What Has God Done for You Today in Your Life?

DISCLAIMER: This hub is written by a Christian for Christians. The attitudes in this article are very spiritual and may be offensive to some with differing points of view. Please respect the nature of the article!

I used to think that prayer was about asking for things from God. I felt that He was obligated to give me whatever I asked for. After all, wasn't that the purpose of God?

During the years that I spent as a pagan, I learned that if I asked about something in the "right" way, I received it. The answered prayers (or spells) became something that was expected, much as a child might expect his parents to feed him when he is hungry. And just as children often don't thank their parents for the things they do, I wasn't grateful for the things I was given.

The truth is that we live in a greedy, materialistic world. Humans in general can be incredibly selfish and self-serving creatures. I used to think of myself as a self-made woman: not any more.

I have learned so much about myself in this past year. I have learned that I am helpless and that without God and on my own, I can accomplish so little. I have discovered that without Him I lack motivation, and that with Him I can move mountains. I have learned about myself, and I have learned things about God that I would never have imagined. I learn more day by day!

One of the most important things that I have learned about God is His desire to do good things in my life. I look around myself, even in the most dire of circumstances, and I can find something about which to be joyful. I can see my little girl, still pink and new at almost 18 months old, I can see myself, becoming a better person with each passing day. I can see my husband, and the good things that God has made happen in his life. All I need to do is to look around me and be thankful.

It is so easy to overlook everything good and beautiful in the world when your life is looking down. It takes a genuine effort to reach out to God and to thank Him for everything that He has done in your life. It is easy to feel as though nothing is going your way, and to lose tough with the reality of God.

As Christians, we are sometimes reminded to be grateful: when we read an article like this; when we go to church; on Easter Sunday; the birth of a child; when we read Paul's epistles. It is easy to forget to make gratitude a part of our daily devotional routine. But gratitude is a necessary element in our lives. It can reconnect us with our creator in an unimaginable way and the results are, in my experience, always amazing!

God wants great things for you. He wants to use you in His way for His purpose, and His purposes are always beautiful and good. He wants to bring the ultimate in abundance into your life, but He cannot work unless your heart and mind are open to Him. One way to keep yourself open and vulnerable to God is to daily express your gratitude to him.

I do this when I wake up in the morning. I thank Him for a good night's sleep (regardless of whether or not I got one!); I thank Him for my heath and for the health of my family; I thank Him for the motivation to get out of bed (whether or not I have it!); I thank Him for the things He gave me in the previous day.

I also end my night with grateful prayer. I thank God for the things He has given me throughout the day, and I thank Him for everything I was able to accomplish. If I wrote a great hub (or three, knowing me!) or if I had any income for the day, I am grateful to Him. Even if the income is only a penny, I thank God for that and invite His abundance into my life. Without Him, I wouldn't be here, doing what I do. He is the author of my life, and the author of my talents.

If you feel that you have nothing to be grateful for, find something. I can assure you that even during the worst of times there is something for which to be thankful.

My husband and I have been homeless, we have struggled with incredible debt (and still do) and we have had our family turn their backs on us. We have fought and struggled with one another and the system. We have had ups and downs in our marriage just as every couple will do. Through four years of this I was disgusted with God . I blamed God for everything that went wrong in my life. I clung bitterly to my pagan past because I just knew that the God of Abraham had it in for me. I knew that He hates me and was causing my struggles. I didn't look for the good things in my life.

In the past year God has made me a much happier person. I am grateful to Him for the things that He has done for me and I am grateful for my relationship with Him. I believe that God is absolutely amazing and is ultimately worthy of our praises!

If you can think of nothing for which to be grateful think of something! What about your family? Are they healthy? Happy? Are you able to feed yourself and your children? Do you have a good friend on whom you can rely? Do you have any special talents that you are able to share with others? There is always something for which to be grateful!