Gift #1177: Thanksgiving Prayer

For a couple of weeks I’ve been reading A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie.  It has morning and evening prayers listed for thirty one days.  I bought it on our last trip to Cincinnati.  Many, many years ago I had found a book of prayer at the local book store and for some insane reason, I didn’t purchase it and then have spent all this time regretting it since.  Every time we’d go to Cincinnati I’d look for it and this last time we finally found it.  It’s been a special book to me so far and I deeply appreciate the ability to begin and end the day with a focus on God’s word and in prayer.  I really struggle with prayer and having written prayers to read and mediate over is a great help for me.

And in one of those God-moments, the prayer I read last night was perfect for Thanksgiving.  It wasn’t written for the occasion, but it was a sweet reminder to me that God is present and remembers me.  I thought it would be lovely to share with you all today on this Day of Thanks.

To you O heavenly Father, be all praise and glory, as day by day you richly fill my life with many blessings:

A home to share, family to love, and friends to cherish;

A place to fill and work to do;

Your gift of a green world, blue skies above, and the air we breathe;

Healthy exercise and simple pleasures;

Humanity’s long history to remember and its great people to follow;

Good books to read and many creative activities to delight in;

So much that is worth knowing and the skill and technology to know it;

Thoughts of eternity and great things that sometimes fill my mind;

Many happy days, and that inward calm that you give me in days of gloom;

The peace, passing understanding, that comes from your living in me;

The faith that looks through death, and the hope of a larger life beyond the grave.

O Lord God, thank you that although you have always generously showered all people with blessings, yet in Jesus you have done greater things for us than you have ever done before:

Making home sweeter and friends dearer;

Turing sorrow into gladness and pain into the soul’s victory;

Robbing death of its sting;

Robbing sin of its power;

Renewing history;

Making peace more peaceful and joy more joyful, making faith and hope more secure.

Amen.

May your hearts by filled with gratitude and warmth on this Thanksgiving.

Blessings to you,

Sarah