Bible Verses For Gratitude help turn ordinary days into moments of thanksgiving. They teach us to give thanks in every circumstance, to remember God’s many benefits, and to see every good gift as coming from the Father’s hand. Use them at the dinner table, in a journal or in quiet prayer, and let them train your heart to notice God’s goodness in small things as well as large.
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (KJV)
Paul calls believers to rejoice, pray without ceasing and give thanks in everything, as God’s will for them.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalms 100:4-5 (KJV)
We enter God’s gates with thanksgiving because the Lord is good and His mercy lasts forever.
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 107:1 (KJV)
A simple call to thank the Lord, whose goodness and mercy endure forever.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Colossians 3:15-17 (KJV)
Thankfulness shapes how we let peace rule, sing together and do everything in Jesus’ name.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Philippians 4:6 (KJV)
Rather than worrying, we bring requests to God with prayer and thanksgiving.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:17 (KJV)
Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above, the reason gratitude points upward.
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalms 118:24 (KJV)
This is the day the Lord has made, a verse many use to begin the morning with rejoicing.
Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
Psalms 50:14 (KJV)
God asks His people to offer Him thanksgiving as a sacrifice and to keep their vows to Him.
I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
Psalms 9:1 (KJV)
David resolves to praise the Lord with his whole heart and tell of His marvellous works.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
2 Corinthians 9:15 (KJV)
Paul thanks God for His unspeakable gift, the grace given in Christ.
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Ephesians 5:20 (KJV)
We are to give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of Jesus.
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
1 Chronicles 16:34 (KJV)
From David’s song of thanks as the ark came to Jerusalem: give thanks, for the Lord is good.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalms 103:2-5 (KJV)
David tells his soul not to forget God’s benefits, listing forgiveness, healing, redemption and kindness.
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV)
A life rooted and built up in Christ overflows with thanksgiving.
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 136:1 (KJV)
This psalm’s refrain thanks God because His mercy endures forever.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
Luke 17:15-16 (KJV)
Of ten healed lepers, one turned back to thank Jesus, a picture of what gratitude looks like.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psalms 95:2 (KJV)
We come before God’s presence with thanksgiving and joyful psalms.
Gratitude grows with practice. A simple way to start is to read one of these verses each morning, perhaps Psalms 118:24, and then name three specific things you are thankful for. Writing them down in a notebook creates a record you can look back on during harder weeks.
Thanksgiving also changes how we pray. Philippians 4:6 pairs our requests with thanks, so try opening your prayers by thanking God for something He has already done before asking for what you need. Psalms 103:2-5 is a helpful guide, since it lists forgiveness, healing and daily kindness as reasons to bless the Lord.
Gratitude is easier to share than to keep to yourself. Like the healed man in Luke 17:15-16, go back and say thank you: to God in worship, and to the people He has used to help you. Reading a thanksgiving psalm together at a family meal, or sending a short note of thanks with 1 Chronicles 16:34, can spread that thankful spirit to others.
Psalm 100:4’s instruction to enter with thanksgiving works well prayed first thing in the morning, as a simple, repeatable practice before the day’s difficulties arrive.
1 Thessalonians 5:18’s instruction to give thanks “in every thing” is worth praying specifically during a difficult stretch, naming even one small thing honestly rather than forcing gratitude for the whole situation at once.
Bible Verses About Kindness and Bible Verses About Hope are good companions to this page.
Want the wider context? The complete King James Version is available at Blue Letter Bible.
Some of the same ground is covered in Bible Verses For Provision and Bible Verses For Staying Strong.
Bible Verses For Powerful Prayer and Bible Verses For Faith and Courage pick up threads that run through these verses.
If you want to keep reading, Bible Verses For Loving Your Neighbor and Bible Verses For Sadness sit close to this topic.
Readers of this page often go on to Bible Verses For Blessings or Bible Verses About Blessings.
Comparing translations can help, and Bible Gateway does that for free.
Bible Hub offers commentary and cross-references for each verse.
Return to whichever of these verses fits your day, whether gratitude comes easily right now or needs to be chosen deliberately.
These verses were never meant to sit on a page as decoration \u2014 they’re meant to shape how you actually respond the next time thankfulness feels forced during a genuinely hard week.
You don’t need polished or formal language for it \u2014 an honest, plainly worded sentence is enough, something as simple as telling God directly for gratitude that can hold both the hard and the good at the same time.
