10 Thanksgiving Bible Stories for Kids to Encourage Gratitude
These 10 Thanksgiving Bible stories for kids are wonderful examples of thankfulness. Read these powerful stories with your kids!
There’s no doubt our kids are growing up in a see-it, want-it, get-it society. Most of them probably don’t remember a time when you couldn’t have an Amazon delivery at your door in less than a week.
It’s a struggle for moms to help kids develop an attitude of gratitude. None of us wants to raise selfish, entitled kids, but contentment and thankfulness are difficult characteristics to learn.
In this blog post, we’ll explore 10 Bible stories about thankfulness to help us teach our kids about gratitude at Thanksgiving or any time of year.
As a mom, it hurts my heart when I see something lacking in my kids’ lives. But when I dig deep, I sometimes realize I’m not actually teaching it as I should. And that’s often true when it comes to gratitude and being thankful.
God’s Word is full of all the things you need to know, and the things you need to teach your kids.
These Thanksgiving Bible lessons are perfect to inspire gratitude in your whole family.
We focus a lot on Thanksgiving during the month of November. But one day of Thanksgiving is not enough.
We should practice gratitude at all times, being thankful for all the good things and blessings God gives to us.
What Does the Bible Say About Being Thankful?
There are a lot of Thanksgiving Bible verses in the Bible.
One thing we know is that God wants us to be thankful in every situation. Good times and hard times.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
The book of Psalms includes 22 references to giving thanks! King David is a great example of someone who was thankful even when his life was hard.
Being thankful when you’re going through hard times is the perfect opportunity to teach your kids about gratitude.
The Apostle Paul says we can do all things through Christ, and that includes being thankful when bad things happen.
Related: Cute Printable Thanksgiving Coloring Pages for Kids
10 Thanksgiving Bible Stories for Kids
It’s easy to be thankful when life is going well. But it’s harder to be thankful when you’re looking in the face of persecution or hard times.
These fascinating Thanksgiving Bible stories for kids are beautiful examples of people who were thankful even in difficult situations.
We can follow their lead, show our gratitude to the Lord in our own lives, and share them with our kids in a meaningful way.
These stories come from the Old Testament and the New Testament. All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.
Noah Makes a Sacrifice of Thanks.
The story of Noah and the Ark is one of the most popular stories in the Bible. It has beautiful messages for both kids and adults.
When we read the story, we’re often focusing on the animals coming two-by-two, or how Noah’s faith saved his family. But there’s another lesson at the end of the story. When we reach the end of Genesis 8, Noah, his family, and the animals had all exited the ark into a new world.
And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Genesis 8:20
After all that his family had gone through (can you imagine being on a boat with only your family and hundreds of animals for nearly a year?), Noah’s first thought was to give thanks to
God. Noah knew that God had saved them, and He deserved gratitude.
As you read the story of Noah, the ark and the beautiful rainbow, remind your kids of God’s goodness and His promise to us. He deserves our gratitude.
Jacob Has a Thankful Heart.
Jacob lived an amazing life, starting out as a deceiver, and becoming a faithful servant of God. His favorite son, Joseph, was sold away from him into slavery in Egypt. For many years
Jacob believed Joseph was dead.
After being reunited with Joseph in Egypt, Jacob, who was already a very old man, lived another seventeen years. He was 147 years old when his time came to die.
He called Joseph to him, and when he heard his son was nearby, he mustered the strength to sit up in his bed.
Once more he told Joseph the story of how God had appeared to him in Bethel and had blessed him.
And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
Genesis 48:3-4
God changed Jacob’s life, reunited him with his son, and blessed him with a family of 70 descendants. Even after all the difficult times he had faced, Jacob spent the last part of his life blessing God.
Hannah Thanks God for a Son.
Samuel was a great man of God and contributed so much to the history of the Old Testament. He anointed the first two kings of Israel, was the last judge and preached throughout the land.
And all that started because his mother prayed for a child, then gave him to the Lord’s service. Hannah suffered greatly at the hands of her husband’s other wife.
Her one desire and prayer was that God would give her a child of her own. She promised God that if He answered her prayer, she would give her child back to Him.
And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
1 Samuel 2:1-2
Hannah’s prayer of gratitude is one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible. Because of her faithfulness to God, He blessed her with more children, as well as a son who was instrumental in the formation of the government of the nation of Israel.
Related: 10 Courageous Women in the Bible Who Inspire Us to Be Brave
King David Blesses God.
The Ark of the Covenant had been missing from the land of Israel for many years. It was a symbol of God’s love and blessings on His people.
King David wanted it back!
So, he made a plan to bring it back to Bethlehem. Unfortunately, David did not follow God’s direction, and a tragedy occurred along the way.
David decided to leave the Ark in the house of Obededom for safekeeping.
The Ark stayed in Obededom’s home for three months, and God blessed the home.
