How Gratitude Rewires the Soul: The Surprising Power of Thankfulness
Written by Rob Shive, MA, LPC â Founder & CEO, Oakland Hills Counseling, LLC
Intro â Questions to Consider
What if gratitude isnât just a feeling that follows the good moments of life, but a spiritual practice that creates them?
What if learning to give thanks in all circumstances, as Scripture teaches us, could actually rewire your emotional world and help you live with more peace, resilience, and connection to God?
Most of us treat gratitude as an afterthought, like something we feel once life goes our way. I know I certainly have. But Scripture teaches us something radically different. Gratitude is a discipline or a spiritual practice, not a reaction. Itâs the deliberate and purposeful reorientation of our hearts toward Godâs goodness, even when your feelings lag behind. Itâs not pretending everything is okay; itâs remembering the reality that God is with us!
Insights â Dynamic to Understand
The human brain wasnât designed to make you happy; it was designed to keep you alive. Social scientists call this the negativity bias. We have a built-in alarm system that automatically scans our world for whatâs wrong, missing, or threatening. This reflexive bias was helpful for our ancestors who were threatened by predators or famine, but itâs not a helpful psychophysiological system for cultivating joy or spiritual peace in modern life.
Every day your mind collects evidence to produce and maintain fear, frustration, or disappointment. This just runs in the background on autopilot. Gratitude interrupts that instinctive habit. It shifts our mental focus from threat detection to grace detection. It teaches the nervous system to rest, the heart to expand, and the soul to recognize Godâs presence in places it was once overlooked.
Neuroscientists have found that practicing consistent gratitude increases activity in the medial prefrontal cortexâthe part of the brain linked to empathy, moral awareness, and positive emotion.š In other words, the simple act of giving thanks to God doesnât just change your mood, it actually changes your brainâs neurological structure(s).
Spiritually, the same truth has been practiced for centuries. The Psalms are filled with examples of Godâs people moving from lament to gratitude. âWhy, my soul, are you downcast? . . . Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my Godâ (Psalm 42:11). Gratitude is the bridge between despair and hope, and often turns the soul from self-preoccupation to spiritual awareness of Godâs presence.
As a counselor, I have had the privilege of watching brave clients discover that practicing gratitude doesnât deny pain, it reframes it. It helps them locate grace and Godâs presence while inside the hardship, not just after itâs gone.
Gratitude is more than a positive feeling when things are going our way; it’s a spiritual practice that transforms your heart to notice and honor God’s presence.
Integration â Research to Inform
Gratitude has been studied across nearly every field of psychologyâfrom neuroscience to clinical therapy, to behavioral medicineâand the findings consistently affirm what Scripture has said for millennia: thanksgiving transforms the soul.
A team of researchers at the University of California found that people who intentionally recorded blessings for just ten weeks reported higher levels of joy, better sleep, and greater optimism compared to those who focused on daily hassles.² Brain-imaging studies later confirmed that writing gratitude letters to friends or family members or keeping a gratitude journal literally strengthens neural pathways associated with emotional regulation and empathy.³ Amazing!
But gratitudeâs influence doesnât stop in the mind, it also shows up in the body. A study of heart patients completed in 2015 discovered that those who cultivated daily gratitude had lower levels of inflammation and better sleep quality than those who didnât.â´ In short, gratitude lowers our stress response and increases our peace response, even within our nervous system.
Itâs no coincidence that the word thanksgiving in Scripture is often tied to peace. Philippians 4:6â7 reminds us, âDo not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesusâ (Philippians 4:6â7).
Modern research is simply catching up to divine design. Gratitude changes not only how we feel, but how we functionâneurologically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The human brain wasnât designed to make you happy; it was designed to keep you alive. Social scientists call it the negativity bias. We have a built-in alarm system that automatically scans our world for whatâs wrong, missing, or threatening.
