You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 118:28-29
Gratefulness is sometimes very difficult for us to display because it forces us to look at someone else as the source of our good fortune or success. Often, pride keeps us from gratefulness. I want to encourage you today to pray for every student headed back to school and specifically that they would have a grateful heart towards God.
Gratefulness because He is our God
The idea of giving thanks to someone is to express gratitude or appreciation for someone. Why? In this case, it is because He (God) is our God. He is personal, powerful, and purposeful. All that He has done and will do has a great purpose in our lives. Have you ever thought about God not just creating the world but also creating each of us for a specific purpose?
The students we pray for across our community and world should experience personal awe, respect, and gratefulness because God is their God. Let’s pray today that they would understand this life-changing concept. There is something especially meaningful about having a personal relationship with the One who created you.
Gratefulness because He is Good
In this part of Psalm 118, good means “deserving of esteem and respect.” When you look at God and realize He is good, you become grateful. If God never did anything else for you other than providing a way to salvation, He would still be good and still be God.
When we pray for students, we need to pray that they understand God’s goodness and develop gratefulness for that undeserved goodness towards them.
Gratefulness because He has a forever love for us
And we save the best for last. God has a forever love for us that does not cease. It is steadfast, immovable, and lasts forever. That is great news because we often don’t deserve this kind of love. But He loves us anyway. Have you ever asked yourself why? Why does God love us despite our faults and failures?
It is because He looks at us with compassion and desires for us to have a close and personal relationship with Him. This kind of compassion should make us express gratefulness towards Him.
Pray that students will grasp the nature of God’s love for them in a chaotic world. And pray they would develop gratefulness in their hearts towards God.
But wait! What about you?
While we pray for our students, I am praying for you also. I pray that you would develop a grateful heart towards God. Gratefulness always seems to help us look at life from a different perspective. Are you truly grateful for God? Do your actions, attitudes, and speech demonstrate that towards others?
As you pray for students worldwide today, pray for yourself that you would honor God today, develop a heart of gratefulness towards him, and demonstrate that to others.