Have you ever met someone who only speaks complaints? Even when very positive circumstances are occurring in their life, they have something negative to say. It gets tiring, especially if you’re that friend who always tries to make it better. Your attempts end in no avail.
Do you think God ever feels like that friend? All he does is give, yet many of his followers give nothing back.
I tend to use so much of the time I spend communicating with God, asking for provisions or pointing out the flaws in my world. Jesus actually gives us an outline on how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13:
“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
I’ve mentioned this before, because I love how simple and specific of a direction Jesus gave us to follow. He speaks about praying for yourselves, praying for the world, and extending forgiveness. He also mentions that we should “hallow” his name. To hallow means to honor as holy. Our God, the creator of the universe has done amazing things and we are to honor his greatness.
One way we can honor our Father is to simply say thanks. Seems like a meaningless task, but how often do we wait for those two words, from the people in our lives that we do things for?
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34
We can get caught up in all the negativity. We can complain and plead for it all to be dealt with. God definitely wants your attention. Praying and spending time with him are both essential parts of our Christian walk, but while you’re at it, thank him for all the many blessings he has given.
Maybe take a moment to write down a few of them down. As I think about it, I am truly amazed by the number of times I didn’t understand what he was doing, but he worked everything together for his good.
He promises so in his Word:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Dwell on these great answered prayers instead of the unforetold ones, and thank him! He is mighty and worthy of your praise.
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