Simply Gratefulfeatured

A couple of days ago, I was experiencing a bit of anxiety over writing yet another devotional about gratitude.  I thought I’d pretty much exhausted the topic and couldn’t think of anything approaching profound to say.  Then the Holy Spirit taught me a lesson about gratitude in the form of a simple prayer. 

Our three grandsons were at our home Sunday evening for a “spend the night” party with Papi and Nonni.  As we were ready to consume our delicious, roasted-over-the-fire-pit hot dogs, our youngest grandson, Lane (just turned 3), volunteered to say the blessing.  There was nothing fancy about Lane’s prayer, he just told God what he was grateful for.  It was basically a list of Mommy, Daddy, his brothers (by name) and his grandparents (also by name).  He repeated it a couple of times and we all said Amen!

As I later reflected on his prayer, the Holy Spirit gently revealed to me that I didn’t need to write something profound about gratitude.  He showed me that gratitude is pretty simple.  It is simply the answer to two questions.  For whom or what you are grateful?   And to whom do you give the thanks?

Let’s tackle the “For whom and what ” question first.   The Bible speaks pretty clearly and often on this.

• “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
• “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19-20
• “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

I have added some emphasis to a few words in these scriptures.  I think you will see a consistent answer to our question – always be grateful for everything!  That is a pretty simple answer – not always easy to do, but simple nevertheless.  There is always something to be grateful for.  I have found if I dig deep enough (with the help of the Holy Spirit) into the worst of situations, I find that God has always delivered a blessing of some kind.

The second question is “Who gets the thanks?”.  We teach our children and grandchildren to say thank you whenever they receive something.  We all try to practice that ourselves – right?  It’s good manners!  Really, it’s more than that; it is training us to look beyond ourselves and to realize that life itself is a gift and ultimately the giver of that gift is God.  James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights….”  The cool thing is that when we give thanks to God, we are worshiping Him.  Psalm 95:2 tells us, “Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.”

A simple equation, yes; but the benefits that we reap from this discipline of gratitude are deep and profound.  Have you ever noticed that when you begin to give thanks for the people, things, and situations in your life, you automatically begin to smile?  If we look back to some of the verses above, we find the benefits of a grateful heart include the peace of God, music in your heart (sounds like joy to me!) and worship.  Colossians 2: 6-7 lists some other benefits, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”  No only does gratitude give us peace and joy and lead us to worship, we are spiritually strengthened when we have grateful hearts.

Gratitude is so good for us that God wants it to be a way of life for us, not a once a year event!  “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17. My prayer this Thanksgiving is that in all the “whatevers” of my life (and yours!), we will give thanks to the Giver of all good gifts.

May you have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

P.S.  Between now and Christmas, all my paintings are 20% off!  Is there someone on your shopping list who might enjoy a painting?  Visit the Gallery on my website to see what is available. [jetpack_subscription_form]