How Gratitude Transforms Worry into Worship

Worry is an unavoidable part of living in this fallen world. But we don’t have to let worry steal the peace God wants us to enjoy. While we can’t stop worries from entering our minds, we can choose not to leave them there by turning our worries into prayers. God will help us with everything that concerns us if we pray for help. When we experience God’s answers to our prayers, we can’t help but be grateful for how God has helped us in every situation we had been worrying about before we prayed. The more we pray, the less we worry, and the more gratitude we can experience. When we choose to replace a worrisome thought with a prayer and thank God for how he answers, we’re actually transforming our worry into worship. Worship is giving God the honor he deserves. When we thank God, we’re declaring that God is faithfully good. Our decision to give thanks shifts our focus from self-centered anxiety to God-centered awe, inspiring us to worship. Here are seven ways that gratitude transforms worry into worship: 

1. Gratitude shifts our focus from the unknown to the known: When we worry, we focus on what we can’t see and can’t control: the uncertain future. We may obsess over possible outcomes that may never even happen. This doesn’t help us; it harms us by instilling more fear. But when we develop an attitude of gratitude, we can change our focus to what we can see – all the evidence of God’s goodness and faithfulness right here and right now. As soon as we catch ourselves thinking an anxious thought (such as worrying about how we’ll pay a particular bill), we can interrupt that thought with gratitude by focusing on the reality that God has promised to meet our needs. We can look forward to how God will provide for us in that situation. Doing this reorients us spiritually, shifting our focus from worry (which leads us farther away from God) to faith in God's help (which leads us closer to God). Psalm 103:2 points out the wisdom of remembering God’s faithfulness: “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” When we reflect on God’s past blessings for us, we can see that every benefit we name – from the air we breathe to the talents we use in our jobs – is a reason to praise our loving and generous God. By focusing on what God has already done for us, we become inspired to worship Him now, which lifts our perspective beyond worrying about our future.
2. Gratitude helps us receive God’s peace: Worry is a state of mental chaos, in which our minds are constantly stressed. When we choose thankfulness in the middle of that chaos, we’re living out the wisdom of Philippians 4:6-7, which encourages us to pray about everything that concerns us so we can receive God’s peace: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Gratitude is the necessary ingredient that unlocks God's peace. Without thanksgiving, our prayers can sound like demanding complaints or panicked bargaining. But when we pray with gratitude, we show God that we trust him even though we don’t know how he’ll choose to help us with our concerns. God’s peace is so strong that we can experience it in any circumstances. We can feel calm even in the most challenging situations. By receiving the peace God wants to give us, we’re honoring the fact that God is in control and wants the best for us, which is a meaningful way to worship God. 
3. Gratitude changes our perspective on challenges: During the time we’re worrying about a problem, it can feel enormous, like we may never be able to solve it. However, gratitude enables us to view the issue from a more accurate perspective. When we’re grateful, we can see that God’s love for us is much greater than any problem we’ll ever face. As the Bible points out in 2 Corinthians 4:17: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” The worries of today – job pressures, health scares, relationship conflicts, and more – are concerning, but they’re still “light and momentary” when compared to the fantastic future God has prepared for us. This perspective change is a form of worship because it honors God’s redemptive work throughout time. Gratitude helps us see that God does more than fix our problems; God uses them to fulfill good purposes in our lives. We can trust God to make things right in time. 
4. Gratitude changes our self-talk from complaining to praise: Worry creates negative self-talk in our minds. Negative self-talk is exhausting and spiritually draining. Gratitude powerfully interrupts this internal complaining and replaces it with thoughts that direct our attention to God. We can change from telling ourselves: “I’m afraid of what will happen” to “I’m looking forward to what God will do to help in this situation,” you’re worshiping God by giving him the “sacrifice of praise” mentioned in Hebrews 13:15: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” An offering that costs us something (like giving up our self-pity or our desire for control) is valuable to God, because it shows him that we believe trusting him is worthwhile. Praise raises our perspective on our circumstances so we can see beyond them to God. When we choose to praise God for who he is (regardless of what he is or isn’t doing for us at a particular time), our praise is pure, which is an excellent way to worship. 
5. Gratitude recalls God’s past faithfulness and builds trust: Anxiety often works like a kind of spiritual amnesia. It makes us forget every other time God has come through, provided for, sustained, and guided us. The current worry seems insurmountable, and in our anxious state, we forget that God has helped us cross dozens of mountains before. Gratitude is essentially spiritual remembering. When a worry about the future threatens to overwhelm us, we can stop and list several ways God has been faithful to us in the past. We can remember the health crisis he brought us through, the job he provided when we needed one, or how God comforted us when we needed encouragement. Every time we recall how God answered our prayers, we can trust God more for the present. Lamentations 3:22-23 highlights God’s great love and faithfulness: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Gratitude reminds us that since God was faithful in the past, He will be faithful now. 
6. Gratitude shifts us from isolation to communion: Worry causes us to turn inward, brooding over our own circumstances and disconnecting us from God and others. We feel like we are the only ones carrying this particular, unique burden. However, gratitude moves us outward, drawing us closer to God. When you stop worrying and start thanking God, you’re stepping back into a deeper communication with Him. You can see that when you’re thankful, God is the source of all that’s good, which pulls you out of a self-centered perspective and places you back in dependence on God. James 1:17 points out: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Everything you have – your abilities, your health, your home, your salvation, and more – is a gift from God. Gratitude helps you break free from the isolation of worry because it reminds you that you’re loved and provided for by a Heavenly Father who never changes. 
7. Gratitude is God’s will for us: One of the most powerful reasons to practice gratitude is just because it’s what God wants for us. When we worry, we’re often desperate to know God’s will for our situation. While God doesn’t give us a map for what the future will hold, God does give us clear instructions that we can act on right now. We can find them in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” When our minds are racing with worry, we can rest in the confidence that we can immediately be in God’s will simply by giving thanks. This shifts the focus away from the need to solve the problem ourselves and places it on the ability to worship God, who can solve problems that we can’t. Giving thanks in all circumstances shows God that we trust him to fight anxiety for us and to provide us with whatever we need in any situation. 

In conclusion, we can’t stop worries from entering our minds, but we can choose to start thanking God regularly for the many blessings he constantly pours into our lives. When we do so, our perspective changes, so that we’re no longer stuck in worry and instead inspired by all the good work God is faithfully doing in our lives. The more we choose gratitude, the less our fears control our minds, because we can see how God is at work in our lives. In the process, we’ll be motivated to worship God, who so generously loves us!