I began Inscribe the Word Scripture Writing Plans in 2016, and every year, I am in awe of how God uses these plans to bring hundreds of thousands of people to Scripture. I am humbled and honored to bring this resource to you.

This year, our theme is The Spiritual Disciplines. By placing daily spiritual rhythms in our lives, my husband and I have decided to rebuild our lives around our apprenticeship to Jesus.

Each month in 2022, we will focus on a new spiritual discipline. I will also be including some books and resources to help you put that discipline into practice in your everyday lives. In January, we inscribed verses focused on Sabbath Rest. This February, our Scripture passages were on prayer. In March, we continued our study of the Spiritual Disciplines and studied Fasting. In April, we focused on the beauty of Praise & Worship, and in May, Silence and Solitude. In June, we spent our time studying what Scripture says about Hospitality. In July, Celebration. As the summer came to a close in August, we inscribed Meditation. The crispness of Autumn brought Scripture Memorization to our hearts in September and Forgiveness in October.

My prayer is that you see these not as legalistic rules but as ways to Abide in the Vine each and every day. (John 15:1-8)

Gratitude.

There was no question in my mind that GRATITUDE would be the discipline for the month of November.

In The States, we are surrounded by all of the trimmings of the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Turkeys are filling the store shelves along with the McCormick spices display that rings in the season of family, baking, and long talks around the table. Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday.

But thanksgiving or gratitude isn't something that we focus on during the month of November, to leave it outside when December 1st rolls around. Gratitude is a posture of our hearts that says, "In ALL things, at ALL times, and in ALL seasons, I will give thanks." Gratitude as a spiritual discipline is something that we can cultivate and put into practice daily.

As we have been going through The Spiritual Disciplines this year, the words of Adele Ahlberg Calhoun in The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook ring true once again. If you haven’t purchased this book, do it today!

“Thankfulness is a thread that can bind together all the patchwork squares of our lives. Difficult times, happy days, seasons of sickness, hours of bliss—all can be sewn together into something lovely with the thread of thankfulness. Jesus was especially good at doing this. Once he was in a tough situation with a lot of hungry people on his hands, and all he had were five loaves of bread and two fish. He could have complained that God shouldn’t expect him to feed five thousand people with so little. But Jesus didn’t write off the loaves and fish as nothing. He noticed what was given and “gave thanks” for it (Mark 6:41). And in these less-than-perfect circumstances, God supplied all that was needed.
Thanksgiving is possible not because everything goes perfectly but because God is present. The Spirit of God is within us—nearer to us than our own breath. It is a discipline to choose to stitch our days together with the thread of gratitude. But the decision to do so is guaranteed to stitch us closer to God. Attend to the truth that “bidden or unbidden, God is present.

How to Practice Gratitude This Month

Along with our Inscribe the Word plan, here are some ways to practice Gratitude as a spiritual discipline this month.

Create a playlist of music that include worship songs of praise and thanksgiving. Sing them throughout the month.
When you pray, start by thanking God for who He is.
Express gratitude to others. Get in the habit of saying “thank you,” “I am so grateful,” “you are so kind,” and so forth. Especially to the people you are closest with. (Spouse, children, family, relatives, co-workers)
Keep a Gratitude Journal jotting down 5 things each night that you are grateful for.
Keep a Blessing Journal by jotting down 5 blessings in your life each night. This creates a mentality that is centered on abundance instead of scarcity, and a mind that is focused on The Blessed One.

Below is a list of resources that have helped me as I continue to practice Generosity throughout the year.

Websites, Videos & Podcasts

Gratitude Research by Soul Shepherding
Thankfulness: The Way of Jesus by Soul Shepherding
Evening: Pray Gratitude by Bridgetown Church
Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier by Harvard Health Publishing