Thankfulness runs all through Scripture, from the psalms of Israel to the letters of Paul. These King James verses gather the call to a grateful heart.
The Bible calls believers to give thanks at all times. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you," and Psalm 107:1 gives the reason: "for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." Gratitude in Scripture is both a feeling and a practice of worship.
Gratitude grows from knowing God's grace, the unearned favor at the heart of the gospel. Americans have long joined thanks to God with their national life, as our article on the faith behind Thanksgiving shows. For a daily rhythm of thanks, try this prayer before a meal.
The New Testament call to constant thankfulness.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Paul gives closing instructions to the young church at Thessalonica.
Thanksgiving is not limited to good days; it is God's will for believers in every circumstance.
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Paul describes the life of those filled with the Spirit.
Believers give thanks always and for all things to God in the name of Jesus.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Paul writes to the Philippians about worry and prayer.
Thanksgiving belongs inside prayer, even prayer about the things that worry us.
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Paul sums up the new life in Christ.
Every word and action can be done in Jesus' name with thanks to God.
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Paul's instructions on prayer near the end of Colossians.
Persistent, watchful prayer is to be marked by thanksgiving.
The great refrains of thanksgiving in Israel's worship.
O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
The opening of a psalm recounting how God rescued people in many kinds of trouble.
Thanks is owed to God because he is good and his mercy lasts forever.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
The first line of a psalm in which every verse repeats the refrain of God's enduring mercy.
The repeated refrain teaches that God's steadfast mercy is the constant reason for thanks.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Part of the psalm of thanks sung when David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.
At a high moment in Israel's worship, the people give thanks for God's goodness and mercy.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
A short psalm of praise, called to be sung by all the earth.
Worshipers come into God's presence with thanksgiving and praise.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
The closing verse of the same psalm.
God's goodness, mercy and truth endure through every generation, so thanksgiving never runs out of reasons.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James encourages believers enduring trials and temptations.
Every good gift comes from God, who never changes, so every good thing is a reason for gratitude.
Gratitude as the settled posture of the heart.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Paul describes the peace and unity believers share.
Alongside the peace of God ruling the heart, Paul adds a simple command: be thankful.
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Paul encourages the Colossians to stay rooted in Christ.
A life rooted and built up in Christ overflows with thanksgiving.
I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
The opening of a psalm of David celebrating God's justice.
Gratitude is wholehearted, and it tells others what God has done.
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
A psalm of David after God answered his cry for help.
Trust that has been helped turns into joy and songs of praise.
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
A psalm of David calling his own soul to bless God.
Gratitude includes remembering on purpose and not forgetting God's benefits.
Thanks offered in song and praise.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
A call to worship sung as Israel gathered before God.
God's people come before him with thanksgiving and joyful songs.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
The writer of Hebrews describes the offerings Christians bring to God.
Continual praise and thanks spoken to God are described as a sacrifice offered through Christ.
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
A psalm of David written from deep distress.
Even from trouble, the psalmist resolves to praise God and magnify him with thanksgiving.
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
A festival psalm of thanksgiving sung in procession.
Each day is a gift from God and an occasion for rejoicing.
Gratitude for salvation and for the people God gives.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Paul closes his appeal to the Corinthians to give generously.
Behind every act of generosity stands God's own gift, too great for words.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The end of Paul's great chapter on the resurrection.
Believers thank God for victory over death through Jesus Christ.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
One of ten lepers healed by Jesus, a Samaritan, returns to thank him.
Gratitude turns back to give thanks; Jesus notices the one who returned.
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Paul opens his letter to the church at Philippi.
Paul thanks God every time he remembers his friends, a model of gratitude for people.
The Bible calls believers to be thankful in every circumstance. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you," and Colossians 3:15 adds simply "be ye thankful." Gratitude flows from God's goodness and his mercy that endures forever.
Psalm 9:1 says "I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart." Psalm 103:2 urges "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits," and Colossians 2:7 describes believers "abounding therein with thanksgiving." Each describes thanks that comes from the whole heart.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Ephesians 5:20 is similar: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Psalm 100 is often called the psalm of thanksgiving, with "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise." Psalm 107 and Psalm 136 both begin "O give thanks unto the LORD" and celebrate God's mercy that endures for ever.
Scripture gives reasons: God is good and "his mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 107:1), "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17), and believers have victory through Christ, so Paul writes "thanks be to God" in 1 Corinthians 15:57. Gratitude responds to what God has already given.
In Luke 17, Jesus heals ten lepers but only one, a Samaritan, comes back. Luke 17:16 says he "fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks." Jesus asks where the other nine are, showing that God notices and values thanks returned to him.