A Prayer of Thanksgiving
Jennifer Mahone
Photo by Alex Woods on Unsplash
I have enjoyed so much sharing my heart with you this past week and I pray everyday that the words God speaks to me continue to encourage you. I wanted to do something different today so I asked my husband to share with me what was on his heart. This is what he spoke. I pray it bless you as much as it did me.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and on the street corners to be seen by others.
Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room,
close the door and pray to your father,
who is unseen.
Then your father, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans,
for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them,
for your father knows what you need before you ask him.
This, then, is how you should pray”
Matthew 6:5-8
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, it puts us in a mindset of reflection upon getting together with family, friends, and loved ones. We also think about the sequence of events that take place during these types of gatherings. You have family laughter, joy, games, food, and fun but we often forget about the true reason why we are gathered. Then comes the moment right before we feast which is the traditional prayer of thanks. I recently had a good friend of mine ask me about prayer and how to pray, as we reflected upon our position and purpose in life. As we talked about the holidays coming up, we also talked about the many times we are asked to deliver a prayer of thanks. Our conversation quickly turned into a discussion of the proper way to pray. What was the proper way to pray? How were we to gather the correct words? Is there an outline to follow? Should it be this hard? He redirected the questions and challenged me to write an outline on how to deliver a formal prayer, whether it be Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other formal or family event. Walking away from that conversation I asked myself two questions:
- How is it that someone does not know how to pray to our Heavenly Father when it should be easy to do?
and 2) How would I answer this challenge when it’s something that I thought I knew for years?
Taking this request to God in prayer, God convicted me for being ungrateful and taking my relationship with Him for granted. He reminded me of something that was said to me during my conversation with my friend and it was this…”Chris, You have a story to tell and something to share.”
So the first thing that I will share is what God revealed to me on how to pray in any situation and that was the instruction that was given to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 6 and starting with verse 9.
“This then is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.”
As we pray the prayer that Jesus Christ instructed us to pray in our closet, then God miraculously through the Holy Spirit reveals to us what that prayer means in our personal lives. Once we are obedient to what Christ instructed us to pray, then the door of understanding through the Holy Spirit is opened for us to know what to pray, specifically for things, issues, and events that are presently taking place in our lives. “God I don’t know how to talk to you. How should I speak to you?” “God Im having an issue with my husband/wife and I don’t know how to pray for direction or understanding on how to handle it.” The list goes on with our inability to know how to pray or what to pray for. God gives us hope and understanding that prayer is a simple conversation between a loving father and his child. And when we don’t know what to say in any given situation, if we pray this prayer with all sincerity, God will reveal His perfect will in what to say through the Holy Spirit.
But keep in mind, “your father knows what you need before you ask him.”
So come to him as a child comes to his father with a simple request. He gave us an outline of prayer to follow, but he hears every word you speak no matter what order it’s in. Our prayers are our thoughts, and our thoughts come from our heart. Just speak whats on your heart…He is listening.
Be Blessed
Jennifer