Daniel is one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of gratitude that does not depend on good news. When a decree was signed forbidding prayer to anyone but the king, Daniel went home, opened his windows toward Jerusalem, and “kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime” (Daniel 6:10). Notice the last phrase. He was not inventing a new habit under pressure. He was continuing one he had already built. He knew what the lions’ den could mean, and he still thanked God.
Years earlier, when God revealed the king’s dream to him, Daniel’s first response was thanks: “I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might” (Daniel 2:23). Thanksgiving came before he rushed to the palace with the answer.
Daniel shows that Bible verses for gratitude do their deepest work when they become a routine long before a crisis arrives. A set time, a set place and a simple prayer of thanks gave him steady ground when everything around him shifted. You do not need an open window facing Jerusalem, but you can choose a regular moment in your day when thanks is the first thing you say to God. Even a single verse such as Psalms 136:1, spoken at the same hour each day, begins to shape the heart.
Philippians is often called Paul’s letter of joy, and it is striking how much thanksgiving fills it, since Paul wrote it while in chains. He opens with “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you” (Philippians 1:3). Before any teaching or correction, he thanks God for the people who had stood with him in the gospel.
Later he explains the secret behind that attitude: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). He goes on to say that he knew both how to be abased and how to abound. Contentment, in Paul’s words, was something he learned, not something he was born with.
Reading Bible verses for gratitude alongside Philippians helps separate thankfulness from circumstances. Paul did not thank God because prison was pleasant. He gave thanks because Christ was still being preached, his friends were still praying, and God was still at work. Paul also wrote to Timothy that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6), a line that fits well beside this letter.
Among these Bible verses for gratitude, Philippians may be the most practical place to start if your own situation feels confined or uncertain.
This short plan pairs passages not already covered above with one simple action each day. Read slowly, and keep a notebook nearby. These Bible verses for gratitude work best when you respond to them in writing or out loud rather than only reading them.
By the middle of the week, notice whether your first thoughts in the morning have started to change. The second half of the plan moves from private thanks toward sharing it.
Children learn gratitude mostly by watching it. Deuteronomy 6:7 tells parents to talk of God’s words when they sit in the house, walk by the way, lie down and rise up. That describes ordinary family life, not a formal lesson, and it is exactly where thankfulness can be taught.
Short, repeatable lines work best. Psalms 107:1 and Psalms 118:24 are easy for young children to memorize, and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 suits older ones. Among these Bible verses for gratitude, choose one per month and say it together at breakfast until it sticks.
Keep it light and joyful. Gratitude that feels like a chore rarely lasts, while gratitude that feels like a shared family habit often stays for life, and children who grow up hearing Bible verses for gratitude at home tend to carry them into adulthood.
Many people read Bible verses for gratitude and quietly feel they are failing, because they assume thankfulness means feeling cheerful all the time. Scripture paints a more honest picture.
The psalms that call us to thanksgiving are often the same psalms that pour out grief and complaint. Habakkuk said he would rejoice in the Lord while the fig tree did not blossom and the stalls were empty. He named the loss plainly and still chose to trust God. Thanks can sit right beside tears. The honest lament psalms belong next to Bible verses for gratitude, not in opposition to them.
First Thessalonians 5:18 says “in every thing give thanks.” That calls us to find reasons for thanks within hard circumstances, not to celebrate evil or sickness itself.
Ingratitude is treated seriously in the Bible. Romans 1:21 describes people who knew God but “glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.” Thanks is part of honoring God, and it often shows up publicly, in worship, in how we speak of others and in generosity.
Understood this way, Bible verses for gratitude become an invitation rather than a test you must pass.
Use this prayer slowly, pausing at each line to add your own words. It draws on Bible verses for gratitude quoted throughout this collection, so you can pray Scripture back to God.
Father, I come into Your presence with thanksgiving, because You are good and Your mercy endures forever. Thank You that Your compassions are new this morning, and that every good and perfect gift in my life has come from You. Forgive me for the times I have taken Your kindness for granted, or noticed only what I lack.
Thank You for the people You have placed around me, especially (name them). Thank You for the needs You have already met, and for the ones You are meeting even now in ways I cannot see. Where my heart feels heavy, teach me, like Paul, to be content, and like Habakkuk, to rejoice in You even when the fields look empty.
Let praise be continually in my mouth, as David wrote in Psalms 34:1. Help me to say thank you today, to You and to others, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you want more verses to pray this way, the collection of Bible verses about gratitude and thankfulness and these Bible verses about prayer make good next steps.
