It was one of the shortest prayers I’ve ever heard anyone offer at our Saturday morning men’s Bible study session, but it caught my attention.

Perhaps it was my propensity to pray in paragraphs that prompted me to take note of this single-sentence offering to the Almighty.

Or it could’ve been the stark contrast to prayers that are normally laden with requests for oneself and for others.

Maybe it was the sincere simplicity…you be the judge.

In a voice that quivered with emotion, he said: “Lord, there is a lot I can pray about this morning…but for now, all I want to say is ‘I love you’ and ‘Thank you.’ Amen.”

You may have heard elsewhere that these are two of the three most important phrases that could be uttered in marriage by one partner to the other (the third one being, ‘I am sorry’).

We all have this need to be loved and to be appreciated. Chances are the relationships we value the most are those in which we are able to give and receive both love and appreciation.

Is that not true of our relationship with God as well?

The pages of the Bible contain numerous reminders of a God who repeatedly reassures His children that they are loved.  e.g. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).

These words are addressed collectively to the people of Israel, while the following declaration is directed to one individual, Jesus: “You are my Son, whom I love.” (Luke 3:22).

We are also urged to express love and appreciation to God, as in Deuteronomy 6:5:  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

The words “I love you” always elicit a response, don’t they?

Psalm 18:1 is one example of how the recipients of God’s declaration of love reciprocate with their own recitation: “I love you, O LORD, my strength.”

Similarly the encouragement to “give thanks”, i.e. to express appreciation, is found in verses such as this: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever” (I Chronicles 16:34).

Responses abound, such as this one from Psalm 75:1—“We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; we tell of your wonderful deeds.”

Perhaps the main reason this prayer caught my attention was because it had captured the essence of worship in two simple phrases.

The word “worship” comes from “Worth-ship”, which simply means to give God worth.

Worship is not a time for “gimme” prayers or a time to “get” something.

It is a time to celebrate and cement our relationship to Jesus, which the apostle Paul described as that between a bride and a bridegroom. (Ephesians 5:22-33)

What better way to do this than to simply say: “I love you” and “Thank you?”

Perhaps it will not surprise you to learn that Ches Staley offered this prayer on the very same day that he and Grace celebrated the 40^th anniversary of their marriage.

Would you pray with him this way?

“Lord, there is a lot I can pray about this morning…but for now, all I want to say is ‘I love you’ and ‘Thank you.’ Amen.”