Read: Luke 17

Some  friends and I have a WhatsApp group which we call ‘Hotline’. When someone has something to pray about we post in the group and we all pray individually. Sometimes the needs are personal but usually we are praying for other people and situations.

As we have prayed we have seen God heal several very sick babies, bring healing to those at death’s door or facing life threatening illness, comfort the bereaved, seen babies born to those who had experienced previous unsuccessful IVF treatment, a house sold when it seemed like it might take a lot longer. And all that has happened just since June! God has been good.

When we hear the answers to prayer that come in response to our heartfelt cries, we are so grateful to God but this passage challenged me. As I have read back over our texts, we are often thrilled by the results but maybe not always expressing our specific thanks to God who answered our prayer.

That’s the way it was for the Lepers too. They all had a level of faith, and a sense of desperation which led them to cry out to Jesus for his help, asking that he would show them pity. But for one it was not just about believing and experiencing God’s touch. His return to give thanks to Jesus meant that he had a deeper experience – he was not only healed but beyond that he was made whole. Everything he had lost because of the leprosy was restored, he connected not just with the miraculous result but with the source of the miracle.

 I am so grateful that I have been drawn into a relationship with Jesus and that I am touched by him in every fibre of my being – I wouldn’t swap that for the world.  And if gratitude is a key to feeling that more – then I want to be practicing an ‘attitude of gratitude’ much more often!