Why Should I Give Thanks If I Don’t Feel Thankful (and Other Questions)?
Discover answers to four common questions about giving thanks to God, including “Why should I give thanks if I don’t feel thankful?” This is Session 8 of the Discovering Hope in the Psalms online Bible study.
Here’s how this will work:
- Watch this week’s video session above.
- Once you watch the video, answer the questions in the discussion section of this page. The questions relate to both the previous week’s study in the book as well as the video content. We hope these interactions will be both challenging and encouraging!
Before next week, complete Chapter 8—Psalms 30 & 146: Hope Fulfilled in your creative devotional study book. See you next week!
Subscriber Handouts
Jump to Subscriber Specials for handouts to accompany Psalms 30 & 146, including memory prompts and the text in English Standard Version framed with Karla Dornacher’s art..
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Discussion Questions
After watching “Why Should I Give Thanks If I Don’t Feel Thankful (and Other Questions)?,” please answer the following questions in the comments below.
- What one thought stuck out to you in this week’s video? Why did it stand out?
- What one thought stuck out to you from this week’s chapter? Why did it stand out?
- Question 29, page 174: (a) What are some of the righteous acts and deeds of salvation God has worked in your life? (b) Describe a time God brought an unexpected good from a difficulty.
- Question 46, page 181: What elements of Psalm 71 are most encouraging to you? Why?
Join the Discussion
#1. What stood out to me is the importance of giving thanks. Why? Because giving thanks is maybe the only thing I don’t mess up on so much,on a daily basis.. I give thanks to the Lord for everything. Big stuff, little stuff, important stuff and little things that mean nothing to anyone but me. It comes much more natural to me than controling my mouth or thoughts, to be honest about it. Also, to be honest, I didn’t thank God when my son was murdered, and my grandson killed himself. I asked a whole lot of why, but I did give thanks for the fact that I knew I could trust Him and His word and the knowledge that His ways are higher than ours, and He is still in control for our good.
#2. This answer and my answer for #4 are the same. The Psalmist’s constant reliance and faith in the Lord. It’s a good trait that pleases God. If he can do it, we can do it.
#3. (a) A few different times I have experienced healings that I feel like happened to show God’s power and love. Once the Dr. said I had skin cancer, they did a surgery to make sure it didn’t spread. But later the mark came back. My 2 daughter in laws saw it and said I better get back to the Dr. I told them that I already have a Dr., He’s the Great Physician and I’m not going to another Dr. So a few months passed, and those 2 girls witnessed the spots disappear. I wanted them to see God’s hand in action, and that He is who He says He is, He can be trusted and He is all powerful. 3 more times since then I have had different kinds of healings that they witnessed. They were small, but they were healed. Gonna win them over for Christ soone or later. (b) This is a material thing. In 1999 my house burned. That was difficult. Had to live in a hotel for 3 months. I definately thanked God for that though. The rebuilding contractor did a good job. Afterwards the house was better than before it burned. I put a thank you in the newspaper using Isaiah 61 about replacing beauty for ashes. God Blessed us in that.
Touching answers, Yvonne.
1) You’re right: giving thanks is easier than controlling thoughts and mouth, though thankfulness helps with those two. I love what you wrote here. In fact, this week I’m going to try to give thanks immediately before I sleep. We pray and give thanks about a half hour before, but I want to do this too.
2 & 4) Yes–praying Psalm 71 helps me do both.
3a) Wow! May the Holy Spirit continue to draw your two daughters-in-law to him.
3b) That’s a great example of God working good out of bad. And posting in the newspaper was an awesome way to share what he’s done. I wonder how many people you reached!
1) The importance of purposefully giving thanks.
2) Writing a prayer based on Psalm 71. I’ve done this a number of times, including when my husband had cancer. Having a prayer of hope written during a time of crisis was/is very helpful.
3a) When I distrusted Jesus, God showed me I could trust Jesus. He gave me a dream about forgiving when I was struggling one time.
3b) Infertility made us able to take in foster children who couldn’t be placed in homes with other children. A tumultuous upbringing brought God’s extraordinary care.
4) That the psalmist sees his life as a portent that proclaims God’s mighty deeds and redemption. I want my life to do the same.