Philippians 4:4-7 says: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
This Thanksgiving I am encouraging you to ask God for anything. Be specific. Sit with Him and ask Him for what is on your heart. Right now, you may be thinking I am confused between Christmas and Thanksgiving, Santa and Our Father. I’m not confused; I’m reading scripture.
Thanksgiving Prayer
Thanksgiving, prayer, and petition go together, but not necessarily in that order. Without thanksgiving, we are missing a big part of prayer and petition. Without prayer and petition, we are missing a vital part of giving thanks. The three work together and make a powerful three-way conversation.
Jesus Taught Us to Ask
In the Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus teaches us to pray, He doesn’t tell us to thank God for daily bread; He tells us to ask for it. Why? Because it is in the asking that we are acknowledging who gives us what we need. We are honoring right relationship with, and acknowledging the authority of, the One whom we are asking.
Sending a Thank You
If I get a thank-you note from Walmart for shopping there, it means nothing to me. While it’s always good to say thank you, for instance when someone serves us and they fill our water or take our order, it is a polite response to voice gratitude, but thanks without relationship is simply a response to a transaction, or a way to insure more and future successful transactions.
If I get a thank-you note for a wedding gift that I have given to a special couple in my life, it has an entirely different meaning because of the relationship. In the same way, God deserves so much more than a quick “Thanks” for this or that. He is not Walmart; nor is He a waiter. When we give thanks to God and trust Him with our deepest desires, we are in a close relationship with Him.
Thank You With the Right Heart
It is good to be thankful, always; however, when we repeat the same “Thank you” every time we celebrate thanksgiving, it can almost be condescending. Growing in gratitude and expressing it to the One you are thankful, means growing in relationship and knowing the God who gave everything for which I’m thankful. If I wake up every morning and thank God for breath and life and provision without ever asking for anything, I’m missing an element.
Heart of Thanksgiving
If I opened the shades every morning with a roll of my eyes and a “thanks,” with a heart halfway between obligation and disbelief that He remembered once again to raise the sun, we would both get bored of that conversation and attitude: No affection, no thrill, nothing but a sense of dread for the day when the sun won’t actually rise. Now picture me running to look outside in anticipation of the beauty and wonder and art of the sunrise God has painted. What if I gave God a standing ovation, a smile, a shake of the head in awe that He did it again. Both responses say “thank you,” but one is from a heart of thanksgiving.
I see pictures of beautiful sunrises and sunsets that people take, and they’re spectacular. How do the same people seem to get the most beautiful pictures time and time again? Because they are looking, they are anticipating, they are noticing. They aren’t bored; they know God is not boring. God wouldn’t stop raising the sun for lack of gratitude from us, but without a grateful heart, we miss the beauty and the joy of it all.
Thanks Versus Thank You!
To add a request or petition to our prayer demonstrates a whole deeper level of relationship.
It would be nice if my child got up every day and said: “Thank you for the roof over my head, the clothing I wear, and the food I eat.” It would be nice but very disconnected and sterile-feeling. Now imagine if I made oatmeal for my child every single day and they said “thank you” in response, but then one day they asked for bacon and eggs. They aren’t complaining about the oatmeal, but they are really excited to try something different. I would probably move heaven and earth — or at least go to the grocery store — to make it happen. When my child receives what they ask for and they say: “Thank you for that meal!” it’s a deeper level of gratitude and thrill. The child feels seen and heard and valued and the Giver is honored to know the request and to be trusted with it. The relationship grows stronger and trust is built, all out of a simple request.
Trusting God
In the same way, trusting God with a request sets us up to know and love Him more, because we open the door for Him to know us more, or at least to know that He knows. Let’s be real – God created us and knew us before He knit us together in our mother’s womb, but He also wants us to know and remember that.
Asking, is putting ourselves in a vulnerable position. To receive is much harder than to give, because it requires humility. We all say it and yet we think it works differently with God. Feeling seen and heard and cared for by God, on an intimate level, requires that we take our prayers and requests of all sizes, with thanksgiving, to Him. He might not give us exactly what we ask for, but He will give us so much more than we could ever think or imagine.
What are you asking for this Thanksgiving?
