What is thankfulness? At the heart of it, it is an acknowledgement. It is recognizing what has been done, and responding with appreciation. In order to be thankful it seems there are two parts: recognition of the thing, and a response.

How do we cultivate a heart of thankfulness knowing that there are two parts to being appreciative? I say two parts because you cannot possibly be thankful for something you did not recognize even happened. Or can you? Maybe we can begin cultivating our thankful hearts by giving God acknowledgement for all the things He provides along the way that we don’t even recognize. This reminds us of the magnitude of God’s sovereignty, it recognizes our smallness and human-ness, and it magnifies our respect and reverence for God. It shows that we realize there is a bigger picture and often times we can only see a very small portion.

There are certainly things along the journey of life that God has done for our good that we may have either overlooked, or just didn’t even know happened at all. Have you ever thanked Him for the wonderful way in which your body processes the air we breathe? I have not. In fact, it didn’t occur to me until just now, and I am very thankful for this process! I am especially thankful that it happens automatically. Can you imagine trying to get anything done if you needed to remember to remind your body to take each breath?

Maybe this is stirring up thoughts of things you actually did notice happen and never expressed your gratitude for them. Bring them to the cross now and thank God for what He did! Psalm 9:1 says: “I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Remember to keep an eye out and an ear peeled for all the wonders that God does each day and respond with gratitude for them as you notice; and even when you don’t.

Father, You are so good to us. You provide for so much that we don’t even know about and in ways we may never notice. Help us to have open eyes and ears to the good works you are doing now. Reveal to us the ways in which we are struggling to have a thankful heart. We want to do what Psalm 9:1 says and give thanks to you with all our hearts. Thank you in advance for these things! In Jesus name, amen.