Cultivating an Attitude of Thankfulness

1 Thessalonians 5:16-20 (NLT)

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Today I learned to just be Thankful and Grateful at all times. Yes, I needed the reminder from Holy Spirit on this issue. And I want to encourage you to do the same. Choose to be thankful and grateful for what God has done for you -regardless of your circumstances. It’s so easy to focus on what we don’t have , what we haven’t achieved, what hasn’t been granted, what hasn’t happened yet – to the point that we fail to just be grateful for what we do have, what has happened so far, what we have achieved yet, or how far we have come from and become.

Dear friends, you might not have everything you want/need right now but you sure have something to be thankful and grateful for. Yes, you might not have that house you have been praying and working hard for, but you still have a roof over your head – be thankful. You might not have the job you have always dreamed for but at least you have one right now – so be grateful. Yes! you might not have that husband or wife you have been praying for – but you do have friends and family who love you dearly. You might not have the child or children you need – but you sure have a spouse that cares and loves you deeply. So instead of majoring on what we don’t have why, don’t we major on what we do have. Whatever the case may be let us be grateful for what we do have.

Take a moment right now to write down

the things you do have ,

the prayers that have been answered,

the blessings you do have

and just begin to thank God sincerely for each and one of them.

Read John 6:1-14 (Jesus Feeds Five Thousand) – This scripture just shows the power of being thankful and grateful. Read it carefully.

Don’t you find it amazing how Jesus gave thanks even for the little food they had. We see that the disciples were convinced that there wasn’t anyway possible on earth for 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes to feed the hungry crowd of 5,000. But we are told that after he gave thanks, everyone was fully fed and there even left overs. Could it be that we need to give thanks for what we have for God to multiply and give us more than enough? Could it be that our attitude towards what we currently have influences what we could have?

Vs.11 of John 6

“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted”.

Not only did Jesus give thanks for the five loaves of bread but He also gave thanks for the two fishes as well. Friends, don’t be selective of what you are going to give thanks to. No matter how small, how little, how insignificant it may be – BE GRATEFUL and see how God will respond to you. So instead of looking at what we don’t have why don’t we focus on what we do have and be thankful. Thank Him, and keep thanking until you can’t thank him anymore. And start thanking Him all over again 🙂

Please Note: Being thankful for where you are – doesn’t means you are settling, it simply means you are grateful for where you’ve come from, where you are and look forward to where you will be. It means that you appreciate God’s faithfulness in the past, in your today and have faith that if He did it then – He surely can do it again. I encourage you to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness. May your focus be what you have (and what God can do with that which you have by faith). I pray that as you Give thanks to God today with a sincere, genuine faith-filled heart, God will open other doors of blessings and also multiply what you already have.

Devotional Prayer

Father, thank you for all that you have done for us so far. Thank you for your unfailing love for us. Thank you for life itself. Thank you for every small little detail of our lives that you look into even when we haven’t even asked. Thank you for listening to us when we pray and thank you for who you are. Father we can never thank you enough. Lord, forgive us for the times we have failed to be thankful and grateful for what we already have. Holy Spirit help us to always be thankful even while we wait for answers to our prayers. Thank you, In Jesus name. Amen!