This is the twelfth prayer in the prayer acrostic, F.O.L.L.O.W. C.H.R.I.S.T.
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T: Thank you!
- "17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you" (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).
Prayerful Observations:
In all our circumstances we are to give thanks. The source of depression is often a mind that dwells on the negatives of life and people. Scripture tells us...
- "Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8)
Thankfulness to God is the proper response to blessings and suffering. Subchapters 5.1 and 5.2 reveal scriptural truths regarding suffering. Many of these scriptures will make it easier to be thankful in suffering.
Relationships tend to focus on either complaining or thankfulness. Relationships disconnect through complaining but are strong through thankfulness. Our personal relationship with God is no different. Israel's many complaints against God in the Old Testament are evidence of that.
It is easy to take basic bodily functions for granted. For example: the ability to eat, sleep, walk and talk.
1967
When I was nine years old, my middle brother had an accident on his motor cycle. He hit a telephone pole at a speed of eighty miles per hour. Paul was sixteen. He lost his right arm and experienced phantom pain for the remainder of his life, until he died of the flue at the age of sixty-six.
Living life with one arm presented challenges. For example: Paul loved to work on his car. Now that is difficult with one arm. But he would find a way to do a wide variety of things to his car. When he finished, he would sometimes come to me and say "will you lend me a hand?"
When he said this, I would follow him into the bathroom. Then I would stand to his right and hold my right hand over the sink. He would turn on the water, wet his left hand and rub his palm on the bar of soap. When his left palm was covered with soap, he would rub the palm of his left hand against the palm of my right hand as I held it over the sink. Then he would turn his hand and rub the back of his left hand against my right palm. In other words, he would wash his left hand against my right hand because he didn't have a right hand. I literally let him borrow my hand.
It's really hard to wash your hand when you only have one hand. So, those of us with two hands can be thankful that we have two hands.
Paul had an IQ of 160 which is generally considered to indicate that he was a genius. I remember watching him win arguments with my dad even when he was wrong. He could multiply three double digit numbers in his head in a few seconds. So he could multiply 48 x 64 x 37 in his head while you blinked.
One day I asked my mother if I was the dumbest of the four kids in our family. She was a kind person. She said, "well, you are the only one who had to study."