Gratitude Creates Rich Prayers

Having been driven by violent mobs from Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, and their prophet murdered, the Saints were fleeing to the Rocky Mountains where they could once again start over. Brigham Young, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had been sustained as the leader of the people. In preparing the people to begin an orderly exodus west to their intended new homeland, President Young received a revelation about how to organize the thousands of faithful Latter-day Saints who followed him. Within that revelation is the following admonition:

If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
--Doctrine and Covenants 136:28

Prayer takes many forms and is inspired in many ways. While some prayers (perhaps most) are petitions for blessings or requests for knowledge, others can be genuine expressions of gratitude for the blessings and knowledge we already have. 

God's blessings flow to us continually. He showers us daily, hourly, even moment by moment with gifts and grace, most of which we take for granted or assume as our entitlement if we notice then at all: Life, breath, agency, animation, the immutable laws of nature and physics, sunshine, water, raw materials and finished goods, the opportunities to work and serve, people to love and who love us, and spiritual gifts of faith, repentance, forgiveness, hope, testimony, assurance, knowledge, power, and the crowning gift of redemption through Christ and His atonement leading us to eternal life. 

When we awaken from time to time from our stupor of entitlement and recognize the abundance of God's continuous and bounteous gifts, He likes to hear from us. No one likes to be taken for granted. We all enjoy moments of recognition and appreciation. We want to rejoice together. 

Our Father likewise wants to rejoice with us. He gives us everything for our happiness and progression. We are His joy and His glory. When we recognize and share in His joy, He reflects it ten-fold in our lives. 

Our relationship with Him is enriched and deepened through gratitude. We see Him for the loving, generous Parent He is, and we become better children. 

Gratitude is an essential element of our prayer life and our relationship with God. We must cultivate it, nurture it, and express it often. The more gratitude we feel, the more blessings we will recognize and the richer our prayers will be.