The Prayer of Thanksgiving

This week, we are going to add another color in our palate of prayer and worship—Thanksgiving. It is similar to praise, but focuses on what He has done, not who He is. Praise is a meditation on the attributes of God. Thanksgiving is meditation on the works of God.


Why keep these two separate? Because of the difficulty we have in keeping our minds focused on God.

A.A. Milne, wrote a poem about Christopher Robin praying. Every time he asked God to bless someone, he would begin to think of what they did, and how much fun it was. This same problem plagues grown-up prayers, too. Our minds run to the hear-and-now, not to eternal truths. It is difficult to think about eternal things, especially when we set ourselves to pray for things.

A typical church prayer meeting is a perfect example. Prayer requests if not stopped will run longer than the prayer. They usually consist of our ailments, of the ailments of our friends and relatives. Few people will thank God, or think to praise Him, or pray for the coming of God’s kingdom.

That’s why praise is so important. Praise focuses our attention on God Himself. It takes us into the presence of the Living God.

But sooner or later, we must pray for worldly things. How do we come down to earth without losing our focus on God?

The best way to it is to recognize God’s hand in the world around us. Thanksgiving reminds us that God is in charge of what we see every day.

Everything can distract us from God, if we view it without Him.. Magnificent churches can become idols, great hymns can be reduced to meaningless tunes, preaching can be just the worldly art of rhetoric, good deeds can be seen as proof of the goodness of man, the world around us can be seen as just the product of evolution, and so forth. We easily worship the creator rather than the creation.

But everything can lead us to God, if we view it with him. Storms can reveal the majesty of God, human evil becomes a chance to see God’s mercy. The human body, that fills us with desire can be an example of His handiwork. Even death itself, so feared by us all becomes a welcome doorway home to the Creator. Without thanksgiving, everything is darkness. With thanksgiving, everything is light. us.

Thanksgiving is more than saying “thank you” it is a perspective on the world, the knowledge that God is in control, and that God is good.

When we bought our first house, it had a barren yard. There were no bushed and hardly any trees. The first thing we wanted was shrubbery. One of our church members was a landscaper, who owned a large plant nursery. He took me to his yard, and showed me what I should take. Then he loaded those plants on his truck and drove them to my house. I tried to pay him, but he refused to take the money. I didn’t feel right about taking all this, but he said, “All I want for payment is two words ‘thank you.’”

What did that “thank you” mean? I recognized that what he had done for me was a gift, given in friendship. I was returning friendship for friendship, love for love. I would never look on those plants without thinking of my friend who gave them.

What does it mean when we thank God? We recognize that we do not earn what He has given. It is a gift, given out of love. By saying thank you, we return to God the friendship He gives to us.

Thanking God changes our perspective. If we thank God for our food, we acknowledge that God made the food, the taste buds that savor it, and the stomach that receives it. All these gifts were given in love because He is good. Even the food on our plate is a blessing from God.

But what if we don’t like the food we are given? It is still a blessing.

Martin Luther hated peas, and whenever his wife served peas he made her say the blessing. But peas are part of what our body needs. It is a give to us, even if we think it tastes awful. Can we thank God for blessings we would rather not have? Not only can we thank God for things we don’t like, but we should do it even more than for what we like. God cares for us so much that He is willing to do what is best for us, not only what we want. He will do the right thing, even if we get angry about it.

Our parents made us eat food we didn’t like, because they knew it was good for us? Those vegetables on our plate were a better expression of their love than the dessert afterward. When we became parents, we realized this, and were grateful. A rare parent lives long enough for their children to thank them for making them eat their vegetables.

Do we only thank deserts, or do we thank Him for the vegetables as well? Do we only thank God for the necessary, or only for the pleasant? Paul said in Romans 8:28

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Doubt is a great temptation to all of us. But most Christians do not doubt God’s existence nearly as much as they doubt His goodness. We see all the difficulties in this world, and wonder how a God who loves us can allow us to suffer as we do.

This attitude leads us to grumbling, complaints, worry, and depression. If God is there and He is not good, then we have no protection, no assurance, and no hopes. But if God is there, and He is on our side, then every situation becomes an opportunity for giving thanks.

Paul reminds us “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you.” (1 Thess 5:18.)

When we thank God, we replace grumbling with blessing, complaints with gratitude, worry with wonder, and depression with joy. We learn the true beauty of the world God made for us, and the blessing of the life He prepared for us.

Some people have very little in this world and enjoy it much. Other people have much and enjoy it little. The latter are never satisfied with what they are given. They are always looking for more. It only takes an attitude adjustment to turn a king into a pauper, or a pauper to a king. We have a choice to believe whether our life is heaven or hell on earth.



Paul understood this when he wrote in 2 Cor 11:24-31

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?



Even so, he wrote in 2 Cor 12:9-10



"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”



Paul could have justifiably made a case that his life was not worth living, and that God had been cruel to him. Instead, he chose to believe that all his sufferings were signs of God’s favor, not of His wrath.

We, too have a choice of stories to believe. We either see our lives as tragedy or comedy. This is what we do when we give thanks. We affirm that our life is good, and that God is good.

An attitude of gratitude is the key to a successful life. That attitude begins with making thanksgiving a regular par of our prayers.

Try it yourself. Start giving thanks for all things. Don’t just thank Go for the answers, thank Him for th uestions. Don’t just thank Him for your friends. Thank Him for your enemies. Don’t just thank God yur hearling, but for your sickness as well. Acknowledge God’s hand anywhere and everywhere.

So let me encourage you this week, not to pray for anything. Instead, when you come to your quiet time. Start praising Him. Repeat to yourselves who He is and what it is you like about Him. Tell Him you love Him, over and over again.

Then thank Him. Think about the life you have been given, and acknowledge that all things have come from His hand.

What do we thank Him for? Here are six things I want you to thank God for this week.

1. For creation. God made all things by His hand, and then pronounced each one good. When he made us, He said “It is very good!” You are the crown of creation, the most blessed thing in a blessed world. God made you that way. So why do we complain about our looks, our lack of relative intelligence or relative influence? God made you good. God Himself ahs called you very good.

2. For Jesus. What an amazing thing, that God Himself became a man to die for you? How could we not be overtaken with the enormity of that gift? How can we not thank God every day for such a wonderful sacrifice on our behalf?

3. For those we love--our spouses, children, parents, family friends, and church.

4. For those special times when His goodness became clear to us.

I hardly need to ask you this. Most of us have no trouble thanking God for these wonderful things. But this is not where God wants us to stop. God wants us to go on to acknowledge His hand in everything. I Thessalonians 5:17 says In everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you

So continue to thank Him.

5. For the bad things that have happened to us. It is the blows and scars of our lives that give us character. God reveals His character in His guidance through the storm.

6. For our enemies as well as our friends. A man’s heart is revealed not only by his friends but by his enemies. It takes no grce to get along with our friends. It takes much help from God to get along with our enemies.

7. For the current problems we are facing. There is nothing happening to you that is not a blessing in disguise. Even if it is not the direct work of Him, he has allowed it for a reason. It is another knot in the great tapestr that is his perfect plan.

You get the idea. Thank God for it all, because all is His. Recognize the life you live for the precious gift it really is. Give Him thanks for carrying it, and for letting us flourish. God is with you always, will be qith your always, and has been with you always. He will not fail you now. In the meantime, all he asks in return are two words “Thank you.”