Wow, is it really already Thanksgiving?! I can’t believe how fast the year has gone by, it seems like spring and summer were just a blur! But I love this time of year, not because of the cold weather and the nice warm sweaters, well I do enjoy wearing great sweaters, but I digress. I love this time of year because this is the time of year we actually take time out of our busy schedules to pause and reflect on our lives, focus on our families and take time to give thanksgiving for all we have been blessed with.
You know, if I can be honest with you, I think our lives might actually be better if we celebrated thanksgiving more often! I’m not talking about turkey dinners and pies, I mean actually saying “thank you”.
thanksgiving: a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness; a prayer expressing gratitude
Thanksgiving is more than just a polite act or a courtesy, Merriam-Webster’s dictionary actually defines thanksgiving as a celebration of divine goodness and a prayer that expresses gratitude. This is absolutely incredible, because I have found that effective prayer is all about celebrating God and His goodness! Our time of prayer should focus on the power of God that changes lives, you see it’s His power, not our power, not our faith, not our repetition that makes our prayers effective.
As a matter of fact all of our prayer time should have an aspect of celebration of God’s goodness. We call this “praise”.
praise: to express good things about someone or something
There is something so powerful in our praise, but I really feel that at times we overlook times of praise as an option in our time with God. Praise is vital! Even when we gather together at church, praise is not the appetizer to the sermon or the buffer at the beginning of the service so people can find their seats, the truth is that throughout the entire service praise is the point!
Praise is how God inhabits our ordinary circumstances. How? Simple, when we praise we are actually taking time to have a heart to heart with God and in that conversation we say..”God, do you remember the time…?” I love how David says it in Psalm 103
“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord, may I never forget the good things He does for me” Psalm 103:1-2
You see, of course God cannot possibly forget what He has done for us, but sometimes we tend to have a hard time remembering what He did. When we fill our prayers with praise and thanksgiving, we are essentially saying, God I can’t forget what you’ve done for me…
Do you remember the time you healed me?
Do you remember the time you forgave me?
Do you remember the time you gave your son for me?
You see praise reminds you of what God did for you, and as you are reminded of what He has done, you begin to realize that what He did before, He will do again! I know that as you praise God you will experience His presence so genuinely, you will be strengthened inwardly, your life will be filled with good things and your strength will be renewed!
As you take time to celebrate Thanksgiving, why don’t you take time before dinner to actually give thanks. Take time, pause and reflect on how good God has been and ask…”do you remember the time?”
See you at church tomorrow!
Live Extraordinarily,
Jared
