Gratitude

It is amazing how gratitude and prayer go together. The only way to truly have more gratitude is to express it daily to our Heavenly Father in our prayers. I feel when I do not express to my Heavenly Father for all the things that I have I forget and become prideful. Joseph F. Smith says that, "Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place."  Everything I am and everything I have is because of him.

My goal for Gratitude is to acknowledge my daily blessings and keep a gratitude journal for the Lord's hand in my life. I feel if I write these down my eyes will be open to blessings I didn't notice before. 

"We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

"A grateful heart … comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives."

President Thomas S. Monson- October 2010 General Conference "The Divine Gift of Gratitude"

"How can we cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude? President Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, provided an answer. "The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life.” He continued: “Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!” 

President Thomas S. Monson- October 2010 General Conference "The Divine Gift of Gratitude"

"An important aspect of prayer is gratitude. Jesus declared, “And in nothing doth man offend God … save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.” When we contemplate the incomparable gift of prayer and the limitless blessings that flow from it, honest appreciation fills our mind and heart to overflowing with thanksgiving. Should we not, therefore, continually and profoundly express to our beloved Father, as well as we are able, our unbounded gratitude for the supernal gift of prayer and for His answers that meet our needs while motivating us to grow?" 

Richard G. Scott  April 2007 General Conference "Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer" 

"Gratitude may be increased by constantly reflecting on our blessings and giving thanks for them in our daily prayers." 

Steven R. Snow October 2001 General Conference "Gratitude"

"President Joseph F. Smith has instructed us that “the spirit of gratitude is always pleasant and satisfying because it carries with it a sense of helpfulness to others; it begets love and friendship, and engenders divine influence. Gratitude is said to be the memory of the heart" 

Steven R. Snow October 2001 General Conference "Gratitude"

“When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives.”

Liahona August 1999 (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley 1997, 250) "With a Grateful Heart"