This is day 11 of our 27 day gratitude and prayer guide in preparation for Thanksgiving. You can download the entire guide here.
Day 2: Reflect: Psalm 95:1-3
On a separate sheet of paper, write as much of Colossians 2:6-7 below as you can remember.
Re-read Psalm 95:1-3 and reflect
Write your answers to these questions down on your sheet of paper to the following:
Read Psalm 95:4-7. What does it reveal to you about why the Psalmist encourages us to shout for joy?
Read Psalm 95:8-11. What warnings do you see about ignoring God’s majesty? What warnings are there about hardening our hearts despite what we’ve seen?
- Why must our roots grow deep in Christ to overflow with thankfulness?
- How does being “strengthened in our faith as we were taught” lead to overflowing with thankfulness?
Prayer of Confession and Thanksgiving
Preparation for prayer:
Write your answers to these questions on your sheet of paper.
What are some ways you’ve hardened your heart, or that you might disregard God’s wonder today?
As you see God’s power both in creation and in your life, what does that make you thankful for?
Spend time in prayer
Include confession for the ways you’ve hardened your heart, and thanksgiving for the things you see in God’s creation and in your life. You can use the following as a guide
Father, I confess that I’ve so often hardened my heart. I have sought my own glory over recognizing yours. I come before you as one who too often gets lost in my own self to the point that I lose sight of the amazing things that you have done.
Forgive my heard heartedness and help me to have a thankful heart Thank you Lord for being the rock of my salvation. You are always there for me to come back to. Thank you for your greatness, for the glory of your creation. I am grateful for the beauty of this part of the world you have placed me, and for the many forms of beauty throughout the world. I see the stars and the mountains and I listen to creation shouting out your name. Thank you that I can join them with my own shouts of rejoicing and thanksgiving. I celebrate your majesty through your son, Jesus. Amen.
I also come before you thankful for your grace and for how you are here with me now. You hear my prayers, you desire to bring me closer to you. Thank you for your desire to walk with me. Thank you for these things you have done to help me walk with you, for how you can root me in you, and how you continue to strengthen my faith.
Open my eyes to how you seek a walk with me. Show me the ways that you want to help me be closer to you and help me to be overflowing in thankfulness because of you.