1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever.
Sometimes the negative things that happened in the year may cause us to be lax in our expression of gratitude. However, in the opening scripture, we are admonished to give thanks to the Lord not because we bought a new car, excelled in an exam, got married, or had a job. We are to thank God because He is good and His mercies endure forever. Thank God not just for what He has done but for who He is.
One major reason for ingratitude is forgetfulness. We forget the times He came through for us that when we are faced with a challenge, we can’t thank Him. If we would focus on what we have that others may be praying for, we’d value what we have and appreciate God more for it. Once we focus on what others have, we’d find it really difficult to thank God because we don’t see the value of what we have.
Whatever you don’t thank God for will exit your life.
So if you want to keep enjoying what you have, keep thanking God for it.
We never really know the value of a thing until we lose it. If you didn’t sleep in a hospital this year, you may see it as normal but for others who had struggles with their health, they desire what you have. Quit complaining about how you think life is not fair and begin to look into your life and you’d be amazed at how much you are blessed. We aren’t able to receive more because even the little we have seems like nothing to us.
Psalm 147:7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp. You are to sing, not wait on a choir or worship leader to sing for you. If you can’t play an instrument, there’s no problem but we can all sing because we have a voice. It has nothing to do with being a good singer. Our gratitude to God must not only be during praise and worship at church. It must be something we do personally when we are also alone. Bless the Lord, O my soul – personalized worship of God, not congregational. Get a day where you ask for nothing but just appreciate God. Before you can be a grateful person, it would have to start from your heart because everything we do flows from the heart. Proverbs 4:23 sheds more light on this truth. A hardened heart makes you struggle to give thanks. You want to see big things before you know God has done something. If you are not thankful for the little, the truth is that you would not be thankful even when the bigger one comes. He that is faithful in little is faithful in much. Luke 16:10(paraphrased).
It’s not as if you don’t have problems but being grateful even in a bad situation is quite shocking because it’s expected of you to be sad and moody. Can you imagine Paul and Silas in prison praying and singing hymns? What about the prison was pleasant? Nevertheless, it didn’t affect their joy.
We are quick to ask God for things in prayer but when we are to spend time showing gratitude, we do it for a shorter time and don’t shout like we do when asking for things. Gratitude is also a faith thing when the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that ‘give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ Before Jesus multiplied the bread and fish, He gave thanks. That was an expression of faith since He believed that it was done. Again, before He brought Lazarus back to life, He said in John 11:41 ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me.’ There are times we thank God even though we don’t see what we desire physically, as an expression of faith.
A dimension of prayer worthy of notice is thanksgiving and gratitude. After Jesus had healed 10 lepers, only one came to give thanks and Jesus told him he was made whole.
The more thankful you are, the more whole you become.
The Word In Clarity 