Prayers of Thanksgiving

This week I want to recommend the practice of specifically giving thanks in our prayers.  We see examples of this in many prayers in Scripture, from Psalms of thanksgiving such as Psalm 136, to Daniel’s prayer of thanks for God’s revelation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, to Paul’s great prayers of thanks at the beginning of many of his epistles.  Thanksgiving is the backbone of many prayers in God’s Word.

Furthermore, we are specifically told that we are to pray and give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).  We have so much for which we should be thankful, and God calls us to express this verbally and regularly in our prayers.  In my own life I have often found that when I don’t feel like praying, a time of thanksgiving will open the floodgates of prayer.  Something about specific verbal expressions of thanks draws us into further intimate conversation with our Father.

I encourage each of us to take time each day to give thanks to God for the food we eat, our family and friends, our congregation, God’s many expressions of grace and love, and especially for the great salvation we have in Christ.  As you give Him thanks, may God reveal Himself to you and draw you near to Him.

In Christ,

Bret