Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: A Bedouin man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of Allah, teach me good”…
So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took him by the hand, and said:
“Say ‘SubhanAllah, walhamdulillah, wa la ilaha illa Allah, wa Allahu akbar’.” (Glory be to Allah, and all praise be to Allah, and there is no (true) deity but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest).
So the Bedouin counted them on his fingers and then left, either to contemplate over the words or to memorize them. He then returned! When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw him; he smiled…
The Bedouin, who was a simple man, asked (in the following way): “SubhanAllah, walhamdulillah, wa la ilaha ila allah, wa Allahu Akbar- these are all for Allah!
… So what is for me?!
”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), still smiling, said:
“O bedouin, when you say: ‘Subhanallah’, Allah says: ‘You have spoken the truth’. When you say, ‘Alhamdulillah’, Allah says: ‘You have spoken the truth’. When you say, ‘La ilaha illa Allah’, Allah says: ‘You have spoken the truth’. When you say, ‘Allahu Akbar’, Allah says: ‘You have spoken the truth’.
If you say: ‘O Allah forgive me’, He says: ‘I have done so’! If you say ‘O Allah have mercy on me, He says ‘I have done so’! If you say ‘O Allah, give me rizq (provision), He says: ‘I have done so’! ”
(This narration was reported by ibn Abi Ad-Dunya and Imam Al-Bayhaqi, and has been classed as authentic by sh. AlAlbaani, may Allah have mercy upon them all).