“Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise!” Psalm 66:1,2
O LORD, You are worthy of all praise; all honor and glory is due Your holy Name.
Thank You, Father God, for life and breath. Thank You for the truth of who You are and for Your benevolence toward all You’ve created. We are truly honored and humbled to belong to You, the most holy God over all. Hear our hearts of gratitude today. Hear our prayer of thanks.
Thank You, Father, that through Christ Jesus, You have tangibly revealed the immeasurable riches of Your grace and kindness toward us. Nothing compares to it! Your Word says even when we were considered dead in our sins, You graciously gave us new life and seated us with Him simply because of Your grace and our choice to believe. (Ephesians 2:4-7) Your kindness toward us is incomparable to anything or anyone. Your mercy exceeds our human capabilities. You really are beyond us in every way. Thank You, Father, for Jesus, the greatest gift of all. Everything else is small in comparison to the greatness of salvation and fellowship with You through Jesus, Messiah.
Thank You for life and breath and five senses with which to experience the world. Thank You for color, texture, for all beauty in nature, for a sunset, a beautiful canyon, the majesty of the ocean. We feel close to You in nature and appreciate Your endless creativity. Thank You for music. Great burdens lift when songs of praise are sung and music ministers to our souls. For this we give You thanks. Thank You for the comforts of home; a hot shower and a warm bed. The abundance of good food we have to choose from and the provision to buy it. We take so much for granted … Lord, open our eyes to all that we have to thank You for. And then open our mouths to speak it and sing of it. You have been good to us even in the midst of life’s difficulties. We worship and adore You.
Please remind ________________ of all there is to be thankful for, in spite of his/her current suffering. Please reveal Yourself as the Giver of all good things. (James 1:17) Oddly, even an illness or painful loss can be a gift because we draw closer to You, recognizing how little control we really have. Sovereign Lord, only You have full knowledge. We see and know only in part, we prophesy in part but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. (1 Corinthians 13:9) We trust You are good and You know best, hard as it sometimes feels. Please help _________________ to trust You with his/her whole heart, not leaning on their own understanding of things, but acknowledging You, even just knowing You more intimately, because You are the One who straightens our paths. (Proverbs 3:5,6) And when our path leads us to knowing/trusting You better, we can do anything You’ve ordained us to go through. Your Word goes on to say that when we do this, it brings health to the body, nourishment to our bones. Amazing. (Proverbs 3:7,8)
Thank You for Your Word. Without the scriptures, where would we be? We’re so grateful to live in a country where we can freely and openly read and speak of it. Your Word equips and encourages, confirms and teaches. Thank You that according to Psalm 119:28, when the soul is weary with sorrow, Your Word strengthens it and teaches us through affliction to revere and obey Your Word. (Psalm 119:67) Your Word is a lamp to our feet here and now and a light to our path as the future unfolds. (Psalm 119:105. Hebrews 4:12 says it is alive and active, so much more than a book, revealing our inmost thoughts and heart attitude. The Bible is Your fresh words of hope, instruction and love from You to _______________. Please speak through Your Word to him/her as they read. Recall verses to their mind that specifically minister as only You can do, Lord. Bring forth songs of praise as well; they minister to the heart and give You glory due Your great Name. Thank You again, Father, for Your glorious Word.
Gratitude chases away self-pity and worry. It turns my focus away from me and back to You where it belongs. It rekindles joy and warms my heart when it’s gone cold with complacency, fear or dread. It’s impossible to sincerely thank You, Lord, without feeling that warmth return. Thank You that true gratitude at any level is medicine to the soul. Let us live like grateful children. Jesus, rebuke entitlement and presumption and forgive us where we’ve embraced either one. We have so much to be grateful for and it’s all from You. We bless You and thank You and worship You as the one true Son of the one true God. Thank You for Your grace and mercy on our lives. This day, may we simply grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, bringing Him all the glory both now and forevermore. (2 Peter 3:18)
In Jesus’ beautiful life-giving, life-saving Name, Amen.
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