Gve Thanks

Give Thanks
 
Praise and thanksgiving are part and parcel of prayer. How easy it is to forget fact. Trouble looms and we pray..."Help me, God!" A friend or family member is sick and we pray..."Please make ___ well." Funds are short, bills are mounting and we pray..."God, what am I going to do?" 
 
When answers come, when healing occurs, when an unexpected cheque arrives in the mailbox, do we pray? Many times not. Instead, we sail along until the next crisis shakes our world.
 
God wants us to remember where all of our blessings come from, and these include answered prayers. Scripture says:
 
“Give THANKS to the Lord for He is good, His mercy endures forever.” (1 Chron.16:34) ;
“rejoice always, pray constantly, give THANKS in all circumstances...” 1 Th.5:16);
  
“...giving THANKS always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20);
 
“Offer to God THANKSGIVING” (Psalm 50:14); “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING make your requests known to God.” (Phil.4:6);
 
“Continue earnestly in prayer being vigilant in it with THANKSGIVING.” (Col.4:2).
 
We Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving Day a week ago and our neighbors to the south will celebrate this special day the end of November. Family, food and fellowship are a big part of this celebration. However, this is a day for remembering our heavenly Father and all He has given us. It is a time for telling our children and grandchildren how God has answered our prayers, showing how much He loves us.
 
This time of remembering should hopefully remind us to thank God on a daily basis. Just as we appreciate a thank you when we give a gift to someone, God also longs to hear those words from us when He fulfills a request we have made in prayer. Saying thank you shows our appreciation, our acknowledgement of Someone great in power, Someone who is able to do the impossible. In return for our thanks, we receive the blessing of increased faith.
 
One of the first things we teach our children is to say please and thank you. When they do, it warms our hearts knowing it has been a lesson well learned.  So too, our heavenly Father delights in His children's thank you. Let's not let Him down.
 
…..Pat Earl (brian.earl@sympatico.ca) by way of “Christian Voices’ (christianvoices@att.net)