It won't surprise you to be told that an important part of prayer is thanksgiving. But some of the things that the Bible says about thanksgiving, or the attitude of gratitude are a little bit surprising.
This lesson contains thirteen little surprises about thanksgiving. These won't be world-shattering revelations that toss you into the fifth dimension. They'll be just little surprises, but no less important for that.
The first surprise (1Th 5:18) is that giving thanks is not just something sweet to do. It is a precept to obey. "Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." We usually think of laws and precepts as being commandments like "do not commit adultery" or "be baptised every one of you". But as you can see, it is also God's will and commandment that we be happy and thankful.
Giving up giving thanks can lead to idolatry.
Now comes surprise number two (Rom 1:21-25). "Though they knew God, they did not honour him as God, or give thanks... and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image". Notice how not giving thanks to God led to worshipping "the creature rather than the Creator". God appeared to Solomon not once but twice, yet Solomon did not maintain his appreciation. He lost his 'gratitude attitude', and so turned to idols (1Kg 11:9-10). Does your heart overflow every day with thanks and praise? If not, your heart is preparing itself for idolatry.
A prayer without thanksgiving is defective.
Our next surprise (1Tm 2:1 Php 4:6). is that prayer is not petition alone, but rather "Petitions and thanksgivings". Paul urges us, "in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God". Effective prayer is not just asking for things. It's also giving thanks for things. Prayer without thanksgiving is rather like junk to God. It's like a chair with one leg missing, or a clock with no hour hand, or a phone in which buttons 8 and 9 don't work.
Thanksgiving is a life-pervading principle.
Another surprise (Col 3:15-17 Eph 5:20) is that thanksgiving is not only for special occasions. "Always giving thanks for all things" is the rule. "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father". Don't wait for some special blessing before giving thanks. The breath you are taking right now is a blessing enough. Use it to give thanks to God.
Thanksgiving is not a trace element.
The sixth surprise (2Co 4:15, 9:11-12) is that thanksgiving should not only pervade our lives but should abound. "The grace which is being multiplied to many causes giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God." A trace element pervades the soil but is not there in abundance. Thanksgiving is more like nitrogen in the soil --it needs to be plentiful.
Thankful people make others thankful.
The seventh surprise (2Co 4:15, 9:11-12) is that we should not merely be thankful ourselves, but our lives should be the cause of thanksgiving in others. True thanksgiving is not just something heart-felt and lip-served, but also reflected in the way we live. We "cause the giving of thanks to abound" in others as well, "producing thanksgiving to God" by our own acts that arise from our gratitude to God. We know how envy, jealousy, pride, and other evil attitudes spread contagiously. Well, good attitudes like thankfulness can do that too, and even overcome evil.
Thanksgiving applies to ordinary things.
Surprise eight (1Tm 4:4-5 Rom 14:6) is that thanksgiving does not have to be something grand and heroic. As we have already seen, it's not just for special occasions. It applies to all the small blessings of life. A good example of this is our daily food. "He who eats, eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God". Certainly we give thanks to God for the sacrifice of Christ and the promise of eternal life through him. But we also give thanks to God for a sandwich.
Thanksgiving counteracts bad language
The ninth surprise (Eph 5:4) about thanksgiving is that 'thanksgiving living' is the secret of how to conquer the wayward tongue. "There must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not appropriate, but rather giving of thanks". Get your lips into the habit of giving thanks, and you get them out of the habit of speaking evil.
Thanksgiving is not to God alone.
The tenth surprise (Rom 16:3-4) is that thanksgiving ought to be directed not only toward God but also to others. When Paul and his brethren thanked Priscilla and Aquila, this was just as much an act of Christian thanksgiving as though they had thanked God. An expression of gratitude, to those who deserve it, makes God just as happy as a prayer of thanks to himself. It's all thanksgiving, and God loves the 'gratitude attitude' when it is shown to others just as when it is shown to him.
Thanksgiving is tied to faith.
Surprise number eleven (Col 2:6-8) is that being "established in your faith" goes together with "overflowing with gratitude". We cannot be strong and stable in our faith without an abundant attitude of thankfulness. The 'gratitude attitude' is one of the ways we immunise ourselves against falling from faith and truth into "empty deception".
Thanksgiving is tied to grace.
Surprise number twelve (Eph 2:5) involves a little Greek lesson. The essence of the gospel is, "By grace you have been saved". The Greek word for grace is charis and the Greek word for thanksgiving is eucharisteo. You don't have to be a scholar to see the word for grace in the middle of the word for thanksgiving. Even our English word gratitude is a cousin to the word grace because both words come from the Latin gratis. Gratitude is 'grace-itude'. That's why we call the giving of thanks at our meals "saying grace". By seeing the connection between thanksgiving and salvation by grace through faith, we see the great importance of thanksgiving, don't we?
Gratitude prevents many problems in life.
The thirteenth surprise (Php 4:6-7) about thanksgiving is that the lack of it causes, and the presence of it prevents, many of life's problems. If we want "the peace of God" we have to "rejoice always" and the simplest help for that is to live and pray "with thanksgiving".
A slightly Bigger Surprise About Thanksgiving
You might think that since we've looked at thirteen surprises about thanksgiving, that's the end of the lesson. In that case you'll be surprised to find that we have actually looked at only twelve. We missed the third surprise.
Thanksgiving is a gift to God.
In a way, the third surprise (Heb 13:15-16) is the most surprising and important little surprise of all. We would be inclined to think of thanksgiving as an acknowledgement of God's gifts to us. That's true of course, but it's also true that thanksgiving is our gift to God. We do call it thanks giving after all.
We "offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name". We might think that there's not much we can give God, but by offering thanks to God we please him very much. We also give pleasure to God when we show our gratitude by "doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased".
Questions For Review
1. Can you condense the thirteen facts about thanksgiving into a short statement that describes the sort of life and future a person faces who lacks thanksgiving? 2. What sort of problems and difficulties in personal, community, and church life would be greatly lessened if people took these thirteen simple things to heart and lived by them?