Thanksgiving is far more than good manners or polite behavior, it is a spiritual responsibility. Scripture makes it clear that thanksgiving is not optional for the believer; it is a gateway into God’s presence and power.
Psalm 100:4 declares, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”
The implication is unmistakable: without thanksgiving, gates remain closed. Thanksgiving grants access – access to God’s presence, His peace, His provision, and His wholeness.
A thankful heart is a powerful heart. A thankful believer is a victorious believer.
The enemy understands this truth, which is why he actively works to erect barriers: spiritual, emotional, mental, and circumstantial, that block gratitude. When thanksgiving is shut down, faith weakens, joy fades, and spiritual sensitivity dulls.
Using the account of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11–19, we would be looking at the five major barriers to a thankful heart and how they can be overcome.
The Biblical Foundation: Luke 17:11–19
As Jesus traveled through Samaria and Galilee, He encountered ten lepers who stood at a distance and cried out for mercy. Jesus instructed them to go and show themselves to the priests, and as they went, they were cleansed.
Yet something striking happened next.
Only one returned, lifting his voice, glorifying God, and falling at Jesus’ feet to give thanks. Jesus then asked a sobering question: “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?”
This story reveals a powerful truth: receiving a miracle does not automatically produce gratitude. Thanksgiving is a choice, and many fail to make it because of hidden barriers.
1. The Barrier of Blessing Blindness
Blessing blindness is the inability to recognize God’s hand at work. The blind do not see protection. The blind do not see provision. The blind do not see God working behind the scenes.
Luke 17:15 says, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned…”
Thanksgiving began the moment awareness was activated.
Gratitude is the result of seeing.
Psalm 68:19 reminds us, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits.”
The question then becomes: what benefits has God loaded you with today, this year, or in past years?
When blessings are unnoticed, gratitude disappears. Those who constantly complain about how badly the year has gone are often suffering from blessing blindness. Awareness produces thanksgiving; blindness produces complaint.
2. The Barrier of Entitlement Mentality
Out of ten healed lepers, only one returned. Beyond blessing blindness, another issue plagued the remaining nine: entitlement.
The Samaritan understood he was undeserving, both socially and spiritually. The others, likely Jews, felt entitled to the miracle. In their minds, Jesus was only doing what He was supposed to do.
Acts 10:38 says Jesus went about doing good, and entitlement twists this truth into expectation rather than appreciation.
Thankfulness says, “I am grateful for the job I got.”
Entitlement says, “I deserve a bigger paycheck.”
The entitled rarely see miracles, they see rights. And when everything feels deserved, nothing feels worthy of thanks.
3. The Barrier of Forgetfulness
The nine lepers forgot who they were just moments earlier.
Psalm 103:1–2 warns us, “Bless the Lord, O my soul… and forget not all His benefits.”
Forgetfulness is not merely a weakness, it is spiritual leakage. It drains memory and disconnects the heart from God’s past mercies. In spiritual matters, forgetfulness can lead people into murmuring, rebellion, and ingratitude, just as it did with Israel.
Signs of spiritual forgetfulness include: counting losses while ignoring blessings, remembering pain but forgetting deliverance, magnifying current challenges while minimizing past miracles.
When memory fades, gratitude fades with it.
4. The Barrier of Comparison
2 Corinthians 10:12 states, “They that compare themselves with themselves are not wise.”
Comparison is a silent thief of thanksgiving. It shifts focus from what God is doing in your life to what He is doing in someone else’s. Comparison kills joy, distorts God’s fairness, and breeds dissatisfaction. It blinds you to your portion and robs you of contentment.
What God is doing in your neighbor’s life is not a threat, it is a testimony.
If He did it for them, He can do it for you.
5. The Barrier of Discouragement
Discouragement often strikes when prayers seem delayed and situations remain unchanged. When discouragement sets in, praise disappears, worship fades, and complaints take over.
David captured this internal struggle in Psalm 42:11:
“Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him.”
Discouragement is inevitable, but surrendering to it is optional.
King Hezekiah offers a powerful model in 2 Kings 19. When threatened by Assyria, he did not panic or complain, he took the letter to God, spread it before Him, and worshipped before praying.
Who you run to first determines the direction your faith will follow. When discouraging news arrives, whether from the office or the doctor, carry it to God with thanksgiving.
Overcoming All Barriers to a Thankful Heart
The ultimate solution is perspective shift. Worship requires turning focus from self to God. It means recognizing God as the author of your story, present not only in blessings, but also in trials.
Psalm 16:11 declares, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.”
This presence is not limited to church gatherings. God is omnipresent.
He was with: Joseph in prison, Paul and Silas in chains, Daniel in the lion’s den, The three Hebrew boys in the fire, David before Goliath, Jesus on the cross.
The real problem is not what is missing in our situation, it is forgetting who is present with us in it.
Say this prayer: O Lord, help me to always see you in the entirety of the affairs of my life, in Jesus name. Amen.
