The Equation

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” Psalm 103:2

Proverbs 23:7 tells us that “as we think, so are we.” Our thoughts have such a powerful impact on us…much more than we even realize. We are constantly bombarded with bad news. It comes at us from all directions. If we’re not careful, it can overwhelm us and dominate our thoughts and emotions.

It’s important to understand what is happening in our neighborhood, in our nation, and in the world. We need to be aware in order to know how to pray. Otherwise, we can simply pray into a vacuum. We can’t hide away from the reality of what is going on in our world.

But our prayers for the “needs” around us should be balanced with “gratitude” for the good things around us. I don’t always get it right, but I try to do a simple thing: for each “need/concern/worry” that I lift up in prayer, I try to balance it with “thankfulness” for something. It’s a little thing to do, but I find it protects my heart from being weighed down.

During the years that Floyd was in the hospital and I was battling cancer, there were also some big things happening in the lives of other family members and some big things happening in our ministry. I was very concerned, and I could have easily spent my whole day in prayer! The Lord spoke to me about surrounding my prayers with thankfulness, like a glove. On the darkest of days, when the heaviest things were happening, I tried to find this balance. There is always something to be thankful for. I found this simple “equation” to be a massive protection to my heart. It protected me from being overwhelmed. In fact, whenever I start feeling overwhelmed, I try to stop—and start thanking the Lord for His goodness, His mercy, His protection, His provision, His wisdom, His companionship, His healing, His faithfulness. Doing this very quickly brings me back to balance in my heart and mind.

“Praise the Lord.  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”  Psalm 106:1

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind.  Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy” (Psalm 107:21,22).

“Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess His name” (Hebrews 13:15,16).

These verses mention sacrifice. We may not always feel like being thankful because situations burden our hearts and minds so heavily. But the sacrifice of worship turns the situation around!

There are dozens and dozens of verses that speak to how important it is for us to be thankful and worship the Lord.  The Lord knew we would need to be continually reminded of this important principle.

Recently a family member was in a dangerous situation. I was very burdened and praying continually. I felt the weight of the situation. Then the Lord reminded me of balancing my prayers with praise. As soon as I started doing that, I felt the heaviness lifting. I was still concerned, still praying up a storm…but not carrying it by myself. The Lord took the burden.

Father, thank You for your exhortations to be thankful so that our burdens are balanced with praise. It is Your gift, and our protection! Amen.