We Do Need to Pray

Where You Are isn't the only Moana song I've had playing in my head the last few days. The villain song, Shiny, pointed out an interesting possible sub-theme that I'll want to explore after I've actually seen Moana (which I have no immediate plans to do). Also, the first song I stumbled upon, How Far I'll Go, which is basically the new Let It Go, probably has at least one blogworthy line in it. But the Moana song that's on my mind right now is You're Welcome.

In this song, the demigod Maui lists a few of the things he has done for the Pacific Islanders, bragging on himself a little bit, but ostensibly telling them that they don't have to thank him for any of that and that they're welcome. Unfortunately, at one point during this song, he makes a very poor choice of words:

"You don't need to pray. It's okay. You're welcome."

Now, I'm sure he meant "You don't need to pray [to me to thank me for all of those marellous things I did for you]." But even if that is what he meant to say, that's still not a good message. God does want us to pray to Him to thank Him for what He does for us, and there are several reasons we should.

First, thanking God for our blessings reminds us that we have blessings to thank Him for. It's a way of counting our blessings, and there are many blessings that come from doing that, as we see in the hymn, Count Your Blessings.

Also, thanking God reminds us where our blessings come from. Every good thing in our lives are gifts (or loans) from God, even the things we think we earned or are entitled to. Acknowledging this can help us feel indebted to God, which can help us want to keep His commandments to thank and repay Him.

And I've heard a rumor that those who thank God for their blessings generally tend to get more blessings. Just saying.

It's good and important for us to thank God for what He does for us, and there are countless other good and important reasons to pray to Him. So, even if God doesn't feel the need to be praised and thanked, we should still praise and thank Him, if only for our own sakes. God doesn't have an emotional need for us to thank Him, but He will still never tell us that we don't need to pray.