(“Communicating Gratitude”)^1**

(Psalm 34:1-2, 8-10, NASU)

(A) INTRODUCTION

(1) Little children have an amazing ability to make us laugh. Their curiosity, questions, and/or behavior can be quite amusing to say the least. Even the proudest parent, however, has to admit that not everything their children do is funny.¹

We’ve all seen it – Aunt Sally offers little Joey a piece of candy, which he snatches from her hand. Mother calls from across the room, “Say thank you, honey.” No response. “Say thank you, Joey!” Still no response. Frowning, mother confronts little Joey face to face and lays down an ultimatum: “Say ‘thank you’ right now or go to your room.” Joey hesitates. Then he drops his eyes to the ground, and forces a barely audible “Thanks” through his clenched teeth.¹

Showing gratitude doesn’t come naturally to children. They have to be taught – and parents often spend a lot of time teaching them.¹

(2) Unfortunately, showing gratitude doesn’t come naturally to us adults either. Most of us have learned to be polite enough to thank our coworkers and/or friends for the things they do for us – but we often feel uncomfortable when it comes to expressing sincere, heart-felt gratitude.¹

If we have difficulty expressing that kind of gratitude to people we can see and touch, how much more difficult is it to express thankfulness to our invisible God? Most of us know God deserves our gratitude. We recognize, at least intellectually, that He’s given us everything we have – but genuine thanks still doesn’t come easily. Communicating heartfelt gratitude to our heavenly Father is a skill worth learning. So tonight we’re going to explore some ways and/or words that may help us convey our thanks to Him more effectively.² (5:00)

(B) THE CAUSE AND PURPOSE OF GRATITUDE²

(1) There are many reasons why we might say “thank you”. Sometimes, we simply do it out of habit.²

(a) The story is told of a young woman who found herself saying “thank you” a hundred times a day, even though she didn’t mean it most of the time. Whenever someone helped her in the least, she would thank them profusely.²

One day a police officer chewed her out for breaking the speed limit. As he handed her the ticket, she responded with a big smile and a hearty, “Thank you!”²

Finally, a co-worker just couldn’t take it any longer. “Would you please stop saying ‘Thank you’ all the time?” he asked. “I think I’ll scream if I hear you say it once more.” Whereupon, the young woman heaved a sigh and said, “I guess I do go a bit overboard. From now on I’ll try to keep myself under control. Thanks for telling me.” At that point a deafening scream could be heard reverberating throughout the building!²

(b) Unfortunately, we believers sometimes express our gratitude to God in the same unconscious way. Saying “Thanks” has become nothing more than a habit – as shown by the fact that we tend to use and/or reuse the same standard phrases – like, “Thank You for this day” – “Thank You for all the things You’ve done for us” – “Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to die for our sins”. Obviously, none of these expressions of gratitude are inappropriate – and we should give thanks for God’s wonderful gifts. But when words like these fall from our lips so mechanically, how can they possibly reflect a true attitude of gratitude?!²

(2) Scripture indicates thanksgiving should reflect a deep appreciation on our part for what God has done for us.³

(a) Often we get so caught up in the affairs of life that the reality of God’s blessings fade from our minds. At one time or another, most parents have experienced this kind of neglect from their children. We work hard, save, and do without so we can buy them the things they need (and/or sometimes want), only to have our generosity and sacrifice taken for granted.³

Sometimes we treat God the same way – in that we forget He’s the One who gives us everything we need. Hence, we have to be reminded to show our appreciation for His blessings. That’s why Paul said:

“in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for

God isn’t out there on some distant planet, watching us through His cosmic telescope. On the contrary, when good things come our way, they come from Him – not from natural causes and/or certainly not from luck. Hence, we need to learn to appreciate the things we have for what they really are – namely, good gifts from our Creator.³

(b) When we start to understand what it means to be thankful, we also begin to see the purpose of gratitude in prayer. The opening words of Psalm Thirty, for example, offer a clear statement of the purpose behind thanksgiving. David writes:

“I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,

(Psalm 30:1, NASU).

