Gratitude: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life

by Hendrickson Publishers

Overview

This Bible study guide leads women through the spiritual practice of Gratitude. It includes 4 separate Bible studies on this topic. Each study includes the following:

• Meditation on selected scripture focusing on a facet of the practice
• Sidebars that feature quotes, insights, or challenges
• Discussion questions
• Points to Ponder
• Prayer
• Exercise for the week
• Takeaway Treasure
• Leader’s Guide

This Bible study is standalone and can be used with any Bible. There are some references to supplementary material in the Everyday Matters Bible for Women that are self-contained.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619702530
Publisher:	Hendrickson Publishers, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/18/2021
Series:	Everyday Matters Bible Studies for Women
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	29
File size:	418 KB

Read an Excerpt

Everyday Matters Bible Studies for Womenâ?"Gratitude

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By Hendrickson Publishers

Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC

Copyright © 2014 Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61970-253-0

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CHAPTER 1

"It Would Have Been Enough"

Remembering God's Faithfulness

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 136:1

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For this study, read Psalm 136. _____________________________________________________________________

Celebrating Israel's return from exile in Babylon, Psalm 136 was written for use during worship in Jerusalem's rebuilt temple. Every year since then, even to the present, it has been a portion of the Passover service celebrated in Jewish synagogues and households all over the world. In many ways, this psalm is a short history of the extraordinary gifts and miracles God bestowed on the children of Israel over the course of their history, from sparing their firstborn in Egypt, to leading them to freedom over dry land across the Red Sea, to their arrival in the Promised Land. After the first line of each verse is read, the congregation responds with, "His faithful love endures forever."

During this part of the Passover service, right after Psalm 136 is recited, celebrants sing a song of remembrance and gratitude called Dayenu, a Hebrew word that translates as "it would have been enough." Had God brought the Jews out of Egypt, "it would have been enough." Had God split the Red Sea for them, "it would have been enough." Had he led them through dry land, "it would have been enough." Had he drowned their oppressors, "it would have been enough." The song enumerates fifteen instances of God's acts on their behalf, each one followed by singing Dayenu. The final stanza of the song says that any one of these gifts would have been enough, but God chose to do all of these things for his children. Here is the text of the last paragraph of the Dayenu section of the service:

Thus how much more so should we be grateful to the Omnipresent One for the doubled and redoubled goodness that He has bestowed upon us; for He has brought us out of Egypt, and carried out judgments against them, and against their idols, and smote their first-born, and gave us their wealth, and split the sea for us, and took us through it on dry land, and drowned our oppressors in it, and supplied our needs in the desert for forty years, and fed us the manna, and gave us the Shabbat, and brought us before Mount Sinai, and gave us the Torah, and brought us into the land of Israel and built for us the Beit Habechirah to atone for all our sins.

His faithful love endures forever.

* * *

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"Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good." —Maya Angelou _____________________________________________________________________

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As you study this chapter, think about how God has indeed blessed you—not just recently, but over the course of the years. _____________________________________________________________________

1. Why is it important to recall God's past blessings in our lives as well as his current ones? During difficult times or in the midst of crises, what is the value of looking back to times of God's special blessing? How does this help move you forward during these crises?

2. The Old Testament records several instances in which a memorial object was chosen to remain as a reminder of God's faithfulness, ranging from Jacob's memorial pillar (Genesis 28:10–22), to a container of manna to be preserved for later generations (Exodus 16:32), to twelve memorial stones from the Jordan crossing (Joshua 1–9). Are there episodes in your life that are your own memorials to God's faithfulness?

3. Are there episodes in your life that are fitting subjects for your own version of Dayenu? What has God done for you that "would have been enough"?

4. In "Gratitude Driven by Love" in the Everyday Matters Bible for Women, Timothy Peck and JoHannah Reardon write of Psalm 136, "The refrain, 'His faithful love endures forever,' forms the basis for this command to thank God. The Hebrew word for love here is hesed, often translated as steadfast love, or covenant love. God's steadfast love is forever; it's not temporary or conditional." How has God displayed his steadfast love toward you? Think over your life and praise him for all he has done—whether it be strength to endure the hard times or joy for the good ones.

5. They also write, "The person convinced of the loyal love of God has a heart that naturally overflows with gratitude." Are you such a person? Are you convinced that God does indeed love you? If not, pray that he would help you to believe this. Read more psalms of thanksgiving or stories in the Bible where God has clearly worked in someone's life. Ask others in your group how they have seen God's love for them displayed in their lives.

