Thursday, July 14, 2016

The great prayer -"Thank you!"

The great Dominican preacher, theologian and mystic of the 13th century Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”

And so, how do you pray? Often my prayers slip into just ordinary routines, predictable patterns, yet prayer is all around us – like our breath. So many different ways to talk with God are waiting to explore.

There are a myriad of ways to address God when words are inadequate. We certainly can get to know God better by spending time with Him. The more I pray with thankfulness, the more I realize the power in gratitude. I have read that love and gratitude are the two most powerful emotions for humans.

We are taught from childhood to say "thank you," but as I get older I have discovered I never can fully thank God enough for all the blessings from Him.

At the end of each day before sleep I pause and review the day: What am I most grateful for? What am I the least grateful for?

To be honest when I first began this form of prayer, I expected to spew lots of negative experiences and have to search deep for the good stuff each day. Surprisingly, the opposite occurred. Each night I was overwhelmed by the countless moments of blessings and often had to hunt and sometimes never find unpleasantries. Thankfulness, counting your blessings, is powerful