Category: The Thanksgiving Faith

Let’s enter the Lord’s courts with thanksgiving as we read aloud the following passage and prayer:

 Psalm 95:1-3, 6-7 (NRSVUE/NIV)
¹ Come, let us sing to the LORD;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
² Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
³ For the LORD is the great God
    the great King above all gods.
⁶ Come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
⁷ For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture
    the flock under his care.
 

Prayer: (The Book of Common Prayer – “The General Thanksgiving”)
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.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s make a joyful noise in thanksgiving to the Lord as we sing “The Praise Is Yours” by Matt Redman (click here).

-KW

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 5:18b-20 (NIV)
Instead, be filled with the Spirit,¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:15 (NIV)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 

Thanksgiving characterizes us as God’s people, it is who we are and what we do together. As ones who belong to Christ Jesus, let’s thank him for he has made us sons and daughters of God. It is we who have been given faith to see and worship him as Lord in all circumstances. It is we who have been filled with his Spirit to speak and sing of his salvation and goodness.

Prayer: Father, as your people we give you thanks. Thank you for the blood of Jesus, thank you for salvation and rescue, thank you that in my circumstances today, I know that Jesus is the Lord over my life. Thank you for your Spirit that fills and trains my heart and mouth with words, prayers, and songs of thanksgiving. Continue to shape us to be your thankful people. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s give thanks to the Lord as we sing “Thank You Jesus For The Blood” by Charity Gayle (click here).

-KW

 

 

 

Luke 17:17-19 (NIV)
¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

“This is the thanksgiving faith. It is seeing what Jesus has done, but also being able to see who Jesus is in that moment and respond to him in reverence and awe.
We don’t know why the other nine didn’t return…
Perhaps more important than what they were doing externally, what was the internal attitude of their hearts? To whom did their new life of healing belong? Was it their own now to be used for themselves?
This one man… one out of ten…he got it right. In praise and thanksgiving, he laid his life at Jesus’ feet – and, true to Jesus’ promise – he found it when he did so…
…for Jesus pronounced over him – ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’”
(P. Tim’s message)

Prayer: Father, let me be one who recognizes Jesus through eyes of faith. Let me be one who responds to Jesus in reverence and awe, and as I gladly give back to you what I have received from your hand, my healed life, let me be one who hears you proclaiming over me true and full wellness. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship the Lord with our healed lives as we sing “Thank you Jesus” by Hillsong (click here).

-KW

 

 

Luke 17:12-13, 15-16 (NIV)
¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

“Faith and thanksgiving are inseparable. True Christians therefore experience God’s grace intensely and allow their gratitude for what God has done for them in Christ to shape their whole lives.” (David E. Garland, Luke, ZECNT)

Just as we have learned to cry out in faith with our needs, let’s also learn from this Samaritan man how to respond with praise and thanksgiving for the wonderful miracles Jesus does in our lives. Let’s spend time expressing gratitude, praising God with a loud voice and thanking him, and also throwing ourselves at his feet, offering ourselves in service to Jesus. In this way we are growing in Biblical thanksgiving, going beyond feeling grateful to “doing gratitude.”

Prayer: Father, thank you for the miracles and mercy you give to provide for me. May my faith be complete by returning to you with praise, thanks, and glad submission. Help me to continue walking in this lifestyle of “doing gratitude.” In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let faith and praise rise as we sing “We Praise You” by Matt Redman (click here).

-KW

 

 

Isaiah 61:1,3b (NIV)
¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,
³ to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
  instead of a spirit of despair.

This is the good news we have received – rescue and salvation in every way, newness in our spirit. We were once bound up in prisons, brokenhearted, isolated in the darkness with no recourse. But Jesus came, preaching his good news to us, proclaiming healing, freedom, light, and placing on us beauty and belonging, joy, and a thankful heart filled with praise for the one who has completely loved and saved us. Praise and thanksgiving are now the most natural responses which we have been given to wear! Let’s put on our new clothing once again today as we hear and believe the good news afresh.

Prayer: Father, I praise you for the complete reversal you have done in my life. Thank you for healing my broken heart and claiming me as yours, thank you for setting me free from old ways I couldn’t stop walking in, all glory to you for rescuing me from darkness and filling my life with light. Continue to fill me with your praises all throughout today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s praise the Lord with “Unbroken Praise” by Matt Redman (click here).

-KW