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How to Give Thanks to Heavenly Father when You Receive a Blessing

How to Give Thanks to Heavenly Father when You Receive a Blessing

I love the wisdom of the Savior’s teachings. When those at His feet asked Him a question, He often responded with a parable, ensuring that they would need to apply it to themselves to find the answer. One such parable is regarding the woman and the lost piece of silver. Luke 15:8-9 records “What woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.”

What did she do when she found what was lost? She rejoiced with her friends for the blessing which came. She threw a party!

This parable was given in regard to the return of hearts to God in the great work of preaching the gospel, but it can also be applied to giving thanks for the many needed blessings which come. Any time we feel joy for a gift or blessing from the hands and heart of our dear Father in Heaven, we ought to give thanks in ways that are meaningful to us.

For example, how many poems, songs, or hymns have been written about the love of God after trials have passed? William Clayton penned the inspirational hymn “Come, Come Ye Saints” to give thanks to God. I quote the story shared by another author.

“Clayton was in the first group of Latter-day Saints to leave Nauvoo on the Exodus west in early February 1846. The hymn was written as the camp rested in Locust Creek, Iowa. The day he wrote the hymn, April 15, 1846, Clayton wrote the following in his journal:

“ ‘This morning Ellen Kimball came to me and wished me much joy. She said Diantha [Clayton’s wife who had not yet left Nauvoo] has a son. I told her I was afraid it was not so, but she said Brother Pond had received a letter. I went over to Pond’s and he read that she had a fine boy on the 30th. Truly I feel to rejoice at this intelligence… We had a very pleasant time playing and singing until about 12:00 and drank health to my new son. We named him William Adriel Benoni Clayton.’ Then, he enters, ‘This morning I composed a new song, All Is Well. I feel to thank my Heavenly Father for my boy. I hope that my wife will soon be well.’ That is all that William Clayton ever wrote about his hymn.” 1

During a unique time in my own life, I came across a Hawaiian song that filled me with so much love and gratitude for God’s creations that I could not hold back from worshipping my Father through the graceful movements of Hawaiian hula. It was this song that I played for my daughter during the entire pregnancy and which she and I danced together only a few hours before her birth. I felt such joy and gratitude for the blessings that Heavenly Father had shed upon me and dance was my most joyful expression.

Gratitude can be shown in so many ways. When we feel it, we want to share that joy with others. It may happen in words of testimony, in service to others by paying forward the

blessings generously given us, and in willingness to strive more to become like Christ. Treasure the blessing which has come to show the Father how we appreciate the gift.

Nearly nine years ago, Elder Russell M. Nelson said, “How much better it would be if all could be more aware of God’s providence and love and express that gratitude to Him. Ammon taught, “Let us give thanks to [God], for he doth work righteousness forever.” Our degree of gratitude is a measure of our love for Him.” 2

Gratitude is a form of joyful expression and I am certain the Lord appreciates it all. 1. https://www.ldsdaily.com/world/the-true-story-behind-come-come-ye-saints/

2. “Thanks Be to God,” Elder Russell M. Nelson, April 2012 General Conference


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