David wanted. to bring Ark the rest of the way home. This time, he did it the right way, and the Ark of the Covenant came “home” to the city of David.
As the Ark came into the city, David danced, praising and worshipping God all along the way. When the Ark was finally at rest, he made sacrifices and gave gifts to all the people.
David’s thankful heart flowed over to become a spirit of generosity to others.
The Thanksgiving season is a great time to teach kids about the connection between gratitude and generosity.
Daniel Has a Thankful Heart in Captivity.
It’s easy to forget when we read through the book of Daniel that he was a slave in Babylon.
He had received favor from God and was given a high position in the government, but he was still a captive in a land far from his home.
When his enemies looked for a way to cause him trouble, they couldn’t find anything wrong he had done. They had to attack him for his faith.
At this point, Daniel had been a prisoner for many years. But he had never given up his habit of praying to his God.
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
Daniel 6:10
How amazing that Daniel’s first thought was to give thanks!
Daniel is the lion’s den is an amazing Bible story for kids, so it’s a great way to teach them gratitude.
Daniel in the Lion’s Den Activity Bundle
Help your kids learn more about Daniel’s faith and courage with this fun 16-page bundle!
Pages include:
- 12 coloring pages
- Finish the picture
- Word scramble
- Draw the story
- Word search
Related: Daniel and the Lion’s Den Sunday School Lesson for Kids
A Sinful Woman Has a Grateful Heart.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He was invited to eat at the home of a Pharisee.
While He was there, a wicked woman came into the house. She washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.
She broke open an expensive box of perfume and poured it on His feet.
Some people there questioned Jesus about why the women did this.
Jesus said she did it because she was so grateful that He had forgiven her sins.
This is such a great story that shows the power of thankfulness and how it causes us to give to God and others.
One Thankful Leper.
The story of the ten lepers is a classic and a great one to share with kids. These men were all sick and asked Jesus to heal them. He told them to go and show themselves to the priest.
(This was the requirement in Israel to determine if a man was clean or leperous.)
As the men ran on their way, they realized they had been healed. Only one of them returned to say “thank you” to Jesus for healing them.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
Luke 17:15-16
All of these men were healed from their leprosy, but only one had their sins forgiven. This is such a great story of the change thankfulness makes in our lives and in our hearts. It’s
also a picture of how much Jesus likes it when we say “thank you!”
Jesus Gives Thanks for Bread.
One of the first things we teach our kids as Christian parents is to thank the Lord for our food. We sit down in front of our full plates (or, just chicken nuggets if your kids are like mine) and bow our heads together.
In the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, He had no food. His disciples found a little boy who had brought just enough food for his own lunch.
Obviously, to the human eye, five loaves of bread and two little fish are not enough to feed more than a couple of people at most. But Jesus had all the people sit down on the grass, and He thanked His Father for the food.
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Matthew 14:19
After every person had eaten their fill, the disciples collected the leftovers–twelve baskets full! That was much, much more food than they started with!
This miraculous story shows us the importance of gratitude, even when it seems like we don’t have enough because God ultimately gives all we need.
Paul and Silas Praise in Jail.
It’s one thing to be grateful when life isn’t exactly going great. But what about when you’re suffering for the cause of Christ?
Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison for preaching the gospel, they didn’t fall into despair. Instead, midnight found them praising God.
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
Acts 16:25
I love the phrase “and the prisoners heard them.” I have a feeling that praise and prayers were not common sounds in the prison!
After this, there was an earthquake and all the prison doors burst open, but none of the prisoners escaped.
Because of their vocal faith, Paul and Silas led the prison keeper and his family to Christ.
What an amazing lesson that God can use our praise and grateful heart to be a testimony to others.
John is in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.
History tells us that John the Apostle was boiled in hot oil, and then banished to the Isle of
Patmos to live out the last of his days alone. Was he downcast and discouraged?
Nope!
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Revelation 1:10
John was praising and worshipping the Lord, even though he experienced great pain and
was left alone. And what happened?
God visited John and gave him the prophecy for all we can expect to happen in the end times before Jesus returns. We know so much about the beauties of Heaven and the
promises God has for us as His children because of John’s vision.
What if John had chosen to be discouraged and let his circumstances control his gratitude?
(As you or I probably would’ve done.) We would miss out on these great prophecies and the comfort they offer us.
Bible Stories about Gratitude
The Bible is full of stories about thankfulness. And many of them aren’t what we expect.
Thankfulness is an act of worship and gratitude often overflows from hearts when things haven’t been going as we hoped, and God steps in and does a miracle.
Whether it’s two older people who are blessed with a child, a family who is saved from destruction in a flood, or Jesus giving thanks for food that was not enough, we can see that
thankfulness is a choice we make even when life is hard.
Use these Thanksgiving Bible stories when your heart feels a little lacking in contentment. See the difference that gratitude can make in your life and the lives of your kids.
