The bible contains several passages that speak about gratitude, encouraging Christians to be thankful in all circumstances and to acknowledge God’s blessings. Here are some of the key passages:
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Gratitude as part of prayer:
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
- Philippians 4:6
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
- Colossians 4:2
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
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Gratitude as an attitude in life:
- Ephesians 5:20
“Always giving thanks to God, the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- Colossians 3:17
“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.”
The apostle Paul is teaching here a very powerful weapon that he himself used. This man went through a lot of challenges in his life, but he was always positive and encouraging with the church.
Why? Because he learned from the word of God, if we look in the book of psalms, we see many passages talking about gratitude. We also see in the book of Numbers 13 and 14 the results of the complaint.
Paul explains in 1 Co 10.10 and 11 “And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”
How about you? Are you a grumpy person or a thankful person?
Let’s check together:
- Do you more often (A) remember God’s blessings in your life or (B) forget them after some time has passed?
- When things don’t go your way, do you typically respond (A) in gratitude or (B) by grumbling?
- Do you see the act of thanksgiving as (A) an essential spiritual routine for Christians or (B) something that’s great to do when things go your way?
- Would you say you say “thank you” to God (A) daily (B) on a weekly or less basis?
- Would you describe yourself as more often (A) content or (B) discontent?
- As you go through your day, do you usually (A) have eyes open to reasons for giving thanks around you or (B) only see the negative and the downside to everything?
- Do you tend to focus on (A) God’s generosity and goodness or (B) all that seems unfair?
- When you see things that others have that you don’t, do you (A) focus on what God has given you or (B) struggle with jealousy?
- When circumstances are difficult, do you (A) still find things to be thankful for or (B) stop giving thanks altogether?
How many B did you get? If it was 5 or more it means you’re a grumbler.
But I have good news, Jesus is a carpenter, and he can fix whatever it’s not right in our lives.
Would you like to have a life full of contentment and happiness?
How could you change your life and be more positive, more grateful?
While grumbling is natural, gratitude is supernatural. We need God’s help. In takes work, we need discipline but the payoff is worth it.
Did you know that gratitude can take us from feeling sorry for ourselves to feeling joy?
Philippians 4.11-13
“I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.”
Gratitude is something that we can all learn.
As a counsellor I have to teach the depressed and anxious the power of gratitude.
Science today is saying that based on research, that doing daily gratitude exercises, consistently noticing and savouring small pleasures everyday can change our brains. Positive moments can have a significant effect on happiness, resilience, well-being, and overall life satisfaction. In the past few years many researchers have come to prove what the bible had been teaching us for thousands of years.
Thanksgiving and prayer can change our brains and our lives.
A man called Andrew B. Newberg, did a study on prayer/ meditation and the effect in our brains. He asked people to come to his lab at his hospital and he asked them to take part on an experiment.
First, he scanned their brains before and after 8 weeks of praying for at least 15 minutes daily. What he saw was very interesting, after people prayed for a few days, the frontal part of their brain changed. Newberg found an increase of activity in the person’ frontal lobe, responsible for focusing attention and concentration, during prayer.
Prayers, thanksgiving and focusing on the good in your life will make you happier, more self-disciplined, and able to achieve your goals—even physically healthier. Perhaps best of all, gratitude will free us from emotional pain.
I want to bring some light into this. Because what I see is people being thankful and grateful in their prayer time but in their daily life they are still complaining and grumbling. Maybe you don’t even say it out loud but inside you are always discontent.
Thanksgiving needs to be a lifestyle. It is a renewal of your mind.
We need to connect our words with our emotions and not allow our feelings to control us. You can change your emotions with your words and bodily attitude, did you know that?
There are three keys:
- Emote – It’s not enough to think or talk about gratitude; you must feel the emotion.
- Extend – Your gratitude needs to go beyond yourself; include other people to show your gratitude for.
- Exercise – Do gratitude exercises.
When you do it right, you will drill it into your brain. Modern science tells us that our brains are neuroplastic. This means we can restructure our physical brains by using our minds to create better brain cell connections.
When you emote, you fire up the hippocampus, which is your brain’s centre of learning and memory. When you extend your gratitude to include other people, you activate the most highly evolved area of the human brain, devoted to social intelligence. This daily repetition makes our brain cells connect, embedding these changes into long-term memory and healing wounds. This new way of thinking permeates the subconscious, forming deep beliefs that drive us forward as we repeat gratitude exercises daily.
Childhood wounds/ trauma happen because children are very vulnerable to bad information. The prefrontal cortex is the last part of the brain to develop, only fully forming after age 20.
So, when we are kids, negative information easily slips into our brains unfiltered. The more emotionally charged these negative messages are, the more they stick in our subconscious, becoming limiting beliefs that hold us back, such as a sense of hopelessness and not being enough.
Gratitude replaces victimhood with joy. As Nehemiah 8:10 says, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
We will all have highs and lows, moments of joy and sadness. But being grateful for who you are and for what we have will help you keep your heart in the right place during these darker seasons.
Philippians 4:4-9 states, 4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Let’s now practice the emote, extend and exercise
Exercise: Close your eyes: bring to your mind someone or something that you are grateful for. It can be a friend, a teacher, a family member, your hair, or your body. Consider the preciousness of this person or object, feel gratitude for them, and now smile. Really smile, allow your body to feel it. Open your eyes, can you feel it? When you practice gratitude, you change yourself and you change the world.
“A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:13
We also see some examples of how gratitude can change circumstances in our lives.
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Examples of gratitude to God:
- Luke 17:15-16
“One of the ten lepers, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.”
- John 11:41
“So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me.’”
- Matthew 15:36
“He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.”
To conclude, I want to challenge you. I’ve learned myself that the only way to change and become more thankful is by slowing down. We are a generation of fast food and multitasking. We eat and watch videos at the same time, we are always in a rush. Gratitude is something that you need to do when you are quiet before the Lord.
We need to stop at least for 30 min every day, to pray and reflect. We don’t reflect and meditated in God’s word anymore. We don’t pay attention to what we have. We don’t stop anymore. This rush is killing us.
Tips:
- Read and meditate on the Bible verses about giving thanks.
- As you read God’s Word about gratitude, include a prayer of thanksgiving. Thank God for what you’ve learned about who He is, what He’s done, or the gifts He’s given.
- During the day, look for things God is doing for which you can give thanks. Keep a journal, a scrap paper on your desk, or use a notes app on your phone, but find a way to record things you’re thankful for. Set a goal of writing down three to five things each day.
Let’s commit ourselves to spending quality time before the Lord. I can guarantee things inside of you will change, you will fell more connected to God, more aware of sin and less prone to do it. Why? Because gratitude, thanksgiving is the language of heaven. This is what will do before him eternally and we need to start training ourselves now.
The Bible highlights thanksgiving as a key way we better know and love God. To know more about our God, than his gifts.
Let’s read Revelation 4. 1-3, 8 ,9
1“After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said,
“Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.
8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honour and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,