Lesson 8: Thankfulness
Ephesians 5:20 
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

As we closed the last lesson with a prayer of thankfulness to Jesus, we begin this lesson with the importance of being thankful. In our verse today we read about giving thanks always and for everything in our lives. The greatest basis for our ability to be thankful is remembering that the Author of Hebrews said: “for God has said, I will never leave you or abandon you. Hence we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6

How can we be thankful for something bad in our life, something that would destroy us? A very simple answer, though it is not easy, is that being thankful is the road to joy and hope. Being thankful to Jesus even for the bad things begins to teach our heart that Jesus can, as He has promised in Romans 8:28, make everything good for us. Yes, you read that correctly; Jesus can make even your former addiction into something good in your life. Sometimes it may take years or even decades for us to see the good, but it will ALWAYS come because it is His promise. Romans 8:37 “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

If we are intentionally thankful for everything that happens in our life, it holds back despair. Despair comes from hopelessness. Thankfulness looks forward to victory and therefore keeps hopelessness away.


Two of the best ways I know to have thankfulness as a part of my heart are: 1) to work on memorizing Bible verses, and 2) to sing songs of praise to God. If you can find songs that help you also memorize these verses you have both at the same time.

Thankfulness also keeps pride away from our heart. The evil one will try to ruin our victory by telling us we did it on our own, but if we remain thankful to Jesus for every victory we have we remain conscious of the fact it was He who gave us the victory. The evil one wants us to take our eyes off Jesus, and he will do anything he can to make that happen – because he does not want us to be victorious.

Verse to memorize: Ephesians 5:20

Your prayer: Dear Jesus, I ask you to help me give thanks always and for everything because I remember the price You had to pay for my sin – You died on the cross, died so I would not need to, died so I could have Your eternal life. Thank You, Jesus, for all You have done for me.