"Bless the Lord, O my
soul; and all that is within me
bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my
soul and forget none
of His benefits."
Psalm 103:1-2
I led a workshop several years ago, in attendance were a room full of “Christian leader” type people. The flow of our discussion was centered on developing a “theological foundation for happiness” - simply put, what does the Bible say about sustaining joy? In time, the room was alive with dialogue as people shared Scripture, practical life-principles, and biblical stories.
Then I ruined it, every ounce of energy was drained.
The discussion was intentionally derailed when I asked a simple question. What was asked? Nothing more than, “What specifically are you thankful for?”
silence
No more animated dialogue – absolutely nothing. With one little question, the main thrust of the presentation was laid bare: praise is a disciplined, daily, practical offering unto God. It is the verbal outworking of our theology: by our words we give attestation to the practical truth of God's grace, sovereignty, power, supremacy, salvation, and love. Speaking about the biblical theory of thanksgiving is altogether different than the daily recalling and recounting of specific ways in which God’s truth and grace are made new in our lives.
In time, people began to speak up:
My family.
My church.
My salvation.
My country.
silence
My health.
silence
My kids.
silence and shifting
awkward silence and more shifting
In time, I asked the individual who said “family” to share something specific about their family for which they were thankful. We went down the list: church, salvation, country, health, and kids. All in all, it was a relatively painless process. But it was one that allowed us to scratch the surface of Psalm 139:14, "...wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well." Specific praise and adoration is but the byproduct of educated souls; souls that are daily awakened to God's sustaining grace.
Forget none of His benefits.
Envision the changes that could be made if we deliberately gave ourselves to recalling God’s grace. How might this attitude of praise transform your worship? How would it alter your outlook toward life? How would it influence your marriage, workplace, church, extended family, evangelism, stewardship, etc.?
Personal Exercise: intentionally sift through your day, taking time to write down ten specific things for which you are thankful. If you can, stay within the parameters of a 24 hour period. Be a good detective, looking for grace in every corner of your day.
Crazy church thought: What if churches wouldn’t allow new requests to be added to the prayer sheet unless they were accompanied by at least two specific praises? Crazy, I know…
Grace and Peace
The discussion was intentionally derailed when I asked a simple question. What was asked? Nothing more than, “What specifically are you thankful for?”
silence
No more animated dialogue – absolutely nothing. With one little question, the main thrust of the presentation was laid bare: praise is a disciplined, daily, practical offering unto God. It is the verbal outworking of our theology: by our words we give attestation to the practical truth of God's grace, sovereignty, power, supremacy, salvation, and love. Speaking about the biblical theory of thanksgiving is altogether different than the daily recalling and recounting of specific ways in which God’s truth and grace are made new in our lives.
In time, people began to speak up:
My family.
My church.
My salvation.
My country.
silence
My health.
silence
My kids.
silence and shifting
awkward silence and more shifting
In time, I asked the individual who said “family” to share something specific about their family for which they were thankful. We went down the list: church, salvation, country, health, and kids. All in all, it was a relatively painless process. But it was one that allowed us to scratch the surface of Psalm 139:14, "...wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well." Specific praise and adoration is but the byproduct of educated souls; souls that are daily awakened to God's sustaining grace.
Forget none of His benefits.
Envision the changes that could be made if we deliberately gave ourselves to recalling God’s grace. How might this attitude of praise transform your worship? How would it alter your outlook toward life? How would it influence your marriage, workplace, church, extended family, evangelism, stewardship, etc.?
Personal Exercise: intentionally sift through your day, taking time to write down ten specific things for which you are thankful. If you can, stay within the parameters of a 24 hour period. Be a good detective, looking for grace in every corner of your day.
Crazy church thought: What if churches wouldn’t allow new requests to be added to the prayer sheet unless they were accompanied by at least two specific praises? Crazy, I know…
Grace and Peace
Just saw this recently: it may be helpful. i think they got it from the apostle Paul...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9z2ELaBVJY
We try to do this exercise with our kids on a regular basis as a family. We figure if they learn how to be thankful early on in life, they won't have such a hard time coming up with stuff during those awkward moments in church meetings! Also, we try to help them recognize the difference between praising God (for who he is and his attributes) and being thankful to him for things he has done or given. Speaking of the kids, I think they're going to the love the video you posted. Great post.
ReplyDeleteCrazy church thought also: This dance would be a great way to WAKE UP the congregation before the sermon! HA! Can you imagine Brian getting up to preach and all the smiles he would see?!?!!?!
ReplyDeleteRabbi Joseph Telushkin spoke at my synagogue a few years ago. It was on the Sabbath so we couldn't take notes. I dashed home to write down all I could remember. One of the things he spoke about was that most of us fast from eating food from time to time. A "speaking" fast is practiced by some however most Baptist would prefer a food fast! :-) How about a Complaint Fast? Go around the dinner table at night and tell the others what happen to you this week that was good. Nothing negative can be mentioned. Dennis
ReplyDelete