Gratitude

The power of expressed gratitude is impressive. I have found expressed gratitude uplifts the spirits of both the person giving the appreciation and the person receiving the acknowledgment of their efforts. We are accustomed to every transaction being one in which one person is the taker and the other the giver. Gratitude is something that does not conform to the usual rules. Both the giver and the receiver of thanks can receive a better sense of well-being. Gratitude is simply an attitude that requires cultivation.

Expressing gratitude is simple to do, but it may surprise people with whom you interact. When I was little, saying ‘thank you’ whenever I received anything was the expectation. Years later, I thanked the clerk at the check out when she handed me the change on my transaction. Her face conveyed that she was in complete shock and bewilderment. She then told me that she had never had a person thank her for their change. That interaction made a difference for her that day.

Gratitude must be sincere. False thankfulness or false modesty is quickly recognized and will cause more damage than saying nothing at all.

I have observed that expressing gratitude usually motivates those receiving praise. There is nothing like knowing that your work is appreciated to inspire you to be more productive.

The fact that giving thanks uplifts the person giving the thanks is fascinating. When we stop long enough to give a heartfelt thank you, it causes us to pause. This pause gives us time to recognize how many things we have for which we should be thankful.

Gratitude is a great way to improve a bad day. The author of Psalm 42 seems to express this idea. Multiple times throughout the psalm, he outlines some problematic situations he is facing. He then reminds himself to give praise to God. The author expresses the human tendency to be overwhelmed by the surrounding problems. He points out the way to overcome the depressing circumstances is with gratitude to God.

I visited a church in South America that had a general format that they used when they prayed. The church used this form to teach the parts of prayer we see illustrated in the ‘Lord’s Prayer.’ The pattern began with giving praise to God. Using that format, I have found that beginning with thankfulness changes both my attitude and the faith with which I pray. Sometimes I have forgotten, and I would try to start with a request like asking God how to handle a situation. I would go to prayer with my request list and start asking for things. Prayer would be challenging, almost like I was talking to myself. When I would begin with a prayer of gratitude, my attitude would change.

Some days being grateful was challenging. I might have to start with something simple like, “Thank you, God, for the fact I am breathing.” I found that the exercise of being grateful opened my mind to how much I had for which to be thankful. Once I recognized how much God had blessed me, I found that my faith received new strength. I was then enabled to trust that God had everything in control. Even though I could not discern what God’s plan was, I knew He had put His plan in action, and nothing could stop it.

We tend to understand that other people like to receive gratitude, but we seldom remember that we should express gratitude to God. We do not give thanks to God because He needs it to boost His ego. We give thanks to God to help us recognize how many blessings we have. Thankfulness also helps us understand how much God cares about us. It is in praying prayers of gratitude that we realize that we are not alone. We then begin to recognize God is with us providing for us. Gratitude gives us an attitude adjustment.

When I think of the word gratitude, a special memory floods my mind. I was part of a small team going to do missions work in South America. While there, we assisted a church as they worked to renovate an old building, they were turning into a church. It was evident that the people were poor and relied on God each day to supply them with work and sustenance. The team I was with had a few hundred dollars earmarked as a donation to the church. The amount was small, and we were not sure how much help it would be. We gave the funds to the missionary, who then delivered them to the church. I will never forget the reaction when they received the gift. Total surprise showed on their faces, and then they gave profuse thanks. What was most memorable was the phone calls made from the makeshift church office after the gift was received. The telephone calls sounded something like this, “Hello, I want to let you know what God has done. Remember how we have been praying for the funds to renovate the building? God just supplied most of the funds! Isn’t God good? Thank God for this answer to prayer!”

I was impressed by the gratitude of those people. Equally amazing to me was the fact that their example of thankfulness impacted and influenced me. I thanked God for the opportunity to have been part of the answer God sent to the prayers of these people.

Throughout the years, I have noticed that genuine gratitude tends to produce generosity. My wife had cancer several years ago. During that time, we received many unexpected gifts, including some from people we did not know. When we came to the end of that time of dealing with her cancer, I noticed that we were more generous toward others. Our gratitude for the help we had received caused us to want to help others.

It is impossible to live in God’s shadow and be ungrateful. Being thankful helps us to recognize the contributions of others and the times of divine intervention in our lives. When we fail to show gratitude in our lives, we discourage others from trying to live in God’s shadow.

Express sincere gratitude to someone today and brighten both their day and yours. Be an example of what it looks like to live in God’s shadow. Do not forget to express your gratitude during a conversation with God. The next article will be about conversations of faith.