One prayer is thanksgiving to God for His great goodness, for all that we receive in our life; asking God for His mercy and favor and forgiveness; asking God to grant the desires and wishes that we have. That is the first prayer. This is the first lesson that man has to learn. The other kinds of prayer can only be used as man develops.

In thanking God for all that He has given us, we develop that very thankfulness which man so usually forgets. If we could only reflect upon how many things there are in our life for which we should be thankful and appreciative! But we scarcely ever think about it. We so often think about what we have not got, and therefore keep ourselves always unhappy, when we might be thankful to have a few pennies in our purse. Instead of that, we think we should have a few shillings instead! The consequence is that man forgets to develop the thankful nature; he is unthankful to everyone, and therefore, whatever is done for him, he is still unthankful.

It is the same with all the trouble and struggle that there is in the world. It is his neglect of all that is done for him that causes the spread of unthankfulness. Having forgotten the prayer of thanking God, how can he thank man?

How that beautiful custom is disappearing of saying grace before partaking of the meal! This custom is no longer to be found at fashionable tables; only at houses where there is no fashion; for, when fashion comes, the things that are helpful, moral, and spiritual are forgotten. But what a beautiful thought it is to say grace even before a humble dinner! When thanks have been given to God, however simple the dinner may be, it becomes delicious because of the feeling of thankfulness, the feeling that this is a gift that has been bestowed upon us.

When Sa'adi was traveling to Persia, footsore because he had to walk with bare feet in the hot sun, it was so painful to walk that he was thinking, "There can be no one in the world who is so wretched and miserable as I." But two minutes did not pass before he came across a person whose feet were both useless, so that he was crawling along the ground and only progressing with great difficulty. This caused a prayer to rise in Sa'adi's heart, and he became thankful he was not afflicted like that. He thought, "If I have no shoes, at least my feet are healthy and sound."

It is when we are blind to the goodness, kindness, sympathy, service and help which our fellow men give to us, that we become discontented. There is so much to look at in our lives to excite the feeling of thankfulness in us.

Then there is the mystical meaning of thankfulness. That person who is always grudging, is so much the more in need of prayer. If he prays he will prepare influences which will remove the miseries and wretchedness in his mind, for all this misery is created by his mind during the act of grumbling and having a grudge. The person who is thankful and contented, and appreciative of all that befalls him in life, develops the sense of goodness in his life. The more appreciative he is, the more thankful he becomes and the more does he receive. Thankfulness and appreciation inevitably attract more of their like to themselves.

All that we give is also given to us. But grumbling and grudging also attract their like to ourselves. If the person to whom we give a reward or gift receives it grudgingly and grumblingly, shall we give him more? And then, the fact that we do not give him more gives him still more to grumble about! But the person who is glad and thankful and appreciative of what is done for him, you think he is so good. It gives you such a feeling and such happiness to see him happy and appreciative and contented that he encourages you to do more, and it encourages others to do good also.