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.
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?
When all thy mercies, O my God, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view I'm lost, in wonder, love and praise.
One single gift acknowledged in gratefulness has the power to dissolve the ties of our alienation.
When thanksgiving is filled with true meaning and is not just the formality of a polite 'thank you,' it is the recognition of dependence.
I'm grateful for everything. I'm grateful for my health, and I'm so grateful for the love in my life.
I give thanks to God and to all the people in the U.K. who have supported me over the years.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.