Read Psalm 136 out loud and you’ll notice within three lines what the writer is doing. Every one of the twenty-six verses ends with the same clause, “for his mercy endureth for ever.” The first verse says, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good.” Scholars think the psalm was sung back and forth in worship, a leader calling out one line of God’s works and the whole congregation answering with the refrain. Picture a crowded temple court where the people didn’t need a printed sheet, because their part never changed.
That design teaches something about thankfulness that a single sentence can’t. The psalm moves from creation, the sun and moon in their places, to the exodus, the wilderness, and a few hard battles, and the answer is identical each time. The refrain doesn’t shrink when the story gets violent or strange. It keeps pace with history. For anyone trying to start the habit, this is a handy pattern. Make your own short list of what God has done in your life, the plain facts, and after each one say the same closing line. You may find that the repeated answer does something the list alone doesn’t. It stitches the good days and the rough ones into one story with one steady character at the center of it.
David opens Psalm 103 by talking to himself, which is a very human thing to do. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” He then spends several verses naming them, and the list is worth reading slowly. God forgives iniquities, heals diseases, redeems life from destruction, crowns a person with lovingkindness and tender mercies, and satisfies the mouth with good things. Notice the order. Forgiveness leads. The writer starts with the thing he needed most before he mentions anything about his health or his daily bread.
The warning in the verse is about memory, not feeling. Forgetting is the easy default. A person gets through a scare, whispers a quick thank-you, and by the next month the whole event has faded into background. David’s answer is to say the benefits out loud, one by one, so they can’t slip away unlabeled. Be careful with the line about healing, though. It isn’t a promise that every illness ends the way we pray, and the Bible itself records faithful people who stayed sick. Read it as a statement about who God is and what he has done for the speaker, and when you’re ill yourself, lean on good medical care and honest conversation with people who love you while you pray.
It’s easy to think gratitude in Scripture only flows upward, from us to God. But open Philippians 1:3 and you’ll hear Paul say, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” He is thanking God for actual people, the church in Philippi, and he tells them so in a letter they would read aloud together. Romans 16 is even more specific. The chapter is mostly a list of names, Phoebe who helped many, Priscilla and Aquila who risked their necks for him, and a number of others he singles out one at a time.
That kind of naming is a spiritual practice we tend to skip because it feels small. Yet most of what God has given any of us arrived through somebody’s hands: a teacher who stayed after class, a neighbor who drove you to the hospital, a coworker who covered a shift. A thankful life leaves room to say so directly. Try writing one real note this week, by hand if you can, and make it specific about what the person did and what it meant to you. Don’t attach a request. Paul never wrote his thanks as a setup for a favor. He just let people know they had been seen, and he treated that as a way of honoring the God who sent them.
There is a prayer in the Gospels that begins with perfectly good words and goes sour by the second sentence. In Luke 18:11 a Pharisee stands in the temple and prays, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are.” He then lists the people he’s glad he isn’t, and he even glances at the tax collector standing nearby. Jesus tells the story to people who trusted in themselves, and the man who goes home right with God is the one who could barely lift his eyes and asked for mercy.
The lesson isn’t that thanks is dangerous. It’s that gratitude can be hijacked. We can say thank you for our comfortable life and quietly mean that we deserve it more than the next family does. That posture is easy to spot in someone else and very hard to notice in ourselves. A simple test helps. A grateful prayer keeps its eyes on the giver and on the gift, while a comparing prayer keeps checking the neighbor’s yard. If you catch yourself rehearsing how much better you’re doing than someone else, stop and start again with what God did, in plain words, without a second person in the sentence. Humility and thankfulness grow in the same soil, and the Pharisee’s mistake was thinking he had grown them alone.
More verse collections related to this page: Bible Verses About Gratitude, Bible Verses About Gratitude and Thankfulness, Bible Verses For Gratitude and Thankfulness, Bible Verses About Faith and Bible Verses About Hope.
If you want to dig further, Blue Letter Bible, Bible Gateway and Bible Hub are good places to start.
Gratitude grows with practice. A simple way to start is to read one of these verses each morning, perhaps Psalms 118:24, and then name three specific things you are thankful for.
This page brings together 25 King James Version references about gratitude, drawn from 15 different books of the Bible.
Psalms 118:24 is one of the verses about gratitude referenced in this collection, alongside Philippians 4:6.
Yes, the verses referenced on this page, including Psalms 118:24, are quoted according to the King James Version (KJV), and are suitable for daily reading, memorization, or devotional use.
Beyond the references highlighted on this page, gratitude appears throughout Scripture in books such as Psalms, Philippians, Luke, 1 Chronicles, Psalm; this collection focuses on some of the clearest examples.
