Gratitude #1: We enter His presence with Thanksgiving and Praise

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.”

Psalms 100 : 4 NLT

From the moment we lay our heads on our bed to the moment we open our eyes, it is considered as a Gift from God. When we wake up, we can feel the fresh air and hear the birds chirping the voices of our loved ones, and the hustle and bustle of the streets. We can even see the beauty that God has created. But sometimes, we rush through our mornings and forget to appreciate all these things. We take them for granted. However, the Bible reminds us in Psalms 100 to come into His presence with thanksgiving and praise. Every morning is a gift, and we should never wake up without being grateful for these little blessings.

Today, let's dive into what it truly means to live a grateful life. Take a few minutes of your break, separate yourself from distractions, and absorb these messages. Please don't rush through them.

Gratitude is our greatest weapon against entitlement and complacency.

Gratitude redirects our attention from our lack to His supernatural provision and blessings.

Now, the real question is: How do we cultivate a grateful heart?

Studies show that it takes 21-31 days to create a new habit. Will you join us on this journey, friend?

To cultivate a grateful heart means to foster the growth of something, to improve by labor, care, or study, to be resilient, and to make friends with someone. For this challenge, we are doing just that. We want to foster the growth of gratitude as a lifestyle, improve our ability to practice thankfulness through study and understanding and make friends with gratitude like our life depends on it. Why? Because if we can cultivate a heart of appreciation, everything in our lives and those around us will shift.

As we begin to see life and circumstances and people through different lenses, our hearts line up with the heart of our Creator.

ACTION STEPS:

• What was the last thing you thanked God for?

• What’s in your heart that is blocking you from cultivating gratitude?

• Are you more focused on what you didn’t get rather than what has been given?

• Grab a piece of paper, your journal, or your kid’s leftover science spiral from two years ago. Where you write it doesn’t matter right now, but the discipline of writing down what you’re grateful for does. Start by writing “Five Things I’m Grateful For” at the top of your paper and write down the first five things that come to mind. They can be people, places, or something.

• After you’ve written them down, take a minute and re-read Psalm 100.

• When you get to the part that says, “Give thanks to Him and praise His name,” pray something like this:

“Lord, thank you for....” (fill in your five things)

That’s it.

It sounds super simple, but the power of that specific prayer you prayed can shift your mind, heart, and your life. This small discipline could change how you see God, yourself, and others!

Be Thankful!