Beyond the Broadcast: Our Bold New Season Begins. Watch Now ->
Beyond the Broadcast: Our Bold New Season Begins. Watch Now ->
When facing certain decisions, we often hunger to know God’s will for our lives. Should I do this or that? Should I go here or there? While we sometimes need specific direction, some things we can always count on as God’s will for us. One of them is being thankful.
Why would God want us to be thankful? Because He knows how good it is for us. Genuine thankfulness changes us. It changes how we see the world, how we respond to difficulties, and how we relate to people – all for the good.
"Rejoice always, pray constantly, in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Messiah Yeshua" (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 TLV).
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High” (Psalm 92:1 NKJV).
Give thanks. Be thankful. With thanksgiving. The Bible commands us to be thankful. That means thankfulness is a choice. We don’t have to look far to see the benefits of obeying this command. Thankfulness feels good. It changes our perspective, lifts our spirits, and opens our eyes to the many blessings surrounding us.
“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:15 NKJV).
“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2 TLV).
Psalm 69:30 (NLT) says that when we give God thanks, we honor Him. Various Bible translations use different words; the NIV says our thanks “glorify” God. The KJV and Young’s Literal Translation say “magnify,” while the New American Standard says “exalt.” All of them indicate that when we thank God, we shine a light on Him and His goodness. This not only blesses us, but it blesses God and serves as a witness to others.
“Those who offer sacrifice thank offerings honor Me…” (Psalm 50:23a NIV).
“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30 NIV).
What does the Bible have to say about when we should be thankful? Basically, all the time. Here are some specific instructions from the apostle Paul.
Philippians 4:6 tells us not to be anxious about anything, but instead, pray with thanksgiving. Thankfulness has a way of calming our worry by taking our mind off the stressful thing and placing it on how good God is and the blessings He’s given us. In this way, thankfulness can be an antidote to anxiety.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in [Messiah] Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7 NIV).
Paul instructed the Colossians to be thankful in whatever they do. Whether they were speaking, helping or serving, basically, when they did anything at all, he urged them, even commanded them, to do it with a heart and mind focused on gratitude.
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks to the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17 TLV).
Paul further urged the recipients of his letters to be thankful in all things. We’ve seen this instruction in Philippians 4:6 (“in every situation") and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (“in all circumstances”). Regardless of what’s going on in our lives, the Bible tells us to actively thank God. That shows us there is always something to be thankful for and we can train our eyes to see it, even amid hardship.
The Bible also tells us to be thankful for everything. That can be truly difficult sometimes. When hard things land in our lives, we may be able to embrace thanking God in them – amid or despite the challenges, pain, or sorrow – but for them? That’s a tall order. While we never rejoice over sin or suffering, we can keep our hearts open to whatever redemption God wants to bring out of them. He is the God who is able to bring good from anything. That good may take time to develop, but choosing thankfulness might help bring it to fruition sooner.
“Always giving thanks for everything to God the Father, in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah” (Ephesians 5:20 TLV).
“It was good for me that I was afflicted, so that I may learn Your decrees” (Psalm 119:71 NIV).
“Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 TLV).
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4 TLV).
“After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace––who has called you into His eternal glory in Messiah––will Himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10 TLV).
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18
NIV).
The Bible mentions several expressions of gratitude, including:
The foremost way we thank God is through prayer, thanking Him for who He is, what He has done, and what He has given us. Thanksgiving is to be a regular part of our prayers, as we’ve seen in Philippians 4:6 and Colossians 4:2.
Hannah showed her thankfulness with a song and also with a costly surrender. She promised God that if He opened her barren womb and gave her a child, she would dedicate the child to God’s service. When her son Samuel was weaned, she fulfilled her vow by giving him to the high priest to educate and train in the Lord’s service (1 Samuel 1–2).
From the belly of the great fish that had swallowed him, Jonah humbled himself before the Lord and gave “shouts of grateful praise” (Jonah 2:9 NIV). He also offered the sacrifice of committing to carry out what he had vowed to the Lord.
The Psalms encourage us to praise and give thanks to God, often with lifted hands.
“I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will life up my hands” (Psalm 63:4 NIV).
Jesus had compassion on 10 lepers, telling them to go their way and they would be healed. Only one returned after his healing. He came and fell at Yeshua’s feet, thanking and praising Him (Luke 17:11–19).
On the far bank of the Red Sea, after Israel had walked between two walls of water, they witnessed those waters collapse onto Pharaoh’s army. They marveled. They praised. They sang. And they danced before the Lord in thanksgiving and recounting the wonders of His salvation.
“Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord…” (Exodus 15:1 NIV).
“Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing” (Exodus 15: 20 NIV).
Several places in the Bible reveal music and song as a form of thanksgiving.
"Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song" (Psalm 95:2).
"…singing to God with gratitude in your hearts" (Colossians 3:16).
"Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything" (Ephesians 5:19–20).
Have you ever written a psalm? You don’t have to be a poet or a songwriter to write out your thanks and praises to God. At its core, that’s all a psalm really is. David wrote many psalms, crying out for help or praising God for delivering him. But when the Ark of the Covenant returned to Jerusalem, David wrote a special psalm of thanks to the Lord.
“On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:7 NKJV). The psalm appears in 1 Chronicles 16:8–36.
Other psalms exhort us to give thanks to God:
“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His love endures forever” (Psalm 100:4–5 NIV).
The bottom line is that God wants us to be thankful all the time, in all things, and for all things. Why? Because gratitude is good for us, it’s God’s will for us, and it honors Him. It also glorifies Him to those who don’t yet know Him.
Let’s make an intentional effort to give more thanks. Ask God to open your eyes each day to new things you can be thankful for. In the next hard circumstance in your life, ask Him to help you shift your attention to things worth thanking Him for. Let’s see how He draws near and adds to our joy when we do.
