Giving Thanks

 

I have been thinking about thanks and thanksgiving for many months now. Back in April, I prepared a zoom Bible study on Philippians 4. That wonderful chapter is so encouraging, I thought it was perfect for the stress and worry we all felt during the COVID shutdown.

My main focus was on verse 6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” It starts with the negative command, “Do not be anxious about anything.” The rest of the verse is a positive command, “Present your requests to God,” with several modifiers.

The whole verse is easy to say, but, frankly, it can be hard to understand and accept. So I gave it a lot of thought. The two commands, the negative and the positive, give us the means to address our anxiety. We have so many concerns and experiences in our lives that can make us anxious, but Paul extends these admonitions to every situation. Clearly, some situations will take more concentration and perseverance than others.

I also pondered the difference between “prayer” and “petition.” I think that prayer is the ongoing conversation we have with God. If we are in constant communication with Him, we naturally let Him know what we are concerned about. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul tells us to “pray continually.” A habit of communicating with God is very helpful for our day-to-day anxieties. Then, “petition” might be those very specific prayers for God’s intervention. In his wonderful meditation on Philippians 4, Anxious for Nothing, Max Lucado encourages us to be as specific as we can in these petitions. Doing so helps us narrow in on exactly what we (think we) need from God.

Then there is the phrase, “with thanksgiving.” This is also repeated in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Actually, there are a zillion verses in the Bible that lead us to thank God.

If we take seriously the command to be thankful in all situations, we are going to have to be deliberate in finding things for which to be thankful. How difficult that is if… we are in financial difficulty; we have a personal relationship that is breaking our heart; we or someone we care about is suffering from pain or illness; and so on.

But here’s the cool thing: When we are deliberate and purposeful in looking for things for which to be thankful, we find them. It’s that same “selection bias” (or Baaden-Meinhof phenomenon) I mentioned in my November 17 blog, “Pet Peeves.”

Each year for Thanksgiving, most of us sit at the table and thank the Lord for the top-of-mind things: Our family, the great food, our innumerable blessings. This year for Thanksgiving, I hope you’ll join me in thinking even harder to ferret out as long a list as possible of things for which we can be thankful.