David had been blest by God, and his heart was filled with gratitude. So, he exalted God through prayer, in part, by using his words to magnify God’s goodness.³

We hear this same desire to magnify God reverberating through Psalm Thirty-Four, where David writes:

“I will bless the Lord at all times;

(Psalm 34:1-2, NASU).

In this passage David tells us his thanksgiving is designed to glorify the Lord. He even calls on us to join him in doing so.³

The same motivation lies behind the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer:

“Our Father who is in heaven,

(Matthew 6:9, NASU).³

(3) These passages, along with many others, teach us that a primary purpose for expressing our gratitude is the exaltation of God through our words. In prayer we show God (and others) the special and honorable place He occupies in our hearts because of what He has done.⁴

(a) Pratt writes: “When I served as director of church education, I gave an annual teachers’ appreciation dinner. Throughout the year I would say a word of thanks to each teacher from time to time, but through this banquet I showed my gratitude in a special way. I arrived at church early in the morning and spent most of the day preparing the meal, forbidding the teachers to help in any way. That evening I served the food I’d prepared to them and their spouses. I didn’t go to all that trouble because I enjoyed cooking – I did it to exalt my teachers. I appreciated their cooperative spirit and hard work, and wanted them to know how special I thought they were. For the most part, I think they got the message.”⁴

(b) In many ways this is what we do when we express our gratitude to God in prayer. Our thanksgiving is a reflection of our appreciation for Him. Hence, it’s no time to recite a few worn out clichés – nor is it something we should do so we don’t give the impression of being ungrateful. Rather, we express our gratitude in order to treat God with the respect and honor He deserves for the things He’s done. From the ordinary to the spectacular, God always provides us with what we need. Hence, it’s important for us to give Him a banquet of words (as it were) – i.e. to make Him our honored guest, and serve Him with tokens of genuine appreciation and admiration.⁴

(C) WORDS OF GRATITUDE⁴

(1) One of the problems we sometimes face when we pray is a lack of words to express our appreciation for God. From the examples of those around us, we usually conceive of gratitude as simply saying, “Thank you” for whatever blessing we may have in mind. This kind of prayer can be wholesome and acceptable when offered sincerely, but it doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of the various ways we can effectively express our gratitude to God.⁴ How long can we keep saying “Thank you” without falling into boredom or insincerity? Are there any expressions that can help us communicate the appreciation we have in our hearts? The answer is “yes”. In fact, one crucial means of doing so appears time and time again in the Psalms.⁵

(2) The psalmists often showed their appreciation for God by giving a detailed account of what He had done for them. (a) In fact, these accounts often take the form of stories. For example, in Psalm Thirty, David gives an interesting account of recent events in his life, saying:

“Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,

(Psalm 30:6-10, NASU).⁵

(b) Notice how David related various details of his experience. He described how he had taken the blessings of God as an⁵ opportunity to fall into pride. As a result, God withdrew His protection, and all sorts of trouble ensued. Then, in the midst of this trouble, David called out with persuasive petitions, and the Lord heard him. As he reflected on these events later, David didn’t simply say, “Thanks for Your help, Lord”. Rather, he expressed his gratitude by taking time to detail God’s mercy toward him.⁶

In Psalm Thirty-Four, David adopted a similar pattern, saying (in part):

“I sought the LORD, and He answered me;

(Psalm 34:4-7, NIV).

(c) In Psalm Eighteen, we find another story of thanks, only with an important variation. This time David compared his own experience to certain historical events in Scripture – hence, he started out by saying:

“In my distress I called upon the Lord,

(Psalm 18:6, NASU).

