Discouraged? Thank You, Father

 Psalm 116

1)  I love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications. 

2) Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. 

Under His Wing, we have all of God's love and attention.  As we confess our sins we know God is listening to every word of love and supplication and gratitude. Supplication: the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly.

 

A recent study shows the benefit of turning our stress over to God.

The science of gratitude:  UCDavis

• Keeping a gratitude diary for two weeks produced sustained reductions in perceived stress (28 percent) and depression (16 percent) in health-care practitioners.
• Gratitude is related to 23 percent lower levels of stress hormones (cortisol).
• Practicing gratitude led to a 7-percent reduction in biomarkers of inflammation in patients with congestive heart failure.
• Two gratitude activities (counting blessings and gratitude letter writing) reduced the risk of depression in at-risk patients by 41 percent over a six month period.
• Dietary fat intake is reduced by as much as 25 percent when people are keeping a gratitude journal.
• A daily gratitude practice can decelerate the effects of neurodegeneration (as measured by a 9 percent increase in verbal fluency) that occurs with increasing age.
• Grateful people have 16 percent lower diastolic blood pressure and 10 percent lower systolic blood pressure compared to those less grateful.
• Grateful patients with Stage B asymptomatic heart failure were 16 percent less depressed, 20 percent less fatigued and 18 percent more likely to believe they could control the symptoms of their illness compared to those less grateful.
• Older adults administered the neuropeptide oxytocin showed a 12 percent increase in gratitude compared to those given a placebo
• Writing a letter of gratitude reduced feelings of hopelessness in 88 percent of suicidal inpatients and increased levels of optimism in 94 percent of them.
• Grateful people (including people grateful to God) have between 9-13 percent lower levels of Hemoglobin A1c, a key marker of glucose control that plays a significant role in the diagnosis of diabetes.
• Gratitude is related to a 10 percent improvement in sleep quality in patients with chronic pain, 76 percent of whom had insomnia, and 19 percent lower depression levels.