I hand my children cookies. I buckle them up in their car seats. I help them with their art projects. I drive them to soccer practice. I pay for their instrument lessons.

Whatever I do for them can almost always be followed with the question, “What do you say?” My hope is that they’ll respond with two of the most powerful words in the universe: “Thank you.”

Why do I ask this question? Well, I don’t ask because I need to hear the words “thank you” come back to me. I ask for the words because I want my child to be grateful. It might begin with them just saying the words. But I hope in time that expression becomes a feeling, and then a way of living. It’s moving from just SAYING “thank you” to BEING grateful.

The scriptures are filled with God asking his children to thank Him. Psalm 100 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving. …” 1 Thessalonians 5 says, “In everything give thanks. …” Those are just a couple of examples. Yet, like me, (and I learned this from Him, not the other way around) God doesn’t need our gratitude. He desires grateful hearts.

There are definitely times when being grateful is more challenging than others. Bad decisions or unfortunate circumstances can move our hearts away from being thankful. It’s not just an individual challenge either. It seems like our country is running low on gratitude. I can think of a variety of reasons why this is the case. We can watch the news or read our Facebook feed and see the evidence that there is a lack of gratitude. It honestly doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you fall on, ingratitude is a prevalent reality.

There are many reasons why, of course. But just looking at the reasons or even solving them won’t flip the gratitude switch. We need to take a step back and consider that we aren’t grateful because we aren’t aware that anyone is asking for, or worthy of, our gratitude. One of the reasons we lack gratitude is because we don’t hear the question, “What do you say?” The reason we don’t hear the question is because we are not listening to the one asking it.

The more we ignore God, the less we hear his request for our gratitude. By ignoring the One who calls for our gratitude, we disregard the reasons to be thankful. It’s no wonder that our gratitude turns to grumbling. It’s no wonder that thankful hearts are replaced by thankless words. If we are beholden to no one, we will only be grateful as long as we get what we want — and only then. This is when thanksgiving becomes about us, when it should ultimately be about someone else.

I don’t just ask my kids the question so they get better at saying thank you. I ask them the question so they can be reminded that someone else deserves their gratitude. No one deserves our gratitude more than our Creator, our Savior, our Provider, our Sustainer.  The only One who is ultimately good.

In this season, as we approach Thanksgiving, let’s remind others that there is someone who is worthy of gratitude. Let us set the example in our worship and in our thanksgiving. We are called to BE grateful and to give thanks in ALL circumstances. We might be the only voice they hear that asks the question, “What do you say?”