Thanksgiving Training

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I used to read those verses and wonder how it was even possible. Surely Paul must just be setting the bar high, so we will at least reach a goal of rejoicing, praying and being thankful several times throughout the day not actually all the time. But no, Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, means what he says. And by the same Holy Spirit, we can obey this command as crazy as that may seem. We know this because verse 18 says, “for this [rejoicing always, praying without ceasing and giving thanks in all circumstances] is the will of God.”

Let’s break down the verses a little, so we can see how it is possible to obey what Paul has outlined. First, Paul tells us to rejoice always which also ties in to giving thanks in all circumstances. His words are echoed in Philippians 4:4. Joy (or rejoicing) rests in God who is unchanging. Joy is rooted in the Savior who redeemed us, made us new creations, gave us purpose, chose us, sent His Spirit to indwell us and who will one day bring us home to eternity with Him. Our circumstances can change and not always for the better, but the above truths never change. They cannot, so we ALWAYS have reason to REJOICE. The problem is that we get spiritual or gospel amnesia. We get focused on circumstances, forget unchanging truths and turn to complaining or worrying instead of rejoicing, prayer and thanksgiving.

I want to pause here to zero in on complaining. We may know that we are to “do all things without grumbling or questioning” (Philippians 2:14), but I’m guessing that most of us probably found at least one thing to complain about today. I did. It seems so much easier to focus on what is going wrong than to count our blessings. Here is just one example in relation to my health issues. Some days my chronic pain or fatigue are screaming at me while my heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, blood vessels and so many other things silently continue to function perfectly. I can choose to complain about the pain and tiredness, or I can choose to be thankful for and rejoice over all those quiet organs that persevere to keep me going.

What all this complaining versus rejoicing and thanksgiving really boils down to is whether or not we believe that God is good. When I complain about my lack of health, I am ignoring God’s goodness in sustaining the rest of me (Colossians 1:17). I am also rejecting that in my pain and tiredness He is also good. Paul says in Romans 8:28-29 that God is working all things together for my good which is to conform me to the image of Christ and God’s glory. He amazes me over and over again in how He works through my weakness to display His grace and power (2 Corinthians 12:9). We would think twice if we put our complaining into the proper perspective of questioning God’s goodness.

Rejoicing always or giving thanks in all circumstances does NOT mean that we ignore our circumstances or blindly pretend our life is perfect. I am not the first to use this illustration, but a boat in a storm comes to mind. It drops anchor. The storm still rages around it. The boat may even rock back and forth, but it stays put because of the anchor. We can rejoice and be thankful no matter our circumstances because our anchor is our unchanging God. He is with us. He is for us. He has complete power over all the storms of life. He is good. He is faithful. He loves us unconditionally. So, we rejoice and give thanks not in the storm itself, but in the goodness of God and what He is lovingly doing in it.

Some have heard this example from me before, but it is the best personal one I have. My dermatologist found stage 1 melanoma above my left eye. She sent me to the surgical dermatologist to have it removed. With each doctor and nurse I see, I try to share the hope I have in Christ with them. The surgical dermatologist wasn’t interested. As she was being cautious in not taking too much of my face in the process of removing the melanoma, she didn’t get it all the first time. I had to go back again. And again, she wasn’t interested in hearing anything about God. By the third time I went back, she was very concerned about the affect all surgical procedures and cancer might be having on me. I finally got to share the hope that I have in Christ. I had to go back two more times. Each time, my relationship with her grew, and I was able to share more. The numbing shots I received were some of the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. I do NOT rejoice in that pain, but I rejoice and give thanks to God for the opportunity I had to share my faith with my doctor. If she had gotten all the melanoma on the first or even second visit, she never would’ve heard the gospel. God is good all the time. He deserves my rejoicing and thankfulness all the time.

I like this quote by Charles Spurgeon who suffered most of his life with depression. "Turn this book over and see if there be any precept that the Lord has given you in which he has said, 'Groan in the Lord always, and again I say groan.' You may groan if you like. You have Christian liberty for that; but, at the same time, do believe that you have larger liberty to rejoice, for so it is put before you."

In between the rejoicing and thanksgiving, Paul instructs us to pray without ceasing. So, what does this really mean? How do we go about rejoicing, praying and giving thanks without ceasing? Certainly, we need times of concentrated prayer with God each day. Find our quiet place and close our eyes and talk with God. But we can’t do this all the time. We have school, work, family, errands and ministry. Prayer is simply having a conversation with God. It doesn’t require us to stop everything, bow our heads and fold our hands. Prayer is an attitude of our heart and life.

Prayer without ceasing is a constant, flowing conversation with God. It is persistent not necessarily repetitious or continuous. It is not always with audible words. There are times our breathing is barely noticeable and other times with exertion even our neighbor can hear it. In both, we are still breathing. In the same way, prayer without ceasing becomes this constant awareness of God, so that as things come up throughout the day, we give thanks, rejoice, bring petitions, intercede for others or give praise for who God is.

I will tell you that I have not mastered rejoicing always, praying without ceasing and giving thanks in all circumstances, but I have grown in it as I have trained myself with the Spirit’s help. Tweaking this or finding something altogether different may work better for your training, but here is where I started:

I started a thanksgiving journal based on the One Thousand Gifts Devotional: Reflections on Finding Everyday Graces by Ann Voskamp. She was given a challenge that she passes on of writing down 1000 everyday things you are thankful for. I kept my journal where I could see it every day. I spend most of the time at my desk at home, so it was right next to my laptop. It was a visible reminder to be thinking of God’s daily blessings and grace. Some days were slower than others. There were probably days I didn’t write anything. Not because there wasn’t anything, but because I forgot to be aware and give thanks or some days I thought of things, but I didn’t always write them down. I wrote down both physical/temporal things as well as spiritual things I was thankful for. I wrote down “big” things as well as the little, everyday things. It took me a couple years to reach 1000, but when I did, being thankful throughout the day had become a habit. I trained in thanksgiving and rejoicing.

Praying without ceasing has been similar training. I have a prayer journal. I have daily cards. I have characteristics of God to praise Him for each day. Lots of reminders around the bathroom, my office and kitchen to jump start me. I began one day at a time. When someone would share a struggle, need or hurt with me, I would stop and pray immediately. I have never been good with praying with people on the spot, but I started asking if I could pray with them. When I was struggling with wrong thinking during the day, I would stop and talk to God instead of continuing in my thought pattern. I started praying not just at a meal, but when I drank my hot chocolate or got a snack. I’d pray before I read my Bible or before and during my writing. I didn’t just wake up one day and start doing these things all the time. I prayed for that first person right away. Maybe the next time I didn’t, but then I tried again and again until it has become more of my daily life - talking with God about everything.

I still have a long way to go in my thanksgiving training, but by God’s grace I am growing, and you can too. Last year for one of our ladies’ activities at church, I had them write down as many things as they could think of to be thankful for about laundry. One person came up with over 10 reasons to be grateful for laundry. I would like to challenge you (and would love for you to share it in the comments on this blog or on the Facebook or Instagram post) to think of something you normally complain about and then come up with 3-5 reasons of why you can be thankful for it. Start your thanksgiving training today!