Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭23‬
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

I find it very telling that in approaching God, we are called, in the first place, to BE THANKFUL!

There is an old song I learned in Sunday School that comes to mind:
“Count your blessings,
name the one by one;
Count your blessings,
See what God has done!
Count your blessings,
name them one by one;
count your many blessings,
see what God has done!

When we start our days by being thankful, surprisingly our whole perspective on the day shifts away from ourselves and into God’s plan for us and to a heart for others.

Philippians 4:4-7 talks about this too. Thanksgiving is one of the main cures for anxiety. We have been blessed and given so much, let us praise God for it all!

In our cross reference, at the beginning of Paul’s description of the fall of a society into sin and horrible behavior that leads to death, he mentions a lack of acknowledging God for who he is and a lack of being thankful to him. A lack of thankfulness starts us down a path to destruction!

In Colossians, Paul encourages the church to first be committed to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Then he asks them to pray for him and for doors to open for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be effectively preached. We cannot focus on God and his priorities when we are self-centered and not prayerful or thankful. When we are thankful, our prayers become right-focused, and are powerful!

So I will count them today — all of my blessings. I will count them one by one.

Lord, thank you for all of the blessings you provide. You love us and fill us with your grace and peace. May your Word be in my mouth and your praise be on my lips. When people see and talk to me, may thankfulness embrace and fill them. I am so thankful that you love me, Lord Jesus, and have given me a wonderful birth family and church family!