Give Thanks

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening.

Psalm 92:1-2

What if we started each day doing just what this psalm describes: giving thanks to the Lord in the morning and proclaiming his love and faithfulness at bedtime? As these verses say, “It is good to give thanks to the LORD” (emphasis added). Throughout the Bible we find encouragement to thank God. Psalm 79:13 encourages us to thank God forever and praise his greatness from generation to generation, and Philippians 4:6-9 promises that those who present their requests with thanksgiving will receive the peace of God.

Yet how often when we pray we forget to thank God for the ways he has blessed us! We’re a bit like the nine lepers who didn’t take time to go back and thank Jesus for their miraculous healing (see Luke 17:17). Just as a spirit of humility draws us to God, thanksgiving is a key to power in prayer; it is a powerful agent of transformation. Research shows thanksgiving can even change our brain chemistry for the better. Giving thanks helps our faith grow and draws us to the heart of God. Gratitude is the door to giving and receiving love and joy.

Most of all, thanking God gets our eyes off me-myself-and-I-and-my-problems and directs our focus to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Let me encourage you to give thanks to God, and as you do, you’ll be reminded that he is present in your life in this moment and throughout your days.

Gracious Lord, so often in the muddle and busyness of life I forget to thank you. But you are good, full of unfailing love and faithfulness. Thank you for these blessings that fill my life. Grant me a thankful spirit, I pray, in Christ’s name.

It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer(1906–1945), German pastor, theologian, and author