the power of thankfulness

Col 1:11-12  May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

I keep seeing the encouragement to be thankful all over the Bible and I have recently felt convicted that thanksgiving is hardly ever the first thing that comes out of my mouth.  This verse really spoke to me because it links thankfulness to the power that comes from God to believers.  Paul’s prayer here is for the church to be strengthened with God’s glorious and mighty power and it seems to indicate that thanksgiving is a result of that power.  (Also here it is directly related to enduring and having patience with joy.  And I definitely need His power to experience that!)

The more I try to live this out and thank God, the more thankful I seem to feel.  Last night at our church’s prayer and fasting meeting, we spent almost 40 minutes purely on thanking God for what He has done in and through our church.  And I felt like we could’ve stayed there longer.  Afterwards I felt like I was more able to see His divine hand at work in our midst.

I have also been trying to intentionally thank God with my heart before I eat lately.  For years I have always aspired to say a prayer of thanksgiving before every meal, but most of the time it has felt more like a formula than something I meant internally.  I have been trying to pause and really thank God for every bit of food I ingest, and I am beginning to really appreciate and enjoy my meals more!  Even leftovers!

Anyway, I believe it is in God’s will that His people be thankful, and this verse not only makes that clear, but tells us that God gives us the power to be thankful.  In every circumstance.  And I want that!