Prayer is worship and not just a list of my wants and desires. Thank you!

    1. Prayer as worship is something I think many of us neglect. It can become so easy to focus on wants and needs when we live in a world that is hyper focused on the “me”.

  4. “Prayer is worship.” We don’t always think of it this way, but yes! Thanks for encouraging us to pray with intention.

  5. Exactly what I used to tell my children: “You are in charge of your OWN happiness.” Not some other person, not even God, YOU.

  6. This is SO good! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to be more content with my current circumstances. I went back to my retail job (after stay-at-home orders were lifted), but I just really wish I could keep working on my business full-time. I sure need the reminder to continue to be grateful for where I’m at in this moment.

    1. Yes we are in a world that tells us to focus on how we feel…rather than focusing on contentment with what God is working in our lives. Paul praised in prison! I am sure he didn’t “feel” happy about it but he praised God in it all the same recognizing his happiness wasn’t what it was about! It was serving God wherever God needed him.

  7. I recently heard, “I will be content where I am until I get where I want to be.” Don’t wait for perfection. Seek God now and be grateful in every blessing.

  8. I am going to agree and disagree politely. I love all that you said about gratitude, contentment, joy, etc. Your post is rich with wisdom.

    However, we have such a loving, kind God, and if we are struggling to find happiness in our everyday life – I do believe He wants us to pray about it. He wants to hear whatever is on our hearts even though He already knows.

    Although joy is most important and an ingredient to finding the feeling of happiness – I do believe God wants us also to feel happiness. He can show us how. The Lord has many times pointed me in that direction. He points out the birds chirping on a walk on a day I may be finding it difficult to find happiness or remind me I have been skipping my time with Him and that might be a reason.

    1. I don’t think we disagree at all. If we are struggling to find happiness we SHOULD pray about why but not just pray for the emotion. Too often we think of happiness as a feeling and it is usually something else in life that we are lacking that we assign as happiness. So some people may say well, if I only had more money I would be happy. But then they have money and are still unhappy. If we rely on that feeling of happiness then it will fluctuate daily or even moment by moment. But at the end of the day, happiness as we know the word is a feeling and feelings can change with the wind. So I dont think we dont agree…I think it is a matter of semantics because I see that more as joy and not happiness. Paul had joy in prison but I am certain he wasn’t happy about it LOL But he knew God was in control so he could feel joy and praise! But if we do disagree, that is ok too 🙂

      1. Thank you for your further clarification. Yes, we do agree. Many times I have had joy without happiness but very seldom happiness without joy. If I did, it was fleeting. Thank you. Maree

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.