The Spirit of Thankfulness

An amazing thing happened at church recently.

During the final congregational song, I felt the overwhelming sense to stop singing. I was called to be still and quite before the Lord. Feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit, I immediately began to pray.

My first inclination was to utter a prayer for the Lord to “fix” something that was broken within my life, or in the lives of those I love. However, as soon as my mind began to move in that direction, it was as if the Spirit clamped a holy hand over my mouth, my throat was seized, and all my spirit could utter was, “Thank you, Lord.”

My prayer continued: “Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. There is not a thing that I could ask for. I have no need. You are the Shepherd who knows my need and you make a way to provide before I am even aware there is a need. You are stronger than my deepest fear. There is not a thing I could do to make you love me more than you do. There is not a sin I have ever committed that is beyond the reach of your grace. There is not a sin I will ever commit that is beyond the blessing of your mercy. You know there is need in the lives of my dear friends and family. You know these burdens are on my heart; yet I trust you, Lord. I know that you will resolve their problems because it is the essence of who you are to give in abundance. It is only left for me to say, ‘Thank you.’”

I love Augustine’s words from his Confessions: “You have enabled me to love you with all my strength and with passionate yearning grasp your hand ...”

I am humbled that the Lord hard-wired me to love him. What a mind-blower. The creator of the universe, the one who has counted the hairs upon the heads of every man, woman, and child on the planet, the one who offered his son as a sacrifice for my sins is the one who chose to love me and desires to be in relationship with me.

God wants to hear the full menu of my prayers: the requests, the rants, the praises, the confessions. But at times, how it lifts my spirit to offer the heart-felt and humble…

Thank you, Father.
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Thank you, sweet comforter.

Simply,

thank you.