prayer + thanksgiving

(sorry for the font going crazy - I'm not sure why, but it's not displaying as I've selected...)


"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6)

I added italics to the above scripture references to point out what I'd like to talk about in this post tonight. Notice we are instructed to pray at all times, without stopping, during all occasions in our lives, before every decision we have to make, and so on. What gets a little tougher depending on the circumstances is the next part: giving thanks. We are supposed to pray and also give thanks at all times. Giving thanks for a crying baby at home all day, giving thanks for the guy that cut us off in traffic, giving thanks for the one more load of laundry to be done, giving thanks for the preschooler that just seems to love to talk back, or even harder, for the illness that won't go away, for the financial crisis we're in, or the death of a family member. Some of these are hard. We may not be able to thank God for a death, but we can thank Him for the incredible witness that was given during that person's life or even maybe during the funeral or better yet, someone coming to know Christ because of that person's testimony. Personally, I know there were times that all I could do was cry out to the Lord, "why" and "help" but the "thank you" always came, and usually after the hardship - God is faithful and is with us always. If you are having a "quicksand" day or a day filled with joys, I urge you to pray and give thanks to the Lord for His guidance and faithfulness. The "thank you" is just as important as everything else.