6. In Revelation 4, John describes the worship that takes place in heaven. Read the chapter, focusing especially on verses 6–11. Why do you think the elders "fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne" (vv. 9–10) following the thanksgiving of others?

* * * _____________________________________________________________________

My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart! ... I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. (Psalm 108:1, 3–4) _____________________________________________________________________

Points to Ponder

• How has God moved in your life in a particular way? Is there something tangible that reminds you of this blessing?

• If you don't have one already, construct your own memorial pillar and then bring it to your group study next week and explain its significance. Afterward, keep it in a place where you can use it as your own remembrance.

• In "The Struggle to be Grateful" in the Everyday Matters Bible for Women, Mollie Ziegler Hemingway writes, "The truth is that we have so many things to be thankful for, including family, home, work, play, food, drink, and everything else that goes into daily life. But the God who provides these things has given us an even better gift: himself.... So rejoice and receive the gifts of God, confessing him and his goodness. Or as the psalmist says, 'Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.'"

Prayer

Dear Lord, as I kneel upon the pillow of thanks, open my mind to remember your faithfulness; open my eyes to behold your gracious hand on my life; open my ears to hear the whispers of angels. Let my life be a song of praise.

Add your prayer in your own words.

Amen.

Put It into Practice

Do you ever talk to yourself? When you are walking in a circle trying to remember what you had been looking for, do you say to yourself, Now what was I looking for? Talking to ourselves can be a helpful tool in jogging the memory (as long as it is not a nonstop soliloquy!). In the same way, it is good for your mind and soul to tell you to praise the Lord. Even King David had to remind himself of it. Train your mind to remember regularly to tell yourself to praise the Lord. Beyond that, remind yourself, as David did, to do so with your whole heart. Doing so will help you remember the small things you've misplaced and also the great and wondrous good things God has shown and given you.

Take-away Treasure

Are you familiar with the ACTS prayer? While there is no right or wrong way to communicate with God, this format of prayer is recommended by many, including the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Here is how it works.

Organize your prayer in the following sequence: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. There are many advantages to using this formula. First, we worship God; after all, that is why he created us. Next we confess our sins, not because God wants us to grovel, but because we are made in such a way that until we do confess, we are burdened by guilt. Now we thank God for everything: his creation, his love, his protection, all the gifts and blessings he showers down on us—even the ones we don't know about. The more specific we are about the things we thank God for, the more we realize how very much God has given us. Finally, we make our petitions known to him. After we have done the previous three, our requests or supplications are likely to be in a more appropriate perspective.

If you use this format, share your experience of it with the group. If it is new to you, try it and report your responses back to the group.

CHAPTER 2

It Mattered to Jesus

The Value of Gratitude

Jesus asked, "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"

Luke 17:17–18

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For this study, read Luke 17:11–19. _____________________________________________________________________

On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus encountered ten lepers who cried out to him, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Scholars tell us that nine of these men were Jewish and one was a Samaritan. There was no love lost between the Jews and the Samaritans—the Jews despised them, viewing them as unclean, uncivilized foreigners. But Jesus healed all ten men, sending them to a priest, according to the Law of Moses (see Leviticus 14:1–2).

Now that they were healed, the men could go back to their homes and families; they could resume their work and rejoin their communities. Jesus had given them their lives back.

We don't know where the other nine went following their healing, but we are told that the Samaritan came back to Jesus, fell down before him, and thanked him for the miraculous gift he had just bestowed on him. Jesus had two responses. First, he asked, "Where are the other nine?" You can almost hear his surprise and indignation that only one person came back to praise God and to say thank you. Second, Jesus told the Samaritan, "Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you."

We know Jesus didn't need to "feel good about himself" because the Samaritan showed his gratitude. In fact, there are many instances in the Gospels where Jesus told people not to tell others of the blessings and miracles he had bestowed on them. So what was it about the man's return that moved Jesus? Perhaps it was because Jesus knew that gratitude is not solely for the benefit of the giver but of equal—maybe even more—benefit to the recipient. Perhaps it is simply enough to know that when we have an "attitude of gratitude," it is pleasing to the Lord.

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"The words 'thank you' are probably the greatest words in any language." —Mister (Fred) Rogers _____________________________________________________________________

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As you study this chapter, think about why you give thanks, both to God and to other people. Think about how you feel if you neglect to do that. And consider how you think God responds when you come back to him and say, "Thank you." _____________________________________________________________________

1. Why do you think Jesus was surprised and displeased that the other lepers didn't come back? Did he heal them in order for them to be grateful? Why do you think Jesus thought it was important for all ten to return and say thank you? Why do we expect others to thank us when we do a good deed for them?

