As we give our hearts to God, one foremost emotion must surely be gratitude. We have so much for which to be thankful. We owe our existence to our Creator. We owe our health and well-being to our Provider. We owe every spiritual blessing, including hope for eternal life, to our Father who gave His Son to heal us from our sins. Jesus had His own reasons for thanks, and He often expressed His thanks in prayer.
In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will” (Luke 10:21 cf. Matthew 11:25-26).
He took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds (Matthew 15:36 cf. Matthew 14:19; Mark 8:6-7; Luke 9:16; John 6:11, 23).
Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that you have heard Me” (John 11:41).
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28 cf. Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
Notice in Matthew 26 that giving thanks for the food has the same basic meaning as blessing it. The original word in New Testament Greek for blessing is eulogeo. Eu means good, and logeo refers to speaking—hence “to speak well of.” So this is thanks that speaks well of—that praises—God who gives the gift. Jesus thanked and praised His Father with all His heart, spirit and mind. We are far from perfect. But we choose His direction, and seek to pour all that we are into our prayers.