Our words serve so many purposes. They encourage, admonish, and lift up others in prayer. They worship, sing, and praise. And they give thanks. There is so much to give thanks for. Psalm 107:1 tells us, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.” Amen!
“Thank you, God, for Chippy’s tail.”
Chip is our beloved dog, and that snippet of gratitude is the extent of bedtime prayers we get from one of our kids when they’re especially sleepy. We want to teach the kids that we choose to follow God, and to thank Him, even when our flesh is struggling. “Our family gives thanks to God,” is my refrain on such evenings. If they don’t have much to say during prayers, that’s okay, but we do require one offering of thanks. And so, in more trying moments, one child’s go to is “thank you, God, for Chippy’s tail.” They adore our sweet dog, from his cold, wet nose to his fluffy, wagging tail. It’s my hope that this little habit of expressing thanks each evening to the one Who gives us all good things molds our hearts with time.
The Bible speaks extensively as to why we give thanks.
We Give Thanks…
…because of Who He is.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:4-5)I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. (Psalm 7:17)
…because of what He has done
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! (Psalm 107:21-22)I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. (Psalm 9:1)
…because of what He has given us
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. (Luke 17:15-16)
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)
“To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter.” (Daniel 2:23)
…and because we are commanded to.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
We give thanks to God, even when we don’t feel like it. Failing to give thanks and honor God is to let our hearts act in rebellion and be darkened by sin.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21)
Thankful as a Practice of Habit
In his book “You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit,” James K.A. Smith teaches that “we learn to love, then, not primarily by acquiring information about what we should love but rather through practices that form the habits of how we love.”
He goes on to say, “Teaching and learning that are attuned to the spiritual power of habit recognize the cumulative power of little things, the formative power of micro practices. Little things repeated over time in community have a formative effect (why do you think US public schools begin each day with their own version of a creed, the Pledge of Allegiance?). As Winnie the Pooh once said, “Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”
It’s our aim that our little evening practice of family prayers and thanksgiving daily forms our family’s hearts to look to the Lord with honor and thanks.
For what do you give thanks to God today?
Like much of Texas, today I am grateful for warmth and water. It’s a gorgeous, sunny, February day, and my family and friends are safe. Thank you, Lord, for carrying us through cold nights and for never leaving our side.
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