How Thankful Are We?
How Thankful Are We?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
If you ask the average Christian what we should be thankful to God for, generally speaking, about 99.9% would say…everything. But I am not sure we really think that way. It just sounds like the right response to give. I mean, after all, this is the same God that tells us to rejoice over times of persecution and tribulation (James 1:2-3). And let’s be honest, that is not our inclination. In fact, our natural inclination is to bemoan any suffering in our lives. But putting that aside, there are some interesting things God’s Word says about giving thanks. Some familiar…some not so familiar. So as we venture closer to celebrating Thanksgiving I thought it would be helpful to look at one particular element that we may have overlooked.
It is not hyperbole to suggest that chapter 11 of John’s Gospel is one of the most well known and, to be honest, coolest chapters in all the Bible. Before you go looking…I’ll tell you. It is the chapter that records Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This is clearly one of Jesus’ most well known and important miracles and there are a plethora of familiar verses in this pericope. That includes the inclusion of the shortest verse in the New Testament…John 11:35 which consist of just two words: Jesus wept. But like so many amazing sections of the Bible (especially those that include miracles) we can become so distracted by the miracles that we miss the “smaller” moments tucked away in the narrative. There are several such instances in this amazing chapter. But the one I am talking about occurs when Jesus is praying.
If you remember the event, just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He prayed. That, in and of itself, is not unusual. There are many instances of Jesus praying recorded in the Scriptures. But this one contains a very unique element that I guarantee most people will drift right past without so much as a second thought. Verse 41 is where Jesus begins His prayer and He begins with a statement of thanksgiving to the Father. Again, not unusual. However…what He gives thanks for is astounding. The opening of the prayer goes like this: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me” (John 11:41b). It is a blink and you miss it moment. My advice? Don’t blink.
Think about the gravity of that prayer of thanksgiving. Before Jesus says one other thing in this prayer He thanks the Father. And what does He thank the Father for? Simply for hearing Him. John 11 is hands down one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible. I have literally lost count of how many times I have read (in part and in whole) this amazing narrative. And it took me 40 years to see the magnitude on this prayer of thanksgiving. Look at what is happening here. Jesus Himself is simply thanking God…for listening to Him.
This was eye opening for me. We know that God desires our prayer. In fact we are told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It is not God Who neglects our prayer, bit we who neglect to pray. He is always ready and willing to hear our prayers. And that…is a miracle. It is a miracle we seldom think about. Let me ask you something. When is the last time you have thanked God for listening to you. For hearing you. We take it for granted that this is something He just…does. But think about it. In Psalms 8:4 the psalmist asks rhetorically: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” Here is the bottom line.
There is no reason that the holy God of the Universe should ever…and I mean ever…listen to us. There is nothing in us that is good or righteous. The fact that the same God Who spoke the universe into existence and is so holy that we would literally die if we saw His face (Exodus 33:20) would actually listen to us is one of the greatest miracles in all Scripture. We do not deserve for God to listen to us. It is as simple as that. Jesus recognizes this for us in the John 11:41 verse. He, of course, was worthy to be heard by the Father. But the point is for us that inherently we are not. And yet he does. Why?
Simple. Because we are His children. He listens to is because we have been redeemed by the blood of His Son. This is a way to show His grace and His mercy. And most of us (me included) have not even thought to thank Him for even listening to us. We so quickly want to move to the things we want Him to do, that we do not pause to marvel at the reality that the holy God of the universe is actually willing to hear us. This reality hit me very hard when I saw it. I simply never thought about it in this way. So please…by all means…petition God in your prayers. God wants us to tell Him the things we would like (James 4:2) and he wants to give us the things we pray for that are a part of His will (Matthew 7:11).
But as we move closer to Thanksgiving…maybe…along with everything else…maybe we simply thank Him in the same way Jesus thanked Him: For hearing us.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
If you ask the average Christian what we should be thankful to God for, generally speaking, about 99.9% would say…everything. But I am not sure we really think that way. It just sounds like the right response to give. I mean, after all, this is the same God that tells us to rejoice over times of persecution and tribulation (James 1:2-3). And let’s be honest, that is not our inclination. In fact, our natural inclination is to bemoan any suffering in our lives. But putting that aside, there are some interesting things God’s Word says about giving thanks. Some familiar…some not so familiar. So as we venture closer to celebrating Thanksgiving I thought it would be helpful to look at one particular element that we may have overlooked.
It is not hyperbole to suggest that chapter 11 of John’s Gospel is one of the most well known and, to be honest, coolest chapters in all the Bible. Before you go looking…I’ll tell you. It is the chapter that records Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This is clearly one of Jesus’ most well known and important miracles and there are a plethora of familiar verses in this pericope. That includes the inclusion of the shortest verse in the New Testament…John 11:35 which consist of just two words: Jesus wept. But like so many amazing sections of the Bible (especially those that include miracles) we can become so distracted by the miracles that we miss the “smaller” moments tucked away in the narrative. There are several such instances in this amazing chapter. But the one I am talking about occurs when Jesus is praying.
If you remember the event, just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He prayed. That, in and of itself, is not unusual. There are many instances of Jesus praying recorded in the Scriptures. But this one contains a very unique element that I guarantee most people will drift right past without so much as a second thought. Verse 41 is where Jesus begins His prayer and He begins with a statement of thanksgiving to the Father. Again, not unusual. However…what He gives thanks for is astounding. The opening of the prayer goes like this: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me” (John 11:41b). It is a blink and you miss it moment. My advice? Don’t blink.
Think about the gravity of that prayer of thanksgiving. Before Jesus says one other thing in this prayer He thanks the Father. And what does He thank the Father for? Simply for hearing Him. John 11 is hands down one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible. I have literally lost count of how many times I have read (in part and in whole) this amazing narrative. And it took me 40 years to see the magnitude on this prayer of thanksgiving. Look at what is happening here. Jesus Himself is simply thanking God…for listening to Him.
This was eye opening for me. We know that God desires our prayer. In fact we are told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It is not God Who neglects our prayer, bit we who neglect to pray. He is always ready and willing to hear our prayers. And that…is a miracle. It is a miracle we seldom think about. Let me ask you something. When is the last time you have thanked God for listening to you. For hearing you. We take it for granted that this is something He just…does. But think about it. In Psalms 8:4 the psalmist asks rhetorically: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” Here is the bottom line.
There is no reason that the holy God of the Universe should ever…and I mean ever…listen to us. There is nothing in us that is good or righteous. The fact that the same God Who spoke the universe into existence and is so holy that we would literally die if we saw His face (Exodus 33:20) would actually listen to us is one of the greatest miracles in all Scripture. We do not deserve for God to listen to us. It is as simple as that. Jesus recognizes this for us in the John 11:41 verse. He, of course, was worthy to be heard by the Father. But the point is for us that inherently we are not. And yet he does. Why?
Simple. Because we are His children. He listens to is because we have been redeemed by the blood of His Son. This is a way to show His grace and His mercy. And most of us (me included) have not even thought to thank Him for even listening to us. We so quickly want to move to the things we want Him to do, that we do not pause to marvel at the reality that the holy God of the universe is actually willing to hear us. This reality hit me very hard when I saw it. I simply never thought about it in this way. So please…by all means…petition God in your prayers. God wants us to tell Him the things we would like (James 4:2) and he wants to give us the things we pray for that are a part of His will (Matthew 7:11).
But as we move closer to Thanksgiving…maybe…along with everything else…maybe we simply thank Him in the same way Jesus thanked Him: For hearing us.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
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