This is day 26 of our 27 day gratitude and prayer guide in preparation for Thanksgiving. You can download the entire 27-day Give Thanks and Pray guide here.
Day 2: Reflect on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
On a sheet of paper or in a journal, write as much of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 as you can remember.
Write your answers to the following on you paper or in your journal:
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. How does God bless you through life’s more difficult circumstances?
Read 1 Peter 1:7-9. How can God refine your faith and make you stronger through difficult times?
When implementing the Lord’s Supper, why do you think Jesus was able to give thanks for the bread and the cup, knowing that they pointed to the suffering he was about to endure?
Normally on Thanksgiving, we remember the blessings we’ve received. For a change of pace, what difficulties can you thank God for?
Offer prayers of confession and thanksgiving
Preparation for prayer:
Write your answers on your paper or journal to the following:
In what ways do you you find that you reserve your thanksgiving for only the good things?
What are the difficulties, and the way God uses those difficulties, that you can thank God for?
Offer up prayers of confession and thanksgiving
Pray to God confessing the challenges in the first question, and thanking him for your answers in question 2. You can use the following as a guide
Father, today I confess that I am too often fickle in my thanksgiving. I miss the bigger picture, reserving my gratitude for when all is well. I too often miss that it’s the hardest times where you do your greatest work.
Forgive me for not seeing your grace in the storm. Give me a repentant heart that thanks you in always
This Thanksgiving, I thank you for the opportunity focus gratitude toward you. I thank you for loved ones with whom I might share that opportunity.
But I’m also thankful Lord for the difficult times. I thank you for how you use the hard things of life to refine my faith and to make me stronger. I am grateful for how you show your power in the times of my greatest weakness, for showing me that you are God, that I can rely on you. Through Jesus I pray, Amen.