316 316 Quotes

Reading plan · 7 days

A 7-Day Bible Reading Plan for Gratitude

For anyone who wants to be more thankful, or is preparing for a harvest or thanksgiving service.

Gratitude is good for the soul, and Scripture treats it as something to practise rather than wait for. Over a week, these readings turn the heart towards the God who gives, training the eye to notice mercies we usually walk straight past. Read one a day, and try to end each one by naming a single specific thing you are thankful for.

  1. Day 1: Psalm 100

    Enter his gates with thanksgiving. Gratitude is not a mood we wait for; it is a gate we choose to walk through. Begin there today.

  2. Day 2: Psalm 103

    Bless the Lord, and forget not all his benefits. Today, actually count them. Name the small mercies you usually hurry past.

  3. Day 3: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

    Give thanks in all circumstances. Not for all of them, but in them. There is almost always something true to thank God for, even on a hard day.

  4. Day 4: Philippians 4:6-7

    Thanksgiving and anxiety struggle to share a heart. Paul ties them together: pray, with thanksgiving, and let peace stand guard. Try it with one real worry.

  5. Day 5: Psalm 118:24

    This is the day the Lord has made. Not tomorrow, when things are sorted, but this one, as it is. Rejoice in it as an act of trust.

  6. Day 6: Colossians 3:15-17

    Three times in a few lines Paul says it: be thankful, with gratitude, giving thanks. Whatever you do, do it with thanks. Gratitude is meant to soak into everything.

  7. Day 7: Psalm 145

    End with a psalm of pure praise. Every day I will bless you. Let thankfulness have the last word, and the first word of tomorrow.

Thankfulness grows by repetition: one day blessing him, then the next, until it quietly becomes the way you see. Keep going past the seven days. A grateful heart is one of the surest signs that we are starting to trust the Giver.