The journey through the devotional messages of E.M. Bounds that I took several years ago taught me much about developing a full and holy prayer life, and the results of such a life that naturally concludes in God answering us. I learned how the aroma of that blessing, that gracious response, is a sense of gratitude which should be expressed in thanksgiving as we continue on in our prayers. Bounds conveyed this revelation with these words: "thanksgiving is the expression of an inward, conscious gratitude to God for mercies received." He goes on to say that "Gratitude is an inward emotion of the soul, involuntarily arising therein." Don’t we find this true in our lives?