The very fact that a man is thankful implies someone to be thankful to.
-- John Baillie
How many times do you notice that someone only shares their thankfulness during the Thanksgiving season? How often do you see people bragging about how richly God has blessed them throughout the rest of the year? Some people tend to show their faith only during this thankful season, and do not give God the praise he deserves through every other season. While everyone else shares the blessings they have, it may be easy for us to get caught up in telling others what we have been blessed with and we may lose our sincerity in prayer. We also must maintain our giving thanks to God for the other 364 days in the year, along with thanking him from the bottom of our heart.
So, how do we remain faithful in our prayer during the season of Thanksgiving? How do we remain sincere? And most importantly, how do we carry this thanksgiving throughout the rest of the year, and the rest of our lives?
Let's look at what the Bible says about being thankful before we dive in.
As Christians, we are called to give thanks at ALL times.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
Ephesians 5:20 - "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Colossians 3:17 - "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
When I think about our Christianity, I tend to think of a quote I heard at a young age, "Sitting in a garage does not make you a car, any more than sitting in a pew makes you a Christian." It seems to me that occasionally Christians get caught up in asking for favors from God, praying he will give, give and give, and forgetting to thank him for his grace, mercy, and unending favors. We don't want to be Sunday Morning Christians, nor do we want to be Thanksgiving Day Christians, we want to share our love for Christ through the entire year. We want to pray with sincerity, and we want to be an example of a steadfast Christian.
How do we remain faithful in our prayers during the season of Thanksgiving?
Often times distractions may fall in our way causing a dry spell in our prayer life, but instead of hindering us, we must use that to strengthen our prayers. The first thing we can do is look at the example that Christ has set for us by his prayers to his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. Why did he pray? His entire life was set in front of us as an example of how we should live, and when he prayed he was showing us by his example of how and why we should pray. It is important that through everything we pray to God on a daily basis, our good Lord wants nothing more than to talk to us and hear us calling out his name.
James 1:12 - "Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him."
In James we see that if we can remain faithful in our prayers even under trials, then we will receive our reward of the life God has promised to us. We can be encouraged to remain faithful through the gift God has planned for us, and even through the trials we know that he will not put us through any trial that we cannot handle. Therefore, we should not worry or stress but pray with thanksgiving.
How do we remain sincere?
Sincerity in our prayers will help bring us closer to God, and strengthen our relationship with him. Praying sincerely is praying from the bottom of our hearts; speaking truthfully, and genuinely. Being able to pour out our hearts to God without the fear of judgement is freeing, not only emotionally but physically. The burdens we carry can be lifted off our shoulders by our Lord when we open up our hearts to him.
How do we carry this thanksgiving through the rest of the year, and the rest of our lives?
Start with searching for small things every day that you're thankful for. Possibly, you're thankful for the rays of sunlight that shine through your window, waking you up, God blessing you with another day on this earth. Perhaps you're thankful for the family that surrounds you, or the support you receive from your friends. You may be thankful for your education, or even those dreaded early morning classes that you need in order to succeed academically and continue on the path towards the future.
When we look for the good things in spite of the bad we become more sincere, more faithful, and our prayers become more enduring. If we follow this outline--being more sincere and faithful in our prayer--then we can carry this habit throughout our lives, continuing to grow closer to God.
I challenge you today to let God remove the burdens you have from your shoulders, pour your heart out to God, and remain faithful to him during the Thanksgiving season. Continue to pray to the Lord daily and faithfully and you will be rewarded with everlasting life someday in Heaven with our Father.
