You’re having a rough day. A problem came up at work. You had a low-level argument with your spouse. You received bad news: A relative’s health took a turn for the worse. You broke your favorite coffee mug. The kitchen sink sprang a leak. There doesn’t seem to be too much to be cheerful about, does there?

The next time your day gets you down, try this spiritual exercise.

The concept is simple. Jesus is the Prince of Peace1 and we can enjoy no greater peace than spending time with Him. The Bible tells us a sure way to get close to Him: We can enter into His presence through thanksgiving and praise2.

 It is through praising God, even for the difficulties we face, that we find God’s joy, which gives us strength3 to make it through them. Praise brings joy, and joy brings strength. When we praise the Lord, we’re forgetting about ourselves and our problems and concerns. Our not concentrating on ourselves, but rather concentrating on Him and His goodness, brings sweet joy to our hearts. With this joy in our hearts we’re no longer pulled down by our negative feelings, doubts, worries, or fears.

Find a quiet spot. It doesn’t really matter where you perform this exercise, provided you know you’ll be able to have 10 or 15 minutes of peace and quiet.

Now start mentally listing each of the things that bothered you today—your problems, big or small. As you list each one, direct your thoughts to Jesus and thank Him for helping you face and survive that problem—and thank Him that it wasn’t worse.

Get specific. Verbalize your thanks for each of those difficulties, one by one. For instance, “Thank You, Jesus, that the problem at work was solved by lunch time, and now I better understand my employer’s expectations,” or “Thank You that Grandmother manages to stay so cheerful in spite of her illness, thank You that she has such a competent doctor, and thank You for how You are caring for her during this time”—and so on.

Do that, and you’ll start feeling better very quickly! Now take a few minutes to thank Him for the good things that happened today. Think back over your day chronologically, and you’ll probably be amazed to see how many good things you experienced!

This is a great exercise to perform daily, and not only when you’re having a rough day. Make it a habit to praise God for everything in your life—the good and bad, the pretty and ugly, the joyous and sad—and you will experience peace and contentment.

Pull quote: “When we know that everything has two sides, let us look at the bright side only.”—Mahatma Gandhi

1Isaiah 9:6

2Psalm100:4

3Nehemiah8:10