Formation â Principle to Practice
Again, gratitude is not a denial of suffering; itâs an act of faith in the middle of it. The Apostle Paul, writing from prison, urged believers to âGive thanks in all circumstances; for this is Godâs will for you in Christ Jesus.â (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV)
Notice he didnât say for all circumstances, but in them. Gratitude is the humble attitude of trusting God that says, âEven here, God is still working. Iâm choosing to trust Him.â Itâs the antidote to despair because it realigns our heart with reality, the reality of a sovereign and good God.
Spiritually, gratitude acts as a magnifying glass. Whatever we focus on gets bigger. When we magnify the problem, anxiety grows. When we magnify Godâs faithfulness, peace begins to grow. Gratitude doesnât erase pain, but it reveals that Godâs presence is larger than it.
In counseling people whose lives were marked by trauma or disappointment, Iâve seen that the turning point often comes when they begin to practice gratitude not as a feeling, but as an act of worship and humble obedience. As one client said to me, âGratitude didnât make my pain disappear, it gave a way to hold on to God in the midst of my suffering.â
âWe are surrounded by Godâs benefits. The best use of these benefits is an unceasing expression of gratitude.â â John Calvin
Scripture â Truth to Claim
There’s a lot of buzz these days about the personal benefits of practicing gratitude, which is a good thing, we just listed a few. But, gratitude is more than a self-help project. At Oakland Hills Counseling, we’re aiming for something much deeper than positive feelings, we all want that. Cultivating gratitude as a spiritual practice is about character transformation and an ever-growing capacity to experience closeness with God. Again, gratitude is an act of worship where our souls connect with the God of the universe! Itâs a spiritual lens that reveals Godâs goodness where fear once blocked our spiritual eyes. Itâs a declaration that the story isnât over, that redemption is unfolding even when itâs hard to see.
When we give thanks, we are saying to our souls:Â God you are still trustworthy, thank you!
David modeled this in Psalm 103, âPraise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefitsâwho forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassionâ (Psalm 103:1â4).
Gratitude restores memoryâour spiritual memory. We remember who God is, what Heâs done, and who we are in Him. When we remember, peace will eventually return.
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” Â (Psalms 100:4-5)
Application â Step to Take
I donât know about you, but giving thanks in the middle of suffering and difficulty is a lot easier said than done. And, as we discussed earlier, we all have a negative bias that tends to focus on whatever feels wrong, threatening, or painful. So, we all need help and practice with emotional and spiritual re-formation, building a new habit of gratitude. Start small. Before bed tonight, take five minutes to name three specific things youâre grateful forâpeople, moments, or simple gifts. Write them down, then pray a short prayer like this:
âLord, thank You for these gifts. Thank You for Your presence today. Teach me to notice Your goodness tomorrow, and that you are with me, even in the hard and painful places in my life.â
Try this for at least seven days. Watch how your outlook begins to shift, how sleep comes easier, and how your heart grows softer. Once again, gratitude will not erase hardship, but in time, it will keep hardship from erasing hope.
As you continue this spiritual formational practice, remember that gratitude is a spiritual muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it gets. And over time, gratitude doesnât just change how you feel, it changes who youâre becoming. And, that’s worth being grateful for!
Reflection â Deeper Dive
- What are three small blessings you can thank God for today?
- Where might gratitude help reframe something painful in your current season?
- How could you use thanksgiving as a spiritual rhythm, not just a reaction?
- Who could I share with and will support my growth-steps in the practice of gratitude?
Author Byline
Rob Shive, MA, LPC â Founder & CEO, Oakland Hills Counseling, LLC
www.oaklandhillscounseling.com  | Follow us: Instagram
Endnotes
- Kini, P., Wong, J., McInnis, S., Gabana, N., & Brown, J. W. (2016). The effects of gratitude expression on neural activity. NeuroImage, 128, 1â10.
- Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377â389.
- Davis, D. E., et al. (2016). Thankful for the little things: A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(1), 20â31.
- Mills, P. J., et al. (2015). The role of gratitude in spiritual well-being, sleep, and inflammatory markers in heart failure patients. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 2(1), 5â17.
