For a few weeks this summer we are looking at what Jesus taught us about the true secrets to living a happy life.
In the Beatitudes (Matthew 5), Jesus lays out eight standards for Christian living. You might call these the “8 Secrets of a Happy Life.” Everyone wants to be happy. But not everyone is eager to follow Jesus’ plan on how to find happiness. We need to pray and ask the Lord to help us live out these eight characteristics in our lives. The Beatitudes show us the way to be blessed and happy. They are also eight great things we need to pray become real in our own lives.
The sixth beatitude states, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” There is a powerful principle here and a very important prayer to pray as well. Jesus is telling us if we want to live a happy life we need to learn to question our own motives to make sure they are pure and full of integrity. Living a self-evaluated life is wise. Knowing our weaknesses and where we are struggling and where we need God’s strength is vitally important. Without that, we can become manipulative, selfish, and conflicted. We need to pray for a clean and pure heart.
Psalm 19:14 (KJV) articulates this prayer in a poignant and powerful way, and is a tremendous prayer to pray every day. “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”