I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. [Psalm 9:1-2 (ESV)]
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! [Psalm 100:4 (ESV)]
While browsing a bookstore (yes, they still exist), I came across a book offering more than 100 ways to say “Thank you.” It suggested ways to express one’s appreciation for milestone celebrations, business opportunities, assistance, social events, and assorted gifts. It even offered “damage control” for tardy thank you notes. There also were chapters devoted to topics like stationery, envelopes, and internet etiquette. One chapter offered a “thank you thesaurus” complete with several “glowing superlatives and energetic adjectives.”
Like the book’s author, I firmly believe in writing thank you notes and, for the most part, still write them by hand. Nevertheless, I find it difficult to believe anyone needs a 160-page book to help them express their thanks. Granted, I haven’t attended a debutante charity ball nor have I received an ambassador’s invitation to a reception, so I probably travel in a different circle than the author. Nevertheless, if such occasions should arise, I now know where to find the perfect wording for my thank you note.
Some of us may be etiquette-challenged but, fortunately, there’s no official protocol for thanking God. We certainly don’t need a thesaurus or a list of vivid superlatives and adjectives for our prayers. Since God is the one who does the mountain moving, we don’t need the author’s list of “power words that move mountains.” Moreover, we don’t need to know the “do’s and don’ts of using honorifics.” Although we should remember that Jesus does not have the middle initial of “H” and that God’s last name isn’t “Dammit,” simply addressing God by any one of His Biblical names works fine.
I agree with the author that our thanks should be specific; simply saying “thanks for the many blessings” is way too generic for our generous God. Even so, I think God already knows if the pink cashmere sweater looks fantastic with the new beige skirt or that the blender will be put to good use when making our morning smoothie.
Along with guidance in writing thank you notes for things like job interviews, birthday presents, condolences, party invitations, and house visits, the author included ways to express thanks for opportunities, love, friendship, continued loyalty, for “being there” and for “saving me from myself.” While just about every reason to thank people was covered, had she been writing about thanking the Almighty, the author missed a few important occasions. There were no sample letters for disappointments, delays, illness, challenges, difficult people, or pain—the sort of things the Apostle Paul might call “thorns.”
Breaking the author’s rules of proper etiquette, we can tell God we don’t care for His gift, we’d prefer something else, or we’d like to return it for something else. Nevertheless, Scripture tells us we are to give thanks in all circumstances and it’s expressing thanks during the unwelcome things that pose a problem for most of us. Even though it’s not easy, we must have thankful hearts in the midst of all that our loving God has put on our plates!
When offering thanks to God, we don’t need to fret about the proper length, right superlative, perfect stationery, ink color, or even our spelling. There are only two rules when thanking Him. The first one is simple: just do it! Never miss an opportunity to give thanks. Praise and thanksgiving are to be a part of our lives—at all times and in all circumstances. Let’s never limit giving thanks to one day a year! Even without the turkey and dressing, every day should be a day of thanksgiving! Second, while our prayers of thanks don’t have to be as eloquent as David’s, they should be as frequent and as heartfelt.
The thankful heart sees the best part of every situation. It sees problems and weaknesses as opportunities, struggles as refining tools, and sinners as saints in progress. [Francis Frangipane]
I lost my first father the same year I gained my second one. I only had my birth father for twenty years, but I was blessed to have my father-in-law for thirty-seven! Dad J lived his life well—with vigor, enthusiasm, joy, laughter, and a whole lot of love. Compassionate and generous, responsible and helpful, good-humored and resourceful, he was a man of faith and integrity (with a large dose of mischief on the side). The Bible might describe him as a man after God’s heart.
Novelist Salman Rushdie said, “In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips.” I agree. Granted, life can be as pleasant as a plain sugar cookie but, when you add chocolate chips to the batter or friends to the mix, it becomes something extra special.
My Mother’s Day prayers will include thanks for the mother and mother-in-law God put in my life, the blessings of motherhood and family, the privilege of seeing my children become adults, and the immeasurable joy of being a grandmother! Because those grands wouldn’t be here were it not for the three beautiful daughters (one by birth and two through marriage) with which He blessed me, I’ll thank God for them, as well.
As a way of emphasizing the penitential nature of Lent, hymns with alleluia or hallelujah were not sung at our church during Lent’s forty days. With the exception of Palm Sunday’s All Glory, Laud, and Honor, the hymns for the last six weeks were rather slow, somber, and introspective and I missed the more joyful upbeat hymns I enjoy. Easter service, however, opened with Christ the Lord is Risen Today and the twenty “Alleluias” we sang in five verses made up for their long absence.
Judas wasn’t the only one who betrayed Jesus that Thursday night. With his three denials, Peter also betrayed our Lord. Both men were filled with remorse but neither man could undo what had been done. One never lost faith and hung in there; the other lost faith and hung himself. One stayed around for the resurrection to see the living Christ and to experience Jesus’ forgiveness; the other missed his opportunity for redemption when he gave up all hope. One became the humble willing servant of the Lord and the rock of the church; the other one’s name lives on in ignominy and is synonymous with betrayal and treason.
Devotions of the Heart 