A GRATEFUL HEART

“Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord” – Psalm 150:6.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us ... in Christ” – Ephesians 1:3.

When we come across the words “bless God" in the scriptures, we are literally being asked to “speak well of God”. It is a reminder to be grateful and show appreciation to God for how He leads and guides us, and works in us and for us.

The clear indication of scriptures is that a person’s “heart attitude” toward God is correctly one of gratitude, not belligerence, ingratitude or indifference.

Sometimes we have been occupied with what the enemy is doing that we fail to see the goodness of God and be thankful. And there are also those times when we develop a tunnel vision about precisely how we expect God to answer our prayers that we take it for granted that God has a good plan for our lives and failing to see how He is daily leading us and guiding us into His purpose and plan we are thankless.

Then there are those occasions when we have failed to conduct ourselves with care in the face of God’s blessings so that we end up developing an attitude that seems to say, “if only God didn’t bless me with this I would not be in this situation or I could have had time to serve God or obey Him”. This is not so different from what Adam did in the beginning.

Instead of an attitude of gratitude toward God, and having failed to take responsibility for his own actions, Adam blamed God for blessing him with a companion, Eve, saying, “the woman you put here to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate it” (Genesis 3:12). Yes, many have expressed such ingratitude to God by speaking of His blessing as if it were a curse! But the truth is that every blessing or gift of God is for your good. How you use it, however, may end up working against God's intended purpose.

A grateful heart is focused on God’s goodness and speaks well of Him no matter the situation. A grateful heart does not bemoan the things he or she lacks but rejoices in the promises of God for His divine provision. A grateful heart speaks well of God, receiving every gift as a blessings of God and not an excuse for failing to live a life of obedience. A grateful heart accepts that God truly has a plan, a good plan for our lives, and faithfully presents his or her life to Him.

True gratitude is first a heart attitude toward God before it is an expression of appreciation for a specific releases of His “goodness and His wonderful works”. It is so vital that we see gratitude to God not as something we do when it suits us or when everything is going our way, but as an expression both of our appreciation for what He has done and of our faith in Him as one who is able to perform what He promised (Rom 4:20).

Gratitude is so central and ubiquitous in our relationship and fellowship with God, first, because of who He is and then for what He has done and continues to do for us. In this sense and for this purpose, it is vital that our gratitude is not forced, but that it is the willing response and attitude of our hearts. The gratitude that honours our God must be an intentional act of our will. And no man understands this dynamics better than King David, the great psalmist, who wrote –

“I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth”. (Psalm 34:1)

Our gratitude should also be expressed as an act of faith. In other words, as a reflection of the will of God – doing the things that pleases God! As Apostle Paul wrote:

“Rejoice evermore... In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16,18).

A thankful heart is the will of God for us “in Christ Jesus”. Furthermore, it is a lifestyle we are able to live continually “by Christ Jesus” so as we read in Hebrew 13:15 –

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

 You can do all things "through Christ Jesus". In the midst of a thankless generation, learn to speak well of the Lord, and without ceasing, be thankful in all things. Living with a grateful heart is critical to living a life that makes a difference, a life in which God takes delight!


"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord"!