I want to say Thank You Lord!

Here is a searching spiritual question as we focus on Worship this Wednesday, in your worship: Are you cultivating and becoming a more rejoicing, grateful, thankful person? 

Would your work associates say that you are in a constant state of gratitude and thankfulness?  What would your spouse, children, and close friends say?  Or would they say that you are generally negative, gloomy, complaining? Would you say that your prayer life is increasingly characterized by praise and gratitude?  Or is it dominated by whining requests and demands? If you could record the last month's thoughts of praise and gratitude vs. envy, self-pity and complaining, what would the replay ratio be?  

Cultivating a lifestyle/disposition of praising and thanking God is right at the heart of the new worship that was discussed in the New Testament. Hebrews 12:28 says,  "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe." Hebrews 13:15 states,  "Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name." 

God’s desire is that we praise and thank Him for our benefit, not His.  God is pleased when we thank him for the same reason that good parents are pleased when their child thank them—not because it validates them as parents, but because it shows that their child is maturing. An attitude of thankfulness toward God is the most reliable indicator of your spiritual health. Are you spiritually healthy?

Gratitude is the normal and natural response to one who has received grace.  “Grace” means undeserved charity.  In fact, “gratitude” comes from the Latin word for grace (“gratio”).  A biblically grateful person is someone who appreciates both how undeserving he is before God and how charitable God has been to him.  An ungrateful person feels he is deserving, and therefore expects God to give him his due. If lack of gratitude indicates that one is spiritually unhealthy, one can improve their spiritual health by cultivating a grateful attitude. And cultivating a grateful attitude will result in experiencing more true happiness. 

You can cultivate gratitude by prioritizing thanksgiving in your prayer life vs. letting it get crowded out by petitioning.  You should always include it, and sometimes focus on it alone. You should take note of “small” blessings and actually express thanks to God for them vs. taking them for granted, acknowledging without expressing thanks. Warmly thank people who bless you daily, even if it's “small.”  This will complete your enjoyment of the blessing, and it will increase your capacity to see other blessings. Ask God to sensitize you to internal negativity and complaining.  When He does this, promptly turn away from these thoughts and replace them with thanks in the related areas. Set aside time to reflect on how God has worked through past negative situations for good in your life.  This will help you believe that He is doing so in present negative situations—and thereby help you to thank Him now. Finally, utilize spiritual songs.  They often have power to lift my eyes and heart when nothing else does. 

And on this Worship Wednesday, as you enter into The Sanctuary, allow this song of worship to bring "Thank You's" to  your lips and let them flow to our Heavenly Father's ears; as your continual praise of gratitude and thankfulness will surely be pleasing to His heart. 

Enter Into The Sanctuary to say "Thank You"!