Last week Thursday, a friend introduced me to the “1000 Thank You Jesus” prayer. I never knew of it until then. Immediately I became fascinated with it. It was an answered prayer as I have been wanting to upgrade my prayer of gratitude.

I searched for it on YouTube and found it. I was awestruck and fell even more in love with it when I heard the introductory prayer. The soothing background music helped me to relax and concentrate. It was and is still simply beautiful and peaceful.

I downloaded and prayed it on my one-hour commute from work to home. I was so excited about it, and I shared the link with many friends and relatives of the same faith as me. Surprisingly, they were already aware of it. I went to bed with it and let it play all night long.

On Saturday, Sweetheart and John were clearing out our garage and putting away our Christmas decorations items in the attic. I was removing the roof Christmas lights still pending on our roof edges and cleaning out our roof gutters. I was playing my Thank You Jesus prayer in the background. Occasionally, I got went down the ladder for a drink or restroom break through the garage.

By the time I was through, Sweetheart and John were already through. As I came through our living room, John called my attention:

“Hey, dad, I need to ask you a question.”

Me: “Ok.”

John: “Why are they saying, ‘thank you, Jesus, repeatedly and you’ve been listening to it all morning? And I don’t mean it in a bad way.”

Me: “I’m glad that you asked. That means you have been paying attention. Thank you. Let me first play the introduction for you and we can talk a little bit. It’s very short; less than a minute.”

Then I rewind it to the beginning and we listened to the introduction. Here it is:

In this Rosary, we thank Jesus 1000 times. We often spend time praying for special intentions and seldom take the time to give Him thanks. Lord Jesus Christ, I am here to thank You for what You have done for my past life, present, and future, and also what You have suffered for me in Gethsemane; finally for giving Yourself entirely as food for my soul under the appearances of Bread and Wine in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Transcribed Intro to 1000 Thank You Jesus

Me: “That was pretty straightforward right?”

John: “Yeah.”

Me: “So imagine how we constantly pray and make requests for everything we want. Won’t it be nice if we can come back and tell Jesus “Thank You,” as much as we ask Him for stuff? As the introduction, says we thank Him for what He’s done for us, what He’s doing right now, and what He has already done for us in our future.”

John: (Nodded his head) “Yep.”

Me: “Good. Imagine that He has already answered your prayer request about your aspirations and by the time you get there, He is already there waiting for you with it. Isn’t that mind-blowing and makes you want to thank Him as much?”

John took a deep breath and exhaled, “yeah!”

Me: “So this prayer makes it easy for me to do so. And it’s enjoyable and relaxing. Listen again… Right?”

He nodded quietly.

Me: “As for the repetition, I believed it is based on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, where the tax collector beat his chest in remorse and asked for God’s mercy. Let’s look at it.”

I pulled up Luke 18:9-14 and we read it.

Me: “Well, it doesn’t say the tax collector beat his chest repeatedly, but I imagine that it wasn’t once. Well, I don’t why I went to this scripture but it’s what came to mind. The overall idea is that we need to spend time thanking God just as much as we ask Him for our needs. Do you get it?”

John: “Yes.”

Me: “One last question, who do you think will be easier to deal with, the grateful person or the one who is constantly asking for stuff?”

John: “The grateful one.”

Me: “Me too. Again, I’m glad that you asked.”

He just gave his usual smile which he does when he’s paid a compliment.”

On my “About Me” page, I mentioned that all of life’s occurrences are likely explainable if you apply your belief system or school of thought. My faith directly inspires my parenting style. Often, it is how I practice my faith that invites my children to engage with it more than lecturing them about it. My Christian faith is what I know as handed to me by my parents until I took ownership of it. It is my mission to do the same for my children, especially through my commitment to and practicing it. Hopefully, I will play my role well enough for them to continue accepting and owning it for themselves. So help me God. Amen. Thank You, Jesus!

• 1/16/2023