But then he went on to say, in the very next verses:

“Then the earth shook and quaked;

(Psalm 18:7-9, NASU).⁶

By comparing his own life to earlier historical events in Scripture, David was saying God acted in his life just like He acted in the past. In fact, there are no fewer than forty-two verses in Psalm Eighteen (Psalm 18:4-45) that are devoted to telling and retelling the story of God’s actions.⁷

(3) Pratt writes: “When I was a pastor, I would visit members of my church when they went into the hospital, and then again when they returned home. Once they were home, I would ask these former patients to lead in prayer at the end of our visit. Usually, they would give a quick word of thanks and then move on to a list of needs – i.e. help with bills, patience with children, increased strength, etc.”⁷

“However,” he says, “I remember one exception. The mother of a church member had come home after being treated for cancer. As usual, I went to visit her and asked her to pray. Much to my surprise, she didn’t pray as others had. Instead, she told a story – she talked about God’s care for her when she first discovered the disease – His comfort when she was afraid – and His sustaining hand through the pain she had suffered. She described the gentle spirit of her doctors, the opportunities she had to share her faith, the joy of coming home, and the hope she had that her disease had been conquered. She also reflected for a moment on a few stories of Jesus’ healing ministry that had become especially meaningful to her. And then, after telling God about these events, she simply stopped and said, ‘Amen.’”⁷

Pratt says, “I was dumbfounded. She had prayed without asking for a single thing. Her prayer had consisted solely of a story about what God had done in her life. That day drastically changed my approach to prayer. Through this woman’s example, I began to discover the joy of expressing gratitude to God by telling Him stories from my own life, and/or describing how they reminded me of His mighty acts in the Bible.”⁷

Every one of us has a story to tell, because God always performs wonders for His children – recovery from illness, the resolution of a family problem, the deliverance of a friend from some kind of trouble. God invites us to come and tell Him our story. To be sure, He already knows all about the blessings He’s given us. We aren’t telling Him anything new. Instead, we tell Him our story to give Him the pleasure of enjoying our gratitude.⁷

(a) As a loving Father, God takes great delight in hearing stories of thanksgiving from His children.⁷

Pratt writes: “Recently, my wife and I gave a birthday party for our daughter at the local skating rink. She had a number of friends at the party and obviously had a good time. Later I asked if she’d enjoyed the party. ‘Sure’, she responded. But I wanted to hear more. So I said, ‘Tell me what you liked about it.’ ‘I liked everything,’ she said. Still not satisfied, I inquired further, ‘Can’t you tell me a little more?’ I wanted to know that she appreciated the effort her mother and I had made. After a little more prodding she got the idea and began to tell me all about her afternoon. I sat and listened as she told me one episode after another. She probably didn’t realize it, but all that time my daughter was saying, ‘Thank you’, to me. I felt good knowing the party had meant a lot to her.”⁸

(b) In much the same way, we Christians often think a quick word of two sufficiently expresses our gratitude for God’s good gifts. Yet, the Psalms teach us God desires more from us. We can communicate our gratitude more fully by telling stories of His marvelous work in our lives. When we take the time to tell God the story of what He’s done, we exalt Him and give Him the kind of thanksgiving He deserves.⁸

(D) THE RESULTS OF GRATITUDE⁸

(1) Having considered the purpose of gratitude ,and one way to express it, we may still wonder what really happens when we express our gratitude to God. Will giving heartfelt thanks to Him have any effect on our lives? The fact is, the outcome of saying “Thank you” not only gives God pleasure, it benefits us as well.⁹

(2) For example, taking time to show our gratitude to God in prayer can encourage us when the burdens of life have us weighed down.⁹

It’s difficult not to become overwhelmed at times by all the evil that’s in the world. There’s oppression and war on the international scene – and violence and trouble in our cities. Sometimes we fall prey to the schemes of others in the marketplace – other times we encounter neighbors who are rude and inconsiderate. Even the actions of fellow Christians can be troubling at times.⁹

Beyond this, we’re often sorely disappointed with ourselves. Our lack of power to overcome sin frustrates us – our propensity toward selfishness perplexes us – we look at how little we’ve accomplished with our life, and then wonder where the time has gone.⁹

It’s no wonder Christians are often weighed down by disappointment and discouragement. Happily, though, expressing gratitude to God in prayer can be an effective way of overcoming these feelings.⁹

(a) A consistent portrait emerges in the Psalms as a result of giving the Lord our thanks. Invariably, the psalmists were strengthened and/or encouraged. For example, after the story of deliverance in Psalm Thirty, David wrote:

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

(Psalm 30:11-12, NASU).

