“Thank you” is the most powerful phrase I know. And, sometimes, when I’ve done a meaningful action for someone I get a hug along with the thank you. That really warms my insides. Brings a huge smile to my face. The feeling stays with me for several hours. If you’ve ever experienced this, you know what I’m talking about.

I hope when the shoe is on the other foot and I’m expressing gratitude for a kind, helpful action that my words of gratitude bring the other person the same joy.

There have been times when the expressions of gratitude mentioned above truly belong to The Lord, not me. It was The Holy Spirit who prompted me to take a particular action. While I stand in disbelief and, at the same time, relief that what I thought the Lord told me to do was the right thing. My first response is to quickly give Him credit so that the recipient can appropriately thank The Lord.

Speaking of thanking God, I learned a lesson over thirty years ago.

In seeking the counsel of a prayer warrior friend of mine, she prompted us to begin with thanking The Lord. I spoke thanks a couple of times then stopped. But she kept going. So, I mimicked her in her words of thanks. At first, my inward thinking was unkind, wondering why on earth we had to repeat thanks so much.

Then a tremendous thing happened. I decided to say thank you repeatedly. Not for specifics but just “thank you”. After repeating those two words countless times, the presence of The Lord came over me. The more I said the phrase the more His presence was there with me, like a warm embrace. I was stunned.

Trying to figure out what happened, it occurred to me the number of things I had taken for granted. Food to eat. House for shelter. Family and friends to love. Clothes that needed to be washed and folded to cover my children. Ability to stand in God’s presence. And so on. I never gave God thanks for those blessings… wasn’t putting Philippians 4:6-7 into practice.

I don’t think my friend and I spent much time praying about the initial issue, but I felt better after expressing so much thankfulness to The Lord. From that time on I have expressed thanks to God in many various situations. The older I’ve gotten, the more I speak the phrase. There’s so much to be thankful for that I can’t help but say “thank you” to the Giver of Blessings.

This is not a lesson just for me. It’s for all of us. Can you picture how much joy God feels when we acknowledge the blessing He has sent our way? That nearness I feel each time I thank Him is like a hug from heaven. Do you want to feel God’s hug? Do you want to bring Him joy? Do you want assurance that He’s listening? So now the question is: When was the last time you told Jesus, The Holy Spirit, or Father God thank you?

Try it. You’ll be so glad you did.