Thank You

At the daycare where I work a preschooler bowed his head to pray before snacktime.  Honestly, I wasn't completely listening to all of his prayer, but most of it was typical for the kids in his class: "Thank You for our parents.  Thank You for our teachers..." and so on and so forth.  I remembered to pay attention as he ended his prayer: "Thank You for the sun and the moon and the stars.  Amen."

Sweet.  Cute.  Okay, time for snack.  It wasn't until later that I really thought about it.

What fills most of your prayers?  When I pray, my mind is usually centered on my needs, my concerns, my worries, and my problems.

As Christians we can bring every worry, concern, or problem to the throne of grace.  It is an inconceivable blessing that we are called to take part of: "The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:5b-6).  We are invited to bring every request to our God.

We bring our needs.  Our worries.  We often bring thanks for our family and friends and for our health and safety. But how often do we thank Him for the gifts He faithfully gives us day after day after day - gifts that we stopped noticing a long time ago?

Do we thank Him for keeping the air so perfectly oxygenated?  Do we show our gratitude for sunrises and snowflakes and flowers that come up every spring without our help?

When was the last time you thanked God for the stars?  I'm not even sure when I last looked at the stars - they're just there.  Since they don't directly affect my everyday life, it is so easy for me to simply forget about them.  I'm not sure I ever thanked God for them.

But why not?  The stars show His handiwork, His grand greatness, and His power.  Why not thank Him for the beauty of the stars?

"I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights and the rivers that run and the stars that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives." - Ann Voskamp

It is good to pray for what we need and what worries us.  It is good to thank God for the significant blessings we appreciate.  Yet how many blessings do we fail to even notice?  There is so much we take for granted - yet He gives freely anyway.

"Thank You for the sun and the moon and the stars..."

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