David rejoiced that God had reversed his situation. Nor was he merely relieved or comforted in his soul. The depth of His joy was such that he danced before the Lord (v 11).⁹

Another expression of thanksgiving has a slightly different result. After recounting God’s blessings in Psalm Thirty-Four, David turned to those around him and said:⁹

“O taste and see that the Lord is good;

good thing” (Psalm 34:8-10, NASU).¹⁰

These words actually refer to a feast David prepared for his friends. Apparently it was the practice in those days for believers to celebrate God’s special blessings around a meal. As they ate the good food David had been prepared for them, these believers were encouraged to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). As they savored the food, they were encouraged to contemplate how good God had been to His people. What they knew in a theoretical way, they could now know in an experiential way – namely, God’s goodness.¹⁰

(b) Pratt writes: “A few years ago, I gave a series of lectures at a church conference in Mexico. It was a great experience in many ways, until I came down with an illness the Mexicans called “la enfermedad del turista” – i.e. “tourist’s sickness”. In order to fulfill my teaching responsibilities, I had to severely cut back on eating for the better part of three days. Needless to say, I became quite fatigued. Furthermore, my attitude toward life grew increasingly negative.¹⁰

On the way to the airport, I spent the night in the home of some friends. The mother of the family could see I was weak, so she insisted I eat something. At first I was reluctant, but at her urging I ate. With the first bite of that cheese tortilla my hands began to tingle – adrenalin started flowing, and my whole body came back to life. In addition, my spirits rose and my whole outlook on life brightened.”¹⁰

A similar thing often occurs when we take time to tell God our stories of gratitude. Though we may be worn down by the troubles we face in this world, when we recount stories of God’s mercy in our lives and savor the wonder of what He has done, our weary hearts are uplifted and strengthened. From time to time every Christian needs this kind of encouragement.¹⁰

(c) Are you tired? Are you discouraged with how life is going? Does God’s goodness sometimes seem like an empty theoretical concept? Expressing gratitude in prayer can help. By telling God our stories of gratitude we can know in a deep, personal way that God is good to us here and now. Our souls can find joy and peace when we remind ourselves God’s loving, tender hand is still at work in our lives.¹¹

(E) CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY

(1) Tonight, then, we have looked at several dimensions of gratitude in prayer. And we’ve seen that one purpose of thanksgiving is to magnify and/or glorify God. (2) We’ve also noted the importance of telling God stories about what He has done for us. (3) These expressions of gratitude often result in us receiving a special measure of strength and joy in Christ. Hence, communicating our gratitude to God is an essential part of every fruitful prayer life.¹¹

**THIS MESSAGE IS BASED ALMOST ENTIRELY ON THE TWELVTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOK BY RICHARD PRATT, JR. ENTITLED, “PRAY WITH YOUR EYES OPEN.” IT WAS PRESENTED TO THE CONGREGATION AT WESTMINSTER PCA IN ALAMOGORDO, NM ON APRIL 24^TH FOR THEIR INSTRUCTION AND EDIFICATION, AS PART OF THE CHURCH’S EMPHASIS ON PRAYER IN 2005. A DISCUSSION OF THE QUESTIONS FOUND AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER FOLLOWED. THE CONGREGATION WAS FULLY AWARE OF WHERE THE MATERIAL CAME FROM, AND MANY HAVE PURCHASED A COPY OF THE BOOK FOR THEIR OWN USE.