“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
This quote is by Meister Eckhart, a German theologian, philosopher, and mystic who lived from 1260 to 1328.
There are many types of prayer. Often we pray to ask for something we want or something we hope will happen. Such prayers matter, especially when they are not for egocentric purposes. But we also need to remember that we have many reasons to say prayers that, rather than asking for something from our Creator, instead say thank you to our Creator for what we already have.
It can be easy to take for granted various aspects of our lives. Many of us have good health, a nice place to live, employment, enough food, and people who care about us. And for many of us, these blessings have been available to us with little or no effort on our parts. So in a way they’re just expected. That certainly isn’t the case for many people in the world. We need to recognize the blessings we’ve been given and be thankful, and to express our gratitude through prayer.
When praying for someone we care about who is going through a difficult time, we should also say a prayer of thanks that that person has been and is in our life and for how knowing him or her has enriched our life. When praying for help when we are going through a difficult time, we should also say a prayer of thanksgiving for the help we’ve received at other times and also for the more peaceful times we’ve experienced.
Prayers of thanksgiving help us to be humble, serve as reminders of the many gifts we have been given, and help us to grow closer to our Creator.