We are not thankful people by nature. It is more natural for us to be ungrateful and complaining than it is to be thankful and rejoicing. Therefore, we must discipline ourselves in the attitude and habit of thanksgiving. One of the most obvious ways to do this is through prayer. This Thanksgiving season, let us look at seven advantages of thankful prayer. Scripture teaches that all food is from God and, therefore, should be recognized as such by offering a prayer of thanksgiving to Him. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer (1 Tim 4:4-5). Jesus modeled this for us. In the account of the miraculous feeding of 5,000 men, John is careful to note that before Jesus began to distribute the loaves and fishes, He had given thanks (Jn 6:11).
As the nation of Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, Moses reminded them to be thankful. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you (Deut 6:10). It is assumed that because food is God's provision that we will thank Him for it. When I was in Ukraine several years ago I learned to appreciate one of the customs of the believers there. Not only did they give thanks to God for His provision before a meal, but they also thanked Him after they were fed and before anyone left the table, and always standing. What a simple, yet important reminder of God's faithfulness in providing for His children.
James was bold enough to tell his readers why some of their prayers were not being answered: You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures (Jas 4:3). The context reveals that their motives were impure because they were fueled by an envious quest for worldly pleasures (4:2, 4). God does not answer prayers that are motivated by envy. If you envy someone else's position or possessions then God will not answer your pleading no matter how loud it is. We must first learn to be content in any circumstance (Phil 4:11). When our motives are right and pure before Him then He will answer.
One of the reasons Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthian church was to commend them for their generous giving to the Lord's work. He believed with all his heart that those who sow sparingly will also reap sparingly and those who sow bountifully will reap bountifully (9:6). As he came to the end of this portion of his letter he explained that one of the fruits of this bountiful harvest is the thankfulness their gifts produced in the heart of the receiver.
For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Cor 9:12-15).
Because these believers were sensitive and generous toward meeting the needs of God's people, their giving overflowed through many thanksgivings to God. Their love for the brethren caused the recipients to glorify God. What a joy to know that our faithful giving to the Lord's work multiplies the amount of thankful prayers that are offered to God.
- Thankful prayer is evidence of being filled with the Spirit.
Believers are not to be controlled by substances like alcohol, do not get drunk with wine, but instead, be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18). Being filled with the Spirit means being willingly controlled by Him while in submission to the Word of God. When this is true, we will be speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord (v.19); and we will also be always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father (v.20).
- Thankful prayer combats anxiety and leads to peace.
Thankfulness is the attitude of prayer. Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving (Col 4:2). Thankfulness is a mindset. As such, it is a remedy for worry. Phil 4:6-7 tells us we need to be anxious for nothing, 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 comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Why did Paul add the two words, with thanksgiving? It is because an anxious spirit cannot coexist with a thankful spirit. Thankful prayer drives worry out of our minds and guards our hearts by not allowing anxiety to reenter.
- Thankful prayer remembers that Christ alone qualifies us to be God's children.
The Apostle Paul frequently prayed for the spiritual growth of believers. At the end of the list of spiritual qualities that he asked God to produce in them was that they would always give thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Col 1:12). When we pray we must never forget that the only reason God hears us is that Jesus, our Advocate, is interceding for us at that very moment (1 Jn 2:1; Heb 7:25). This is what it means to pray in Jesus' name. Though we are sinners by nature and deed, God has graciously received us through the sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of His dear Son. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:57).
- Thankful prayer recognizes God as the source of strength.
It is in times of weakness that we discover just how strong God is. This was a lesson Paul had to learn the hard way. He was afflicted with a thorn in the flesh, which he pleaded with God to remove, but God had other plans for this custom-designed trial. He knew Paul was susceptible to the self-sufficiency of pride and, therefore, needed to learn that the strength of God is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9). In addition to his own personal struggles, he faced severe mistreatment from others: we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body (2 Cor 4:8-10). This is why Paul wrote to Timothy, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service (1 Tim 1:12).
The secret to Paul's strength was his inner reliance on Christ. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (Gal 2:20). We too need to always recognize where our true strength lies. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Col 3:17). Thankful prayer helps us to remember that whatever we do in word or deed can only be done in the strength of the Lord. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (Jn 15:5).
Let us devote ourselves to prayer with an attitude of thanksgiving.
Paul
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