2. Jesus said to the Samaritan, "Your faith has healed you." Do you think he was solely talking about the leper's physical healing?

3. Jesus looked at the lepers and told them to "go show yourselves to the priests." Then, as they went, "they were cleansed of their leprosy." Does this suggest that even a look by Jesus could bring about healing? How might this kind of healing show itself today?

4. Interestingly, Jesus did not go to the lepers, nor did he have them approach him. He simply gave them instructions from a distance about what to do. What do you make of this? He certainly wasn't afraid to touch lepers, which he had done in other circumstances (Matthew 8:3). Why might Jesus have handled this occasion from a distance? Have you ever neglected to thank someone who helped you whose help was from afar? Does inconvenience justify negligence?

5. Only one, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, "Praise God!" He fell face down on the ground at Jesus' feet, thanking him. What does the gesture of falling face down signal in this moment of gratitude? Have you ever felt such thanks that you, too, wanted to prostrate yourself before the giver?

6. What have you forgotten to give thanks for? Is it ever too late to do so?

* * *

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Be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18–20) _____________________________________________________________________

Points to Ponder

Harry Genet tells the story of German pastor Martin Rinkart, who served in the walled town of Eilenburg during the horrors of the Thirty Years War of 1618–1648. Eilenburg became an overcrowded refuge for the surrounding area, and the fugitives suffered from epidemic and famine. At the beginning of 1637, the year of the Great Pestilence, there were four ministers in Eilenburg. But one abandoned his post for healthier areas and could not be persuaded to return. Pastor Rinkhart officiated at the funerals of the other two. As the only pastor left in the town, Rinkhart often conducted services for as many as forty to fifty people a day—some 4,480 in all. In May of that year, his own wife died. By the end of the year, the refugees had to be buried in trenches without services. Yet living in a world dominated by death, Pastor Rinkart wrote the following prayer for his children to offer to the Lord:

Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices;
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom this world rejoices
Who, from our mother's arms,
Hath led us on our way,
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

• Think of areas in your life where you might have difficulty being grateful.

• Pray about ways to trust God and to be thankful for all things. "If you can't be thankful for what you receive, be thankful for what you escape" (Anonymous).

Prayer

Lord, help me always to remember that your gifts are never-ending, both immediate and from afar. Please help me to be ever mindful of those gestures of grace that come from afar and are not always in my immediate range of vision.

Add your prayer in your own words.

Amen.

Put It into Practice

Always remember that the most important words in the human language are thank you. Keep a set of thank-you cards by your bedside. Pick a night each week to write one note to someone who gave you a blessing that week. If you don't have time to send a card, drop that person an e-mail—or better yet, express your gratitude when you next meet!

Take-away Treasure

Find a moment every day—especially during a stressful interlude—to breathe deeply and give thanks. You'll find a whole new set of coping skills!

CHAPTER 3

Thank God Anyway

Gratitude in the Midst of Uncertainty

"Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!"

Luke 1:46–47

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For this study, read Luke 1:26–56. _____________________________________________________________________

We don't learn much about in the New Testament about Jesus' mother Mary, particularly as a young girl. We are told in Matthew 1:18–19 that Mary was engaged to Joseph when she became pregnant. Joseph "did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly." In today's reading in Luke, we learn about Gabriel's visit to her announcing that she has found favor with God and that she will give birth to the Son of the Most High.

Mary was a young teenager when all this happened. She was barely more than a girl when Gabriel told her she would soon bear a son conceived through the Holy Spirit. What thoughts must have swirled through her mind as she learned what was to come. Her whole future had been turned upside down in the space of just a few minutes.

A virgin birth had never occurred in the history of mankind. Perhaps Mary was chosen by God because she trusted him and gave thanks in all kinds of circumstances. But there must have been moments when she wondered about her future, suffered at the prospect of losing Joseph, wondered about the prospect of being rejected by others.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Everyday Matters Bible Studies for Womenâ?"Gratitude by Hendrickson Publishers. Copyright © 2014 Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC. Excerpted by permission of Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents

Contents

Copyright,
Holy Habits,
Introduction,
Chapter 1. "It Would Have Been Enough": Remembering God's Faithfulness",
Chapter 2. It Mattered to Jesus: The Value of Gratitude,
Chapter 3. Thank God Anyway: Gratitude in the Midst of Uncertainty,
Chapter 4. We Bless Your Name: Gratitude in the Midst of Suffering,
Leader's Guide,
Other Titles,