I was asked to speak at an event called “A Day for Seniors” at a local senior living center. The two most well attended breakout sessions of the day were “Gotta Go, Gotta Go (bladder issues), and mine, “Practicing Gratitude.” The reviews said both of them were life changing!
Gratitude changes our lives because it changes our perspective. In being thankful, we have to take our eyes off ourselves and look to whom gratitude should be given. We can be mad, frustrated, and even proud of ourselves but never grateful to ourselves. Thanks goes to the giver and, in the life of a Jesus follower, that giver is always God.
James 1:17 tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” Our perspective changes when we look up to Heaven instead of around at our circumstances, and when we humbly bow our heads in prayer. Sometimes when I ask my husband to do me a favor, I’ll end my request with “please and thank you.” Even though he hasn’t done anything yet, I’ve asked with the expectation that he will. That is what praying with thanksgiving does. It tells God we know who He is, that we know He is aware and active in our lives. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6). Instead of being anxious about our circumstances, we can anticipate how God will work in them.
When I speak to groups about gratitude, it reminds me thanks takes effort. If we are going to be God’s people we simply must be grateful people. In my study of gratitude, I found a book by Dr. Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. called, Thanks: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier. In it, he gives an excellent list of 10 simple ways to practice gratitude. (Italics mine.)
1. Keep a gratitude journal.
2. Remember the bad. (The things you thought you would never survive, but did.)
3. Ask yourself – (Ask God to show you)
- What have I received?
- What have I given?
4. Learn prayers of gratitude. (My favorite is 1 Chron. 29:10-13)
5. Come to your senses. (Close your eyes and ears while holding your breath and appreciate what God has given you in the ability to see, hear, and breathe.)
6. Visual reminders. (Pictures of people, places, and Scripture passages you are grateful for.)
7. Make a vow. (We are more likely to keep a vow if we speak it to someone, so tell a friend which of these you plan to put into practice.)
8. Watch your language. (Use words like blessing and abundance every day.)
9. Go through the motions. (Put a pencil in your mouth, which forces your smile muscles in to place. Fake it until you feel it!)
10. Think outside the box. (Look for ways to thank God for hard places and people He has allowed in your life.)
Author Ann Voskamp says, “Gratitude is at the center of a life of faith. It sounds too simple to be true, but isn’t that the sign of all deep truth: so simple we’re tempted to dismiss it, and so hard, it is exactly what God uses to change our hard lives.”
Scripture is very clear that gratitude matters to God therefore it needs to matter to me. With practice, thanks becomes a way of life and I become someone who can say it is well with my gratitude.
