A Sincere Thank You / 衷心感谢
Dexu Xia
A Sincere Thank You
I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. Psalm9:1
In preparation for Xavier’s first job interview, my husband, Alan, handed our son a pack of thank-you cards for him to send out after he met with prospective employers. He then pretended to be a hiring interviewer, using his decades of experience as a manager to ask Xavier questions. After the role-playing, our son tucked several copies of his resume into a folder. He smiled when Alan reminded him about the cards. “I know,” he said. “A sincere thank-you note will set me apart from all the other applicants.”
When the manager called to hire Xavier, he expressed gratitude for the first hand-written thank-you card he’d received in years.
Saying thanks makes a lasting impact. The psalmists’ heartfelt prayers and grateful worship were preserved in the book of Psalms. Though there are one hundred and fifty psalms, these two verses reflect a message of thankfulness: “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High” (Psalm 9:1–2).
We will never be able to finish expressing our gratitude for all God’s wonderful deeds. But we can start with a sincere thank you through our prayers. We can nurture a lifestyle of grateful worship, praising God and acknowledging all He’s done and all He promises He’ll do.
What would you like to thank God for on this day He’s made? How can writing down prayers of thanks help us cultivate a spirit of gratitude in all circumstances?
Generous and loving God, please help us acknowledge the countless and wonderful ways You work.
衷心感谢
我要一心称谢耶和华，我要传扬祢一切奇妙的作为！-诗篇9篇1节
在为儿子沙维尔预备第一次的工作面试时，丈夫艾伦为他准备了一些感谢卡，好让他在面试后送给未来的雇主。艾伦还扮演面试官的角色，以他当经理几十年的经验问了沙维尔一些问题。演练过后，儿子将几份履历放进文件夹中。艾伦仍不忘叮咛儿子记得要带感谢卡，儿子笑着说﹕“我会的，一张诚挚的感谢卡能使我在众求职者中显得与众不同。”
沙维尔果然被录取了。当这位经理打电话通知沙维尔获得录用时，特别向沙维尔道谢，因为这是他多年来第一次收到别人亲手写的感谢卡。
表达谢意会带来深远的影响。诗篇也记载了许多诗人发自内心的祈祷和感恩的敬拜。虽然诗篇共有150篇，但这两节经文贴切地反映出感恩的情怀﹕“我要一心称谢耶和华，我要传扬祢一切奇妙的作为！我要因祢欢喜快乐；至高者啊，我要歌颂祢的名！”（9篇1-2节）
我们永远无法对上帝所有奇妙的作为诉尽心中的感恩，但我们可以从在祷告中向上帝表达衷心的感谢开始，养成感恩敬拜的生活方式，时时赞美上帝，述说祂所做的一切，以及所有祂应许要成就的事！
慷慨又慈爱的上帝啊，
求祢帮助我们，学习感谢祢无数奇妙的作为。
今天你要为哪些事感谢上帝？
写下感恩的祷词如何帮助我们学会凡事谢恩？