For one who has made thanksgiving the habit of his life, the morning prayer will be, 'Lord, what will you give me today to offer back to you?'
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of gratitude and the practice of giving back as a way of life.
Elisabeth Elliot highlights the transformative power of gratitude in our daily lives. By making thanksgiving a habitual practice, we shift our perspective to one of appreciation and service, framing each day as an opportunity to receive blessings that we can then offer back to a higher purpose or to others.
In practice
During a Thanksgiving speech, I could use this quote to highlight the importance of gratitude.
We are not asked to SEE," said Amy. "Why need we when we KNOW?" We know--not the answer to the inevitable Why, but the incontestable fact that it is for the best. "It is an irreparable loss, but is it faith at all if it is 'hard to trust' when things are entirely bewildering?
Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's prayer.
What sort of world might it have been if Eve had refused the servants offer and had said to him instead, βlet me not be like God. Let me be what I was made to be - let me be a woman'?
Worship is not an experience. Worship is an act, and this takes discipline. We are to worship ''in spirit and in truth.'' Never mind about the feelings. We are to worship in spite of them.
Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands.
If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd.
I feel overwhelmingly grateful to them, but I don't know what to do with their invisible gifts.
Let us thank God for life and the blessings He's put before us. High among them are our families, our freedom, and the opportunities of a new year.
The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burthensome, still paying, still to owe; Forgetful what from him I still receivd, And understood not that a grateful mind By owing owes not, but still pays, at once Indebted and dischargd; what burden then?
Thanks for this day, for all birds safe in their nests, for whatever this is, for life.
Thanks are justly due for boons unbought
There is no closer bond than the one that gratefulness celebrates, the bond between giver and thanksgiver. Everything is a gift. Grateful living is a celebration of the universal give-and-take of life, a limitless yes to belonging. Can our world survive without gratefulness? Whatever the answer, one thing is certain: to say an unconditional yes to the mutual belonging of all beings will make this a more joyful world. This is the reason why Yes is my favorite synonym for God.
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