Often, when I'm getting ready for bed, I find myself reflecting on the day and simply asking God for help and deliverance. Tonight, in particular, I found myself praying simply, "Please, God, help me... Please, God, help me...." In the midst of this I thought how nice it would be to be able to thank God for things that had happened this day rather than asking for help and deliverance from trying situations.
Then it hit me - why can't I? Why can't I go ahead and be thankful for things? So I spent the next several minutes thanking God for things both significant and seemingly insignificant. They weren't "big" things - but they were things for which I truly am and should be grateful.
I then sat down to bed and opened my Bible for my evening time in the Word, where I began to read 2 Thessalonians. The first main paragraph (1:3) began "We ought always to thank God...." There was more that followed, obviously, but there it was, and again in 2:13. In fact, it's all throughout Paul's letters. Give thanks.
So while I still have many things for which I still ask God's help and deliverance, I am careful to be deliberate and surround those requests with prayers of thanksgiving. It's no magic bullet, but it makes a big difference and it's what we are repeatedly exhorted to do. It reminds me that while life is hard, God is good - all the time.
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