Henderson Hills Baptist Church

The Thanksgiving Prayer

"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." (Philippians 4:6-7, ESV)

Prayer is one of the most fascinating, powerful, and neglected disciplines of the Christian life. I hate to be too simplistic, but in my experience, there seems to be two categories of Christian practice related to prayer. Some of us are absolutely committed to, disciplined in, and excited about prayer. Marcia and I have met with a group of intercessors for many years now. These people are prayer people. I am always amazed at how committed they are to praying for my family and me. They seem also to be unusually effective in their prayers. I’ve literally watched prayers being answered while they were praying! We do not all have that same degree of orientation toward prayer. Nevertheless, prayer should serve as an important part of our daily relationship with Christ.

In the passage before us today, Paul does not give us the trite and simplistic advice to, “Just pray about it!” He knew that both the earliest Christians and those of us in subsequent generations would need help in understanding how to pray. Thus, Paul gives us instructions about how to pray through using three key words. The first term is prayer. We are to pray with all prayer. What does that mean? This particular word has to do with devotion, reverence, adoration, and worship. Prayer is an essential part of overall praying for three reasons. The Bible tells us to express our devotion to God; He deserves to be glorified and we are changed as we humble our hearts before God in reverence. Paul wisely puts this type of praying first. I do not want to establish some sort of prayer formula to govern all prayer times but it makes sense to begin our prayer with adoration. It plows up the hard ground of our hearts and helps open us up to deeper praying.

The second word for prayer is supplication. This word is not common to our vocabulary so it will need some definition. This is a type of prayer in which we sincerely express our problems, needs, and struggles with God. We would do well to remember that, according to Matthew 7:1-11, God wants us to be sincere in our requests. Do you have a need? Then, ask God to meet it. Do not grow weary in your praying. Ask and keep on asking, prevail with God in the issue. Jesus prayed that way (Hebrews 5:7). Jesus showed us that both logic and spiritual intensity form prayers of supplication.

Finally, Paul comes to thanksgiving prayer. Every year on the fourth Thursday in November, we have a day that is set aside to express our gratitude and appreciation to God. I believe that giving thanks to God is best done over particulars and not generalities. In other words, thanking God for “all the good things that have been given to me” is a poor way to give thanks. Specificity is a good thing! May I suggest that this year you make a list of the ways that you’ve seen God at work in your life and give God thanks about these particular blessings, encouragements, and gifts.

You will notice that right praying transforms our minds by leading us into the peace of God. Prayerlessness often produces worry. We become convinced, somehow, that we do not really need to talk to God about the issues that we face. After all, we can fix things ourselves; we don’t need to rely upon God. Then, when we realize that we cannot fix everything ourselves, we tend to turn to anxiety and worry. Neither of those prayer alternatives produces positive results. A vital prayer life in which we are reverencing God, making supplications for others, and ourselves and trusting God to work in our circumstances will produce the peace of God.

In 1989, Chevy Chase starred in the movie, “Christmas Vacation.” If you have not seen it, don’t. Some things will offend our sensitivities. However, it does have its funny moments. For example, the family is gathered around the beautifully decorated table. It is a classic American scene. Everything is perfect. The food is lavish, the children have been dressed in their best clothing, and everyone is ready to dive into the great meal that stretches out before them.

Then Chevy Chase’s character, Clark Griswold, asks his Aunt Bethany to say grace, in special recognition for her 80th birthday. Now Aunt Bethany is hard of hearing and is “losing it” mentally so she didn’t understand Clark’s request. When she finally realizes that the invitation had nothing to do with her relative named Grace who had died 30 years earlier, she formally prepares to pray. Everyone bows their heads, closes their eyes, and Aunt Bethany starts. She says, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands: One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Clark’s response to the prayer was a hearty “Amen!” It is a classic moment in movie history! Was it funny? It was! Yet there may be more honesty here than we’d like to admit. Pay attention to your praying this Thanksgiving. I urge you to go beyond, “Now I lay me down to sleep, thanks God for all the cool stuff we have to eat, bless those who worked hard to cook it and the Pilgrims who booked it, and don’t forget the missionaries around the world.” Thank God as a family, with sincerity, specificity, and fervency. Praise the Lord and zealously pray for our country.

2 Peter 3:18

Dennis 

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