Thanksgiving in the Bible is so much more than one day a year. Discover Thanksgiving Bible Verses that remind our hearts to be thankful, grateful and give thanks to God for all the blessings we receive. You will find more Bible verses about anything and everything to help you forget not the Lord.
In America, we celebrate Thanksgiving one day each year in November in honor of the Native Americans and Pilgrims gathering together. Many families gather together over a turkey and dressing meal and watch football or the Thanksgiving day parade. Bellies are full, hearts are happy with family and then the next day is leftover turkey sandwiches and Black Friday shopping.
But being thankful and grateful are a daily expression of the heart no money can buy.
The thankful condition of the heart is very important to God.
Proverbs 4:23
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
The heart may be a muscle in the body that pumps blood and takes out the trash, but the spiritual heart pumps thankfulness and gratitude through the spiritual body and transforms us from selfish into selfless.
No matter what we are facing in this life, there are blessings to be found all around us.
In her book, One Thousand Gifts, Ann Vosckamp ( *affiliate link) takes her reader on an emotional journey through a new perspective of “living fully right where you are.” Her writing reminds us to look at each item, blessing and moment of our life and say thanks to God for each one.
You simply tell Him, “Thank you.”
Tell Him out loud.
Say, “Thank you for ________.”
You just talk to Him in an open prayer, closet prayer, on your knees prayer, in the car, in the shower, in the house, in the yard…wherever you are just say, “Thank you God for all you are and all you do.”
Eventually, your heart will not be able to contain its praise and will overflow with thanksgiving. You might find yourself shouting, singing, throwing your hands in the air and maybe even dancing.
And it starts with being thankful fo the little things.
Why would being thankful and offering thanks for little things such as, “thank you for the rain, the sunshine, the stars, the water in my glass, the food on my plate or the ability to turn on the lights in the house”, help someone to become more grateful?
Doesn’t it sound too simple to God for adults to be saying thank you in such simple words as a child’s prayer?
Well… the heart is a muscle and like all muscles it needs exercising. When you exercise your body it becomes stronger and capable of doing things otherwise too hard.
When we exercise our spiritual hearts, we become more grateful, stronger in relationship with the Lord and more capable to handle life and all its struggles. A heart overflowing in thankfulness to God is praise.
Luke 6:45
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
As a parent, you are the example for your children to witness what thanksgiving looks like. We can demonstrate a grateful heart on all occasions:
Show your children how to be thankful and help nurture their heart’s towards thanksgiving.
You will find examples of how to demonstrate a grateful heart all through Scripture. Jesus gave us the best examples in the following verses.
Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.
And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
As parents, we also teach children to say, “thank you” when they are given a gift. Sometimes they don’t like the gift. It’s hard to hide a child’s reaction to something they don’t really like, right? But we still teach them to say thank you not because they like the gift, but rather an expression for the giver.
God is the ultimate giver. Life, the world and everything in it is from Him. But we have even more to be thankful to Him for as He gave His Son for our sins. There is no greater love expressed or gift given to us than His love and salvation.
Colossians 1:9-14
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
2 Corinthians 9:15
Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!they
Of course one of our favorite passages of thanksgiving is our mission statement to forget not the Lord and all His benefits.
Psalm 103:1-2
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,
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 4:7
Psalm 7:17
Psalm 9:1-2
Psalm 13:5
Psalm 26:7-8
Psalm 28:7
Psalm 30:4
Psalm 30:12
Psalm 32:11
Psalm 44:8
Psalm 50:14
Psalm 50:23
Psalm 54:6
Psalm 57:9
Psalm 69:30
Psalm 75:1
Psalm 79:13
Psalm 86:12
Psalm 92:1-2
Psalm 33:2
Psalm 35:18
Psalm 105:1
Psalm 106:1
Psalm 107:1-3
Psalm 107:21-22
Psalm 108:3
Psalm 109:30
Psalm 111:1
Psalm 116:17
Psalm 118:1
Psalm 142:7
Psalm 118:29
Psalm 119:1-8
Psalm 119:62
Psalm 122:4
Psalm 136
Psalm 138:1-4
Psalm 140:13
Rejoice always,pray without ceasing,give thanks in all circumstances;for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Just like parents train a child how to be thankful, what it means to be grateful and why it is so important to express our thankfulness, God is also training us, His children, to express a grateful heart.
There is something special we receive when we express a grateful heart to God that makes His children different from the rest of the world.
His peace.
How is a child of God thankful, grateful and faithful in all circumstances? They have His peace that surpasses all understanding.
Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 2:6-7
Colossians 3:15-17
Colossians 4:2
Hebrews 12:28-29
Hebrews 13:15
Ephesians 5:18-20
2 Corinthians 9:11-15
2 Corinthians 4
1 Chronicles 16:34
1 Chronicles 29:13
Isaiah 12
You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
“Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Your thanksgiving is not only an expression of your thankfulness to God, it is also an example of how a child of God lives, to those around you.
2 Corinthians 2:14-15
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
Getting our hearts in grateful condition is helping us for our eternal home where we will be forever in God’s presence offering thanksgiving. Get ready! We have so much to be thankful for that will turn into holy praise!
Revelation 7:12
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 1and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”
I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Of course offering thanksgiving is a daily expression of praise to God. But we also know the day of Thanksgiving we celebrate each year can be a special time for sharing our thankfulness.
We created printables for your Thanksgiving table decor and other fun activities to do with your family. We hope you enjoy our Thankful printables and find creative ways to strengthen your grateful heart.
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