Let's Learn to Savor

Sit in thankfulness rather than run right by it.

I have been reading Hannah Brencher’s advent series this month where she is digging deep into the story of Jesus for the 24 days leading up to Christmas, and Day 6 had something that really stood out to me.

She wrote:

“Do you savor before you share things? Do you even savor, or do you just move into the next prayer request on your list?”

She was discussing our tendency to immediately post good things on social media, anxious for feedback or attention. She was asking if we’d lost our ability to simply sit in the good things, the blessings given to us throughout the year—throughout the day even—or if we have become too flippant, too hungry for our next fix.

When we pray, we often have specific prayers in mind, things we long for. And sometimes we pray for those things over and over and over, waiting patiently (and at times impatiently) for an answer to those prayers. But then, if those specific prayers are answered, how often do we simply sit in the wonder of that blessing? How often do we wake up thanking God for that blessing as fervently as we asked for it?

How often do we check a box on our list and move on to the next?

Yes, thank you God for _____, but NOW I want_____.

This was a convicting question for me.

I would like to hope that I prioritize gratefulness in my life as best I can. I try to thank God often for the many good things I have been given. But there are prayers that I pray consistently that perhaps blind me to the blessings I already have. Things I want that overshadow the things I receive. Desires of my heart that make everything else feel small in comparison.

What would change about my prayer life if I better savored every good thing? If found wonder in the smallest blessings rather than passing them off as “good but not great.” How would my prayers, my patience, my outlook on life change if I did better to sit in the goodness of every day. To savor the many blessings that are available to find, even on the hardest day.

I often end my prayers with, “help me find all the blessings you have for me today,” and to be honest, I don’t think I’m very good at it. Because I still put my blinders on, waiting for a very specific answer, a very specific blessing, and get disappointed when I don’t find it.

Don’t you hear me? I want to say.

And I imagine God must be up there like, yes, and I’ve sent you SO MANY GOOD THINGS today and yet you haven’t bothered to notice any of them.

So I am making it a point savor. To notice the good things I already have, and to be grateful for the blessings and answers to prayers I receive. To sit in thankfulness rather than let it pass me by, or trade it in quickly for the desire for more.

There are so many blessings to be found in each and every day, may we all have better eyes to see them.