Timely Thanks for Favors Received

I have always had a problem remembering to thank God for favors received. Sometimes I get lucky and do it on the spot, as soon as I recognize that he has answered a specific prayer request. Other times, hours or days later, I remember I owe a "Thank you, Lord."

The closer I get to him, the more I pray, the more I recognize the answers to prayers when they come through. Some answers, however, do not appear for days or months or even years.

At those times, I think lovingly of my mother, gone since '94 at age 76. She prayed for years that this eldest daughter of hers (me) would be able to shrug off her alcohol addiction and come back to earth and to the standards she had taught all three of us kids. It took me 17 years (in my 20s and 30s) to crawl out of that bottle. How happy she must have been when her prayers were finally answered.

Thinking of cases like that, I am not foolish enough to expect immediate answers to prayers. But I figure I should at least have the decency to remember to thank him for the really quick replies to my prayer requests. If a friend or loved one did me a favor, I know I would be quick with my thanks. He certainly deserves a lot more from me.

Dear God, please fill me with the grace to be gracious and generous with my gratitude when you bless me with answers to my prayers; and when I do forget or delay in thanking you, please understand that it is not because I do not care.