Happy New Year, friend! Today we’re excited to share our 40 Days of Gratitude & Positivity Challenge with you.
The Radiant Mission Podcast | Episode 24
Host: Rebecca Twomey @theradiantmission
Co-Host: Rachel Smith
Thank you for listening to The Radiant Mission podcast! We are on a mission to encourage and inspire you on your walk with Christ and as you journey through life.
In Episode 24 our topic is gratitude! And specifically, how to have more of it! Today we share a challenge that you can do alone, with a friend or family member, or with us! It’s called 40 Days of Gratitude & Positivity and can really help to build that gratitude muscle.
In This Episode on 40 Days of Gratitude & Positivity:
- How to Have More Gratitude
- Happy New Year! Instead of offering up “New Year’s Resolution” ideas, we’d like to encourage you to join our gratitude challenge to help grow in gratitude and positivity.
- Backstory on the 40 Days of Gratitude & Positivity Challenge
40 Days of Gratitude and Positivity Challenge
The “Why”
There is tremendous power in the act of gratitude and in being positive. As humans, we tend to express gratitude around holidays or fun times, but it is a challenge to practice it every single day.
This is why we must put it into practice as a challenge—it will help us build our gratitude muscle! Creating habits takes time, and through daily practice, we’ll not only master it, but it will become second nature.
There are many psychological benefits to practicing gratitude. Not only does it inspire those around you, but it helps you sleep better, improves your overall well-being, improves your physical health, gives you more energy to work on your goals, makes you a better leader, helps your resilience to hardship, alleviates stress, and will help you to feel better about yourself.
From a Biblical perspective we are encouraged time and time again to adopt gratitude.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. — Colossians 2:6
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. — 1 Chronicles 16:34
Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful. — Colossians 4:2
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God! — Pslam 50:20
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. — Psalm 28:7
I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. — Psalm 9:1
The Significance of 40 [Source: GotQuestions]
The number 40 shows up often in the Bible. Because 40 appears so often in contexts dealing with judgment or testing, many scholars understand it to be the number of “probation” or “trial.” This doesn’t mean that 40 is entirely symbolic; it still has a literal meaning in Scripture. “Forty days” means “forty days,” but it does seem that God has chosen this number to help emphasize times of trouble and hardship.
Here are some examples of the Bible’s use of the number 40 that stress the theme of testing or judgment:
In the Old Testament, when God destroyed the earth with water, He caused it to rain 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:12). After Moses killed the Egyptian, he fled to Midian, where he spent 40 years in the desert tending flocks (Acts 7:30). Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 24:18). Moses interceded on Israel’s behalf for 40 days and 40 nights (Deuteronomy 9:18, 25). The Law specified a maximum number of lashes a man could receive for a crime, setting the limit at 40 (Deuteronomy 25:3). The Israelite spies took 40 days to spy out Canaan (Numbers 13:25). The Israelites wandered for 40 years (Deuteronomy 8:2-5). Before Samson’s deliverance, Israel served the Philistines for 40 years (Judges 13:1). Goliath taunted Saul’s army for 40 days before David arrived to slay him (1 Samuel 17:16). When Elijah fled from Jezebel, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights to Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19:8).
The number 40 also appears in the prophecies of Ezekiel (4:6; 29:11-13) and Jonah (3:4).
In the New Testament, Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights (Matthew 4:2). There were 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:3).
Whether or not the number 40 really has any significance is still debated. The Bible definitely seems to use 40 to emphasize a spiritual truth, but we must point out that the Bible nowhere specifically assigns any special meaning to the number 40.
The Challenge
For the next 40 days, we will practice gratitude and positive thinking. We will follow the rules below. If one rule is missed or broken on any given day, you must start over at day 1!
- Pray each morning before beginning your workday with the following prayer (or something similar):
- Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this beautiful day that you have given me to enjoy. Thank you for my family and my home. Thank you for my job and for always providing for my family. Thank you for allowing me to serve others and help business owners on their path to success. Thank you for continuing to provide me with new opportunities and learning moments. Please guide me through this day and help me to stay strong and positive no matter what happens. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
- Stay positive, no matter what! When something negative happens (losing a deal, something going wrong), find the positive in that situation (“I am so grateful that they found a solution that works best for them! I would love to help them to save money, let me see if our marketing suite can help them.”)
- Read one Bible study lesson per day. Studies to choose from/follow (or other selections):
- 21 Days to Cultivate a Grateful Heart (21 days)
- Gratitude: Being Thankful Changes Everything (5 Days)
- Enforcing Prayer: 10 Days of Gratitude (10 days)
- Attitude of Gratitude – 7 Truths About Being Thankful (7 days)
- The Transforming Power of a Grateful Heart (5 days)
- Pray each night before bed (or something similar):
- Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this wonderful and productive day that you gave me. Thank you for allowing me to serve others, to help my company prosper, and help provide for my family. Thank you for giving me the strength to get through adversity. Please pour your peace over me as I go to bed tonight. Please pour your blessings over the lives of my family, co-workers, friends, customers, and the people that I met today. [Add any requests for help/guidance]. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Bible Verses Mentioned 40 Days of Gratitude & Positivity:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!”
Resources Mentioned:
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