A Thank You Card

"Thank you! Everything in me says 'Thank you!' Angels listen as I sing my thanks.
I kneel in worship facing your holy temple
and say it again: 'Thank you!'
Thank you for your love,
thank you for your faithfulness;
Most holy is your name,
most holy is your Word.
The moment I called out, you stepped in;
you made my life large with strength." Psalm 138:1-3 (The Message)


Did you have to do this? When I was growing up, my mother made my 11 brothers & sisters and I write 'thank you' cards after each birthday, Christmas, graduation--whenever we got something from someone, we had to do this. And from some reason it wasn't fun--it was a chore. Oh, it wasn't that I wasn't grateful. It was just that I didn't like taking the time to write all of them. And it had to be readable. If it wasn't, we would have to write it all over again. To this day, I try to write my 'thank you' cards and have my boys do it too.

What made this psalm jump out at me tonight was that it was such a happy, nice 'thank you' card. The words just seem so joyful--like David really meant what he wrote. It was genuine--from the heart. His mother didn't make him write it, he did it because his soul told him to and he just couldn't not write it.

So often, we ask, implore and beseech our petitions to our Father. We ask and we ask and we ask. But do we remember to thank? He loves our petitions, as He also loves our praises.

Do you remember to thank Him? And a true, genuine, joyful, 'thank you', shouldn't be reserved just for the times that you get what you prayed for. What about those times that you don't get what you asked for? Do you turn away and become a doubting Thomas? Do you pout? Throw a tantrum? Of course not!

There's an old country song sung by Garth Brooks and it's titled,"Thank God for Unanswered Prayers." And it's so true. Sometimes we pray for stuff that may, at the time, seem so right or perfect, but in the big picture of your life, God knows it's not. You don't know, because you can't see that far out--but your Father can. It's called faith.

So please, whether you have an answered or unanswered prayer, write a 'thank you' card on your heart for your Heavenly Father and send it to Him in a prayer. Both He and you will be so blessed!