Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thess. 5:18)
Ten-year-old Willie Myrick is one of my heroes. Willie was kidnapped from his home in Atlanta by a knife-wielding assailant. His kidnapper placed a ten-dollar bill as “bait” at the foot of a tree near Willie’s driveway. When the curious youngster reached down to pick it up, the man came from behind the tree, forced Willie into the car and began to drive.
Speeding across town with the little boy in the back seat, the man spewed profanity and threats. The frightened ten year old decided to sing. And not just any song–Willie began to sing his favorite worship song, “Every Praise.” When Willie was later asked why he sang this particular song, he answered, “Well, because I knew that Jesus was gonna be with me and he was gonna take me through the steps of getting out!”
Willie continued to sing–for three hours! Finally the man stopped the car, still cursing and shouting threats, and shoved Willie out unharmed. Just imagine the faith of this young boy. Instead of dissolving into tears or panic, he praised and worshiped God!
I’m inspired by Willie’s story. When faced with the worries or fears of daily life, I’m trying to respond with praise. To use annoyances as a trigger to praise God instead of complaining. It’s amazing how quickly my mental climate changes when I begin giving thanks. And when it doesn’t lift right away, I remind myself that Willie kept singing his simple praise song for three hours!
“Rejoice always,” the Bible tells us. “Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
I want to form a new habit–a habit of being thankful. I invite you to join me as we devote the next 30 days to thanking God in all circumstances. I’m calling this “30 Days of Thankful.” Each day I’ll post a short blog with a few thoughts on why thanksgiving is so powerful. Let’s take a lesson from a brave ten-year-old and become people of praise.
marilynn chadwick 
October 4th, 2015 at 7:59 am
I love this!! Thank you!!!
October 12th, 2015 at 8:06 am
What a great idea! I’m encouraging thankfulness too. Life gets so much better when you actually stop to realize all of God’s blessings around us. Thanks so much for the posts, loving your blog.
October 13th, 2015 at 6:20 am
Hope you find giving thanks to be a powerful prayer method! Thanks for joining in!
October 13th, 2015 at 8:17 pm
I was reading this and I would like to do it but from the beginning can I do that I think this is so neat I would like to journal it on my calendar