When the Answer Comes...

"To you, LORD, I give my whole heart; a heart filled with praise for I am grateful. Before the gods, my heart sings praises to You and You alone."--Psalm 138:1, Voice

In some Bible translations, the headline over this psalm is "Praise for Answered Prayer." And then we move right along and keep reading. All the while, it shouts:

"Hey, wait a second...How often do you remember to do this? How often do you forget to give more than a mental nod of appreciation to God when He answers? You pray long and hard and don't give up, which is good, and when the answer finally comes, do you take it for granted? Do you, without even realizing it, chalk it up to circumstances of the day that just happened to turn out right, or worse, think it was something you finally figured out on your own?"

I'm about to say that I don't like this headline very much. But then it suddenly and graciously changes its tone:

"Do you remember what that radio host said the other day about what has changed the most since social media became all the rage? Right: People are noticeably angrier and more critical and unhinged. As if you hadn't noticed. Everyone has an opinion on everything and they just let it fly. Gratitude is hard to find. Definitely not what God had in mind for His creation."

"Maybe you can't change all of that, but it's pretty easy for you to change you--and if you and a bunch of others get on board with this more often, who knows what kind of counterculture goodness could begin to happen? Cultivating good fruit from a gratitude attitude begins with remembering to be genuinely thankful for the big stuff and the small stuff. When the answer comes, when God comes through even in an unexpected way, cultivating good fruit means going to Him and letting Him know with your own words--not out of some obligation but out of that gratitude-attitude relationship you are seeking to nurture. This is a huge deal. Remember what Jesus said in the encounter with the ten lepers..."

(Momentary detour to check out whether that's true... Headline nails it again.)

"...See, God loves to hear your voice. Yes, your voice. Whether you think you can't sing on any given day or if you tend to fumble over the words in your spontaneous prayer, it makes no difference to God. That's because if you believe and love His Son, then you are His kid. It's not what you do, it's who you are--family. Mind-blowing. So you see, 'Praise for Answered Prayer' isn't just a headline like you think it is, it's the only way to live the life that gives glory to your forever Father for all blessings, name them one-by-one, great and small. You know this, and you've done this in spurts before. But 'more' is better.

"Besides, look what happens to your insides, remember? You begin to feel refreshed, energized, and at rest. Furrowed brows and grumpiness and sighing lose their grip. You find fault in others and things much less often, and celebrate people for who they are in God's eyes much more often. Not always easy, and not all at it once, but it happens. Because that's Heaven's countercultural goodness at work in you."

"So, let these four little words serve as a repeated road marker along this fantastic Journey; a reminder that while God often will indeed work through circumstances or you and your great ideas to answer your prayers, it all originates from His good and wonderful hand. All of it. Always. Follow in the steps of the psalmist and don't hold back: 'my heart sings praises to You and You alone.'"

So be it, LORD, for all who come this way.

"Thou that hast given so much to me, give me one thing more: a grateful heart--not thankful when it pleaseth me, as if Thy blessings had spare days, but such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise." (George Herbert)