Thanksgiving in Prayer
Philippians 4:6,7,
Colossians 4:2,
As I was meditating on this Colossians passage and what brought me to the Philippians passage, is this idea that thanksgiving should be a regular and even significant part of our praying. Now, it might sound obvious to you, but when you look at these two passages, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God;” and Colossians 4 is “Continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with thanksgiving,” it struck me for the first time this unique coupling of thanksgiving with our prayers. And I began to think about all the various ways why we should have thanksgiving as a prominent part of our prayers to God the Father.
And the first one that hit me is, “it is good.” And we have that in the scriptures from Psalm 92, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to his name.” “It is good to give thanks.” That's why it should be a part of our prayers. It is commanded. It's good and of course it should be commended. Is it explicitly commanded? Yes, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name,” Psalm 100:4, probably a familiar psalm to you. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving,” and again, “Give thanks to him, bless his name.” A short command there in Colossians 3.15, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body,” peace and unity in the body, that's commanded, “and be thankful.” So we see it's good, it's commanded for the saint or the believer.
And then thanksgiving is part of our worship. Thanksgiving is part of our worship. Thanksgiving is worship. It's good, it's commanded. Thanksgiving is worship. Revelation 7:11, 12, one of my favorite passages, “And all the angels are standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, ‘Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’”
Thanksgiving is part of our worship. There's many places in the scriptures, public worship, private worship, Psalm 109, “With my mouth, I will give great thanks to the Lord, I will praise him in the midst of the throng.” Or Psalm 95, “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving is part of our worship. When we give thanks, we worship God. It reminds us of his character. And this comes up often, his goodness and steadfast love are the two components of his character that come up the most when we see thanksgiving in the scriptures. Psalm 136, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good for his steadfast love endures forever.” We need to be reminded of God's character. When we pray we're seeking to focus on the Lord and in giving thanks it reminds us that he's good and he's faithful in his love for us.
And then another component we see in prayer giving thanks and we see it really highlighted in the New Testament, is we give thanks and we honor God's work, we honor his work. I'll give you just one or two examples. The Holy Spirit inspiring Paul, opening to the Thessalonians, “We give thanks to God always for all of you constantly mentioning you in our prayers.” This thanksgiving in prayer and he expands on it in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers.” And notice what he specifies, “As is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing their growth in love for one another, their growth in faith.” These are works of God in our brothers and sisters. The Apostle Paul, by example, is saying, “I'm not writing to you to thank you, this increase in faith, this growth in love, it's apparent in you, but we're actually giving thanks to God because we know he is the source of that work, that we are God's work. If we're doing something wonderful, if we are doing something honoring to him, we should give him thanks because this is his work in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” “God who works in you,” Philippians 2.
So in summary, when I was thinking about, “Lord, help me to pray better”, one component I think that I've not given enough emphasis to is thanksgiving in prayer and it's coupled there in our passage in Colossians 4, it’s coupled there in our passage in Philippians 4 because it's good, it's commanded, it is worship, it reminds us of his character, it honors his work in us and others and our brothers and sisters. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord.”
And so I'd encourage you, as I'm encouraging myself, as we pray tonight, privately with our families, that we would regularly bring in thanksgiving. There is much for us to be thankful for as believers and so it should be increasing in our hearts and minds and coming out in our prayers.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Colossians 4:2,
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”
As I was meditating on this Colossians passage and what brought me to the Philippians passage, is this idea that thanksgiving should be a regular and even significant part of our praying. Now, it might sound obvious to you, but when you look at these two passages, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God;” and Colossians 4 is “Continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with thanksgiving,” it struck me for the first time this unique coupling of thanksgiving with our prayers. And I began to think about all the various ways why we should have thanksgiving as a prominent part of our prayers to God the Father.
And the first one that hit me is, “it is good.” And we have that in the scriptures from Psalm 92, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to his name.” “It is good to give thanks.” That's why it should be a part of our prayers. It is commanded. It's good and of course it should be commended. Is it explicitly commanded? Yes, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name,” Psalm 100:4, probably a familiar psalm to you. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving,” and again, “Give thanks to him, bless his name.” A short command there in Colossians 3.15, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body,” peace and unity in the body, that's commanded, “and be thankful.” So we see it's good, it's commanded for the saint or the believer.
And then thanksgiving is part of our worship. Thanksgiving is part of our worship. Thanksgiving is worship. It's good, it's commanded. Thanksgiving is worship. Revelation 7:11, 12, one of my favorite passages, “And all the angels are standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, ‘Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’”
Thanksgiving is part of our worship. There's many places in the scriptures, public worship, private worship, Psalm 109, “With my mouth, I will give great thanks to the Lord, I will praise him in the midst of the throng.” Or Psalm 95, “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving is part of our worship. When we give thanks, we worship God. It reminds us of his character. And this comes up often, his goodness and steadfast love are the two components of his character that come up the most when we see thanksgiving in the scriptures. Psalm 136, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good for his steadfast love endures forever.” We need to be reminded of God's character. When we pray we're seeking to focus on the Lord and in giving thanks it reminds us that he's good and he's faithful in his love for us.
And then another component we see in prayer giving thanks and we see it really highlighted in the New Testament, is we give thanks and we honor God's work, we honor his work. I'll give you just one or two examples. The Holy Spirit inspiring Paul, opening to the Thessalonians, “We give thanks to God always for all of you constantly mentioning you in our prayers.” This thanksgiving in prayer and he expands on it in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers.” And notice what he specifies, “As is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing their growth in love for one another, their growth in faith.” These are works of God in our brothers and sisters. The Apostle Paul, by example, is saying, “I'm not writing to you to thank you, this increase in faith, this growth in love, it's apparent in you, but we're actually giving thanks to God because we know he is the source of that work, that we are God's work. If we're doing something wonderful, if we are doing something honoring to him, we should give him thanks because this is his work in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” “God who works in you,” Philippians 2.
So in summary, when I was thinking about, “Lord, help me to pray better”, one component I think that I've not given enough emphasis to is thanksgiving in prayer and it's coupled there in our passage in Colossians 4, it’s coupled there in our passage in Philippians 4 because it's good, it's commanded, it is worship, it reminds us of his character, it honors his work in us and others and our brothers and sisters. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord.”
And so I'd encourage you, as I'm encouraging myself, as we pray tonight, privately with our families, that we would regularly bring in thanksgiving. There is much for us to be thankful for as believers and so it should be increasing in our hearts and minds and coming out in our prayers.
Posted in Pastor Devotional