Thanks!

Thanks!

A good friend in Christ Jesus, (I hope you have at least a few of your own!) said something that made an impact on me regarding prayer. He said that when he prays, he doesn’t submit a long list of needs for others or himself. He doesn’t pray to tell God something He already knows, Psalm 139:4. My good friend’s prayers are filled with one single word, “Thanks.”

Think about that. Praying with thanksgiving is something the bible commands in a multitude of verses, and here are just a few:

in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

“You are my God, and I will praise you. You are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”
Psalm 118:28-9

“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His mercy is everlasting.”
Psalm 107:1

always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.
Ephesians 5:20

Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6

The words “thanks” and “thanksgiving” are mentioned in scripture 128 times. Do you know what word precedes those words most? The word “Give” does, and that’s because to give thanks is to give back something for another something we have received. I encourage you, no, I challenge you to give thanks for every blessing you have. I know this can take some heavy lifting. That is because we have so much to be thankful for today and over the course of our lives. It is a lot!

You can start with the obvious, thanking God for sending His Son to live with us. Teach us. Heal us. Cry with us. Laugh with us. Die for us. Be resurrected for us. Walk among us in resurrected form. Ascend for us. He promised us a place with Him.

You can then move to all kinds of other reasons to thank Him-spouse, children, family, friends, health, career, home, car, and the array of circumstances He continually delivers you though and from.

There are countless ways to be thankful today. So, give thanks in prayer. Thank our heavenly Father for all His creation. All we see, all we know and where we are right now, is under His sovereign control.

Thanks be to God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit!

For questions or to schedule a complimentary coaching session on how you can leverage gratitude and being thankful as a foundational mindset to maximize potential and impact for you and/or your team, and to transform for a balanced, happier and impactful life, please email me at coach@maximizeu.life