A Heart of Appreciation (Thank You)

     I want to take a poll.

     I want you to think of the last dozen prayers you’ve said. It doesn’t matter how long they were—maybe just a quick thought sent up to God or a long bedtime prayer. Just analyze them. 

     Do you notice any themes?

     I certainly do.

     I started out this year on a path to “growth.” That was my word for the year, but I didn’t know what it might entail. One of the first weeks of January, though, I ended up writing these words: “I want [insert prayer request here], but I want to appreciate what I’ve got.” 

     Today, God really hammered me over the head with my own words. 

     Although I do say thank you to God, lately, it seems a recurring theme is asking Him for a few select things that I want: the desires of my heart, my deepest dreams that are for my soul only. I have asked for these things multiple times a day. I’ve had long chats with God. I’ve had just a “hey, remember this?” type of short prayers with God. And there’s a lot to ask for. The health of ailing family members. The state of the world. Healing. For revival. For God’s glory to be shown through these times. I’ve prayed for all of these things recently, and there’s nothing wrong with them. We’re supposed to approach God with our requests. Ephesians 6:18 says this: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” We’re explicitly told to bring our requests forward to God. There’s nothing wrong in this.

     But I think God nudged me today as I begged Him, yet again, for one of my common prayer requests. I remembered my own words penned at the beginning of the year, how I would appreciate what I had. 

     And then I felt kind of guilty, because every negative emotion that I’d been feeling lately definitely stemmed from a lack of appreciation. 

     I want this. I want that. I have dreams of what I want to do with my life that need to be fulfilled. I have relatives that need to be healed. 

     I had begged God for His will, for Him to show me what to do next, but this discontentment that had settled inside me was the opposite of appreciation. 

     I was not appreciating what I had; I was desiring something else, consumed with all the steps that it would take to get me there. 

     Let’s turn to the Bible now. Open it up to Luke 17:11-19. Here’s how it reads:

“Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’ When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’”

     “Has no one returned to give praise to God?” This is such a powerful statement to me that resounds throughout my soul. Jesus didn’t make the leprosy come back to the people who didn’t thank Him for His gift. God did not punish them for not coming back, but think of all the blessings these other people missed. They missed the opportunity to worship at Jesus’s feet. To hear His last blessings. To have an act of faith recorded in the Bible. 

     I don’t know what they thought as they went to the priest. Maybe they were so consumed with thoughts of what they could do now that they were healed. Maybe they thought of the families they could have, the homes they could return to, all the things they would get to experience. Maybe they were too focused on all the things that God would eventually do for them, instead of what He was doing at that very moment.

     I am honored that I have the privilege of approaching God with all my prayer requests. It humbles me that I am allowed to talk directly to the God of the universe. But I should never become so overwhelmed with what needs to be fixed in the world—or what I want—that I forget to appreciate Him. That I forget to come back and praise Him, like the solitary leper did.

     Thank You, God, for the day. May I use it to serve and worship You, because every breath is a gift from You.  

     Thank You, God, for the people in my life and the blessings they are. For all the individual ways they have made my life more special, for all the wise words they have imparted on me, for the memories I’ve made with them. 

     Thank You, God, for my home. May I be able to open it to those that aren’t as fortunate, to welcome them in, to show hospitality and Your love to people who are struggling. 

     Thank You, God, for Your love. May I always remember that You have loved me since before time began, that You only wish to draw me closer and closer into Your heart.

      Thank You, God, for being You.