Giving Thanks....

I will give thanks to you, Lord, 

with all my heart.

Psalm 9:1

A few weeks ago my husband and I drove down to Sumner, WA to visit my oldest son and his family. They have two precious little boys, James who is 5 1/2 years old, and Liam who is 18 months old. Both boys are precious and in many ways so different in personalities; in others so much the same.

We spent the entire day with them and were still there as mom and dad put them to bed. James has just begun saying his own bedtime prayers and when my son asked him if he wanted to pray, I was somewhat surprised that he said "yes"; I was certain our presence would make him shy or uncomfortable.

He jumped up on the couch, sat crossed legged and folded his little hands. His prayer went something like this:

Dear God,

Thank you for Mommy and Daddy,
Thank you for Liam,
Thank you for Grandma and Grandpa,
Thank you for Mitchell, Ryan, Rebecca and Mackenzie (uncles and aunt)
Thank you that I have everything I want
Thank you for Uncle Sam and Aunt Kate
Thank you for Owen and Anna (cousins)
Thank you for everything.
Thank you that I have everything I want (again)
Thank you for my house
Thank you for mom and dad (again)
In Jesus name,
Amen.

As he first began to pray, I smiled to myself because he listed off everyone he knew and said "thank you"; and then he was thankful that he got everything he "wanted". But I realized a couple of things in this sweet, simple, innocent prayer:

One, to a five year old, there's not a lot of different between what they "want" and what they "need"; so for James, who by no means gets everything he "wants", his wants were his needs. And so, he was thankful that he had everything that he needed.

Second, and perhaps most enlightening of all, was that he was truly thankful!

So many of us go to God in prayer, and we may begin our prayers with thankfulness, but before long, we begin our lists of "wants". And there is nothing wrong with presenting our needs and petitions to God... He tells us to...He WANTS us to do exactly that!

But James was just thankful! As an innocent little child, that's all he did... he just thanked God!

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

There are so many Scriptures that tell us to give thanks. "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever" is found several times...

• 1 Chronicles 16:34
• Psalm 106:1
• Psalm 107:1
• Psalm 118:1
• Psalm 118:29
• Psalm 136:1

If there were no other reasons to give thanks to God, His goodness and His love are enough.

Even when we do bring our needs to the Lord, Paul tell us:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

My little grandson taught me a valuable lesson that night... I have SO MUCH for which to be thankful! Yes, I have needs... there are times that I need a 

Waymaker
Miracle Worker
Promise Keeper
Light in the Darkness
(remember, music speaks to me!)

But without another thing, another blessing, another healing, another rescue, I can easily, and wholeheartedly say to the Lord...

"Thank you! You have been good to me!"



Blessings,
'Lena
©2018

You gotta listen to this song!