Hendrickson Publishers - Gratitude: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life

Everyday life today is busier and more distracting than it has ever been before. While cell phones and texting make it easier to keep track of children and each other, they also make it harder to get away from the demands that overwhelm us. Time, it seems, is a shrinking commodity. But God, the Creator of time, has given us the keys to leading a life that may be challenging but not overwhelming. In fact, he offers us tools to do what seems impossible and come away refreshed and renewed. These tools are called spiritual practices, or spiritual disciplines.

Spiritual practices are holy habits. They are rooted in Gods word, and they go back to creation itself. God has hardwired us to thrive when we obey him, even when it seems like his instructions defy our common sense. When we engage in the holy habits that God has ordained, time takes on a new dimension. What seems impossible is actually easy; its easy because we are tapping into Gods resources.

The holy habits that we call spiritual practices are all geared to position us in a place where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, to grant us power and strength to do the things we cant do on our own. They take us to a place where we can become intimate with God.

While holy habits and everyday life may sound like opposites, they really arent.

As you learn to incorporate spiritual practices into your life, youll find that everyday life is easier. At the same time, you will draw closer to God and come to a place where you can luxuriate in his rich blessings. Here is a simple example. Elizabeth Collings hated running household errands. Picking up dry cleaning, doing the grocery shopping, and chauffeuring her kids felt like a never-ending litany of menial chores. One day she had a simple realization that changed her life. That day she began to use her chore time as a time of prayer and fellowship with God.

Whenever Elizabeth walked the aisle of the supermarket, she prayed for each person who would eat the item of food she selected. On her way to pick up her children, she would lay their lives out before God, asking him to be there for them even when she couldnt. Each errand became an opportunity for fellowship with God. The chore that had been so tedious became a precious part of her routine that she cherished.

The purpose of these study guides is to help you use spiritual practices to make your own life richer, fuller, and deeper. The series includes twenty-four spiritual practices that are the building blocks of Christian spiritual formation. Each practice is a holy habit that has been modeled for us in the Bible. The practices are acceptance, Bible study and meditation, celebration, community, confession, contemplation, faith, fasting, forgiveness, gratitude, hospitality, justice, mentoring, outreach, prayer, reconciliation, Sabbath and rest, service, silence, simplicity, solitude, stewardship, submission, and worship.

As you move through the practices that you select, remember Christs promise in Matthew 11:2830:

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

Introduction

to the Practice of Gratitude

Gratitude seems like a far less daunting spiritual practice than many others. G. K. Chesterton noted, When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? Sometimes all thats needed to be grateful is to look around us and see what we take for granted.

At other timeswhen we look around and see only hurt, anger, depression, turmoilgiving thanks is much more difficult. In Kelli Trujillos meditation Gratitude in Suffering in the Everyday Matters Bible for Women, she notes that Joni Eareckson Tada calls 1 Peter 2:21 the rule of thumb for any Christian struggling to understand Gods purpose in hardship. Peter wrote, God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. Trujillo observes that pain, if we let it, can lead us into deeper intimacy with Christ. Is there anything more deserving of our gratitude?

As you prepare to study gratitude, here are some things you can do to prepare your heart and mind in order to get the most out of these studies:

• Make a list of the things in your life that you are having the most trouble being grateful for.
• Confess to God that you are struggling with these issues. Remember that you can be totally honest with God; that is one of the privileges of being in authentic relationship with him.
• Ask him to use your time of study to speak to your heart in a way that will help you move toward gratitude.
• Return to your list after youve completed the four studies on each topic. Note any new insights, shifts or changes in your approach to the items on the list that you have gained during your time of study.

Our generous God enables us to do things we never thought possible. James wrote in his epistle, Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.... If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you (James 1:2, 5a).

C H A P T E R 1

It Would Have Been Enough

Remembering Gods 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.

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Celebrating Israels return from exile in Babylon, Psalm 136 was written for use during worship in Jerusalems 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.