Tag Archives: thanks

More than You Can Imagine

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You prayed for me last week and I felt it.  Thank you.  Your prayers lifted my heart and sustained me more than any of us could have imagined.  I don’t know how prayer works, but it does.  I don’t know how gravity works, either, but I have learned to trust it.  In truth it is not the prayer that works, but God, Who hears and acts.  It is a great mystery that the God Who could speak light into existence, invites us to join Him in His work by speaking with Him.  I cannot wrap my mind fully around that.  But I am grateful that you didn’t let the mystery of it stop you.  You prayed for me.  It helped.

When Paul needed prayer, he wasn’t just grieving, he was pursued daily by people who were trying to kill him.  He called his situation “deadly peril” – an understatement.  He wrote:

“He [God] has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” (2 Corinthians 1:10-11)

If you ever wonder if it matters when you pray, then take this expression of thanks as an encouragement.  It does matter; it matters more than you can imagine.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Attitude of Gratitude

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Thank you for reading this.  Really, I am grateful.  I know, I know, most people will glance at the first  two words and keep skimming down through Facebook.  But not you; you are still reading.  Thanks.  I’ve been amazed (and also grateful) about how many different countries are represented among the people who read this.  Not all of you observe Thanksgiving, a time for reflecting on why we are thankful.  But when I’m thinking about that, one of the reasons I am thankful is you.

It’s curious to me how seldom we read in the Gospels about people thanking Jesus for healing them.  Of ten lepers He healed one time, only one returned to say thanks.  Another woman wept at His feet, expressing her thankfulness.  But of the 20 occurrences of the word, “thanks,” in the Gospels, almost all of them are of Jesus giving thanks to The Father.  Sometimes before the simplest of meals. Consider this:

“Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.” (John 6:23)

It must have been that Jesus’ thankfulness was so moving, that John couldn’t speak of the meal without also including that last phrase.  Perhaps, if we could see as clearly as Jesus, our thanks would be expressed in a much more frequent and heartfelt manner.

Quote: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.