Category: Thanksgiving

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Christ Our Intercessor: Day Thirty-Nine, Forty Days of Prayer

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Romans 8:34).

Dear Lord, thank you that you defeated death, hell, and the grave and are seated at God’s right hand. Thank you, that you entered the Holy of Holies and you are praying to the Father for me right now. I give you thanks because you are in control of all the circumstances of my life. I know that nothing that happens today is beyond your reach. Lord, I trust you to work through me. If there is any thought, word, or deed in me that is not obedient to you, please show me, and help me to change it. In Jesus’s name, amen.

~~Nicholas Beckham

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Your Presence: Day Twenty-Four, Forty Days of Prayer

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:25-26 NIV

Lord, we thank you, we are grateful that you are always with us. Lord, we long for your presence, we desire nothing, but you. We thank you that you promised that you would never leave us or forsake us. Thank you, Lord, for you declared you would always be with us even to the end of the age. We praise you that though our flesh and hearts may fail, you will always be the strength of hearts and our portion forever. Thank you for the Christ who lives in us by your Spirit. Thank you that we are never alone even when we feel lonely. Lord, we praise you for you are our everything! Amen.

~~ India B. Davis

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Humble Thanks: Day Twenty-Two, Forty Days of Prayer

 

 

Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eph 5:19–20 NIV

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.

And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

~~Book of Common Prayer

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What Is a Thankful Heart?

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eph. 5:20

What is a thankful heart? A thankful heart trusts God’s goodness irrespective of whether he or she understands their unexplained difficulties, chronic trials, or persistent obstacles. A thankful heart knows that the Cross has conquered this fallen world and that our troubles are small compared to Christ’s great suffering on Calvary’s tree. Thankfulness says, “yes” to God’s grace knowing that whether good or bad, God can use our circumstances for his glory and our growth.

We have received too much from God to allow ourselves opportunities for unbelief. We have received too many gifts and privileges to allow a grumbling, murmuring heart to disqualify us of our destiny. In contrast, the thankful heart sees the best part of every situation. It sees problems and weaknesses as opportunities, struggles as refining tools, and sinners as saints in progress.

Francis Frangipane

 

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A Thankful Heart

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eph. 5:20

What is a thankful heart? A thankful heart trusts God’s goodness irrespective of whether he or she understands their unexplained difficulties, chronic trials, or persistent obstacles. A thankful heart knows that the Cross has conquered this fallen world and that our troubles are small compared to Christ’s great suffering on Calvary’s tree. Thankfulness says, “yes” to God’s grace knowing that whether good or bad, God can use our circumstances for his glory and our growth.

We have received too much from God to allow ourselves opportunities for unbelief. We have received too many gifts and privileges to allow a grumbling, murmuring heart to disqualify us of our destiny. In contrast, the thankful heart sees the best part of every situation. It sees problems and weaknesses as opportunities, struggles as refining tools, and sinners as saints in progress.

Francis Frangipane

 

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Astonished Gratitude

Thankfulness that Flows From the Heart

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Col. 3:17

Christian gratitude begins at the Cross. We were  God’s enemies, we despised his call on our lives and his claim on our hearts. The Holy Spirit reached out to us: he convicted, he wooed, he drew, he convinced us of the Father’s love for us. We melted under his influence recognizing that there was nothing in us that deserved saving.

By God’s grace, we saw Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross as our just punishment for ignoring, violating, and despising God’s commands. We were astonished by Christ’s sacrifice: gratitude overwhelmed us as we saw God’s grace acting to deliver us from our self-imposed darkness. In turn, we met the resurrected Christ, he not only forgave us, but renewed, restored, and healed us. Astonished gratitude was our only response then and continues our heart’s cry now.

When we learn to read the story of Jesus and see it as the story of the love of God, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves–that insight produces, again and again, a sense of astonished gratitude which is very near the heart of authentic Christian experience.

N.T. Wright

HT: N. T. Wright Quotes

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Causing God’s Heart to Beat Faster

Blessing God With a Thankful Heart

You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse;

You have ravished my heart, With one look of your eyes.

Songs 4:9 NKJV

When we look to Christ in faith and trust his goodness in the midst of our disappointing and perplexing circumstances, we bless God’s heart. When we are genuinely thankful “in” and “for” all things, we cause his heart to beat faster (1 Thess. 5:16-18, Eph. 5:20). When we see God’s appointment in the midst of our disappointments and say, “Thank you God, ” we bring joy to our heavenly Father.  A thankful heart trusts God’s goodness irrespective of whether we understand our on-going tribulations and persistent trials. A thankful heart knows that the Cross has conquered this fallen world and that our troubles are small compared to Christ’s great suffering on Calvary’s tree.

Jesus is moved to happiness every time He sees that you appreciate what He has done for you. Grip His pierced hand and say to Him, “I thank Thee, Saviour, because Thou has died for me.” Thank Him likewise for all the other blessings He has showered upon you from day to day. It brings joy to Jesus.

Ole Hallesby, Prayer (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994).

We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.

C. S. Lewis cited in The Quotable Lewis, edited by Wayne Martindale and Jerry Root (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1989), 579.

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Thank God!

Thank God in All Things Whether Good or Bad

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Col. 3:17

Thankfulness is a genuine gratefulness flowing from our hearts which sees God’s appointment in the midst of our disappointments. A thankful heart trusts God’s goodness irrespective of their unexplained difficulties, chronic trials, and persistent obstacles. Thankfulness says “yes” to God’s grace knowing that whether good or bad, the Lord can use our circumstances for his glory and our growth.

The apostle [Paul] says. “In everything give thanks” (1 Thess. 5.18). Why so? Because God makes everything work for our good. We thank the physician, though he gives us a bitter medicine which makes us sick, because it is to make us well; we thank any man who does us a good turn; and shall we not be thankful to God, who makes everything work for good to us?

God loves a thankful Christian. Job thanked God when he took all away: “The Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1.21). Many will thank God when He gives; Job thanks Him when He takes away, because he knew that God would work good out of it. We read of saints with harps in their hands (Rev. 14.2), an emblem of praise.

We meet many Christians who have tears in their eyes, and complaints in their mouths; but there are few with their harps in their hands, who praise God in affliction. To be thankful in affliction is a work peculiar to a saint. Every bird can sing in spring, but some birds will sing in the dead of winter. Everyone, almost, can be thankful in prosperity, but a true saint can be thankful in adversity. A good Christian will bless God, not only at sun-rise, but at sun-set. Well may we, in the worst that befalls us, have a psalm of thankfulness, because all things work for good. Oh, be much in blessing of God: we will thank Him that doth befriend us.

Thomas Watson, All Things for Good, Puritan Paperbacks series (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2008), 62-63.