Reset: Day 9 - Living Hope Clarksville

Day 9
THANKS

Reminder: Cleanse your conscience today. Jesus, sprinkle me with Your blood. Rejoice that all accu- sation is silenced by the blood of Christ and draw near to Him with boldness.

In this prayer Reset, you’re experiencing fresh grace to come into the Lord’s presence every day. And He told us, in His word, how He prefers we approach Him. Here’s the best way to draw near to God:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (Ps 100:4)

The Lord loves it when we come into His presence with thanksgiving and praise. Sometimes in our distress, we come to Him with the agonized cries of a broken heart, and He never despises that. But even in our times of greatest despondency, our first words can still be thank You.

When you step into His room, let it be with a word

of thanks and praise. Are you so distressed that you can’t think of anything to thank Him for?

When you first meet up with someone you haven’t seen for a while, usually your greeting is gracious and welcoming. “It’s great to see you again!” Your first words usually aren’t, “We need to talk.”

Same for God. He appreciates when the opener to the conversation is characterized by thanksgiving, praise, and blessing.

PRAY. Just do it. Act upon Psalm 100:4 (above). Express thanks for something specific, and bless His name. This is a perfect way to start your daily prayer time. 

Praise His name. Every name of God expresses something wonderful about the nature of His character and attributes. Personally, language for praise comes more easily when I consider His greatness in four ways:

I praise His name (Ps 7:17)

I praise His word (Ps 56:4, 10)

I praise His works (Ps 78:4)

I praise His power (Ps 21:13)

PRAY. Take a minute with each one to offer thanks and praise. These four qualities of God’s greatness provide a fabulous framework for daily praise.

Jesus offered thanks to His Father frequently.

Here’s one example:

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.” (John 11:41)

Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11, He gave thanks. He also gave thanks before breaking the loaves and fish, before instituting the Lord’s Supper, and before meals. For Him, thanksgiving was a way to open the conversation.

In giving instructions concerning prayer, Paul also spoke of the centrality of thanksgiving.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and sup- plication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (Phil 4:6)

Thanksgiving is added to prayer much like salt to food. You can eat food without salt, but salt makes the meal much more enjoyable. Similarly, God will receive us if we pray without offering thanksgiving, but thanksgiving makes the exchange more delightful to Him.

Salvation, forgiveness, acceptance, mercy, grace, lovingkindness—His word, His name, His works, His power—we have sooo much to be thankful for!

I’ll confess my forgetfulness here. Although I feel thankful to God most of the time, many times I forget to actually verbalize it. Thanksgiving needs to be spoken. That’s why this prompter is helpful for me. I need to be reminded to actually express my thanksgiving and praise at the start of my prayer time.

PRAY. Ask the Lord for a way to remember to include thanksgiving in each day’s praise. Once He shows you a way of remembering, write your strategy down here.

Lord Jesus, I’m asking You to make thanksgiving and praise an habitual part of my daily prayer life.

As you step into your day now, go with a happy heart of gratefulness for the multitude of His mercies!

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