A prayer for thankfulness and gratitude

“God smiles when we praise and thank Him continually. Few things feel better than receiving heartfelt praise and appreciation from someone else. God loves it, too… An amazing thing happens when we offer praiseand thanksgiving to God. When we give God enjoyment,our own hearts are filled with joy.” – Rick Warren

It is not easy to give thanks in every circumstance.But when we choose to thank God in the midst of difficulty, it defeats the forces of darkness in the spiritual realm. When we thank God for every gift He has given us even when things are hard, the enemy loses the battle against us. He is stopped in his tracks when we come to God with a thankful heart. 

Learn to be thankful for every blessing from God in your life. It is of great significance to Him if in the midst of great trials, we can be thankful. There is a way of looking at life from the standpoint of eternity. The reality of eternal life and eternal glory that far exceeds this life is a priceless treasure. Our afflictions are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Let’s learn to thank God every day during this Thanksgiving season.

A Prayer for a Thankful Heart

Lord, teach me to offer you a heart of thanksgiving and praise in all my daily experiences of life. Teach me to be joyful always, to pray continually and to give thanks in all my circumstances. I accept them as Your will for my life (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). I long to bring pleasure to Your heart daily. Break the power of the enemy in my life. Defeat Him through my sacrifice of praise. Change my outlook and attitude into one of joyful contentment with my present circumstances. I thank You for… Jesus, I want to be like You who obeyed the Father without complaint. You embraced the chains of humanity when You walked this earth. Convict me whenever I complain or compare myself with others. Give me Your attitude of humility and thankful acceptance. I want to be like the Apostle Paul who learned contentment in every circumstance. I choose to continually offer You a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that give praise to Your name (Hebrews 13:15). I long to bring a smile to Your face. Teach me the power of a thankful heart. I know that Your truth dwells in a thankful heart.“I will give thanks to the LORD because of His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 7:17-18:1). In Jesus’ name, amen.

Together in the Harvest,
 
Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOP-KC)

www.intercessorsarise.org

What are you thankful for today? Join our large praying community in the comments below and experience the joy and praise that comes from many lifting thanks to God!

SEE ALSO: What to Pray with Kids at Bedtime

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There are times that we feel deeply blessed by the kindness of others, including God our Father. Did you know that these are some of the best times to offer up a prayer of gratitude and thanks to God? However, we sometimes forget in those moments to stop and express thankfulness to God for the blessings we have in our lives. Remember that all we have, and all that we own, has been given to us by our Lord. He wants what’s best for us always. Let us remember to thank Him for these things every day. It is His longing to be there for His children!

If the need for prayer is what you are seeking most, may it be gratitude or thankfulness, whether in your own life, or in the life of someone you love, let us pray for you at the holiest place on earth, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. We have faith that sending your prayer to the place where our Lord Jesus Christ gave his life for us will help your request be granted! It is our honor and privilege to be a prayer warrior for you, and to ask the Lord to watch over you, protect you, and keep you, always. Please submit your prayer request today.

“You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt You! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 118:28-29

Prayer for Daily Gratitude and Thankfulness

Heavenly Father, my day-to-day routine is so busy. So much so that I sometimes forget to stop to thank you for all that is good in my life. My blessings are many and my heart is filled with gratefulness for the gift of living, for the ability to love and be loved, for the opportunity to see the everyday wonders of creation. I want to thank you, for those things in my life that are less than I would hope them to be. Sometimes life is very hard, and it’s a struggle to keep my head above water. Things that seem challenging, unfair, or difficult often hurts. When my heart feels stretched and empty, and pools of tears form in my weary eyes, still I will rejoice that You are as near to me as my next breath and that in the midst of turbulence, I am growing and learning. In the silence of my soul, I thank you most of all for Your unconditional love.

Prayer for the Gratitude of God’s Unfailing Love

Lord, I am so thankful for the relationship that I have with You. Precious Lord, You initiated this relationship by what Your Son endeavored to accomplish, paying the price for my sins and those of my brothers and sisters, thus redeeming and reconciling me.

You know the times I have been ungrateful, held ill thoughts toward You and others. You know the times I complain and grumble about life and its circumstances, but You love me regardless even when I’m ungrateful. I am thankful Lord for everything that You allow to cross my path. I am thankful for the decisions that You allow me to make, and the life lessons that come from these decisions. I’m thankful, Lord, that I do not have to live under condemnation anymore, and that You have truly set me free! Amen.

Prayer for God’s Thanksgiving

God of all blessings, source of all life, giver of all grace in all things, I want to thank you for the gift of life, for the breath that sustains life, for the food of this earth that nurtures life, and for the love of family and friends without which there would be little happiness in life. I thank you for the beauty of creation of this great Earth, for the joy that the ear may hear, for the unknown that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder, and for the expanse of space that draws us beyond the definitions of our selves. Everything in my life, and the life that surrounds me was drawn and created by Your own hand. For this, I am grateful. Amen.

Prayer for Gratitude Towards Our Heavenly Father

I am so grateful for everything that You have given me. Thank you so much for the loved ones in my life, and for the many ways in which I am cared for and supported on a day to day basis. Thank you for the many ways I can serve and give to others. Thank you for the rich tapestry of colors throughout creation, for the beauty that is all around me, and for the skies and the ever-changing environment that surrounds me. My heart is so grateful for all that You have bestowed me within my life. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is in Your name that I sing my praises!

Prayer for Gratitude and Thanks In the Morning

Lord, thank you for the goodness in my life. When I wake each morning, I praise Your name! You have given me life that is filled with beauty, and the breath in my lungs is a gift from You. I pray that You will fill my day with love and sustenance. And may I remember at the end of each of my day’s, to thank you for all that has been placed in my life. In Your precious name I pray these things!

Prayer of Thankfulness for Blessings Received

My Precious Father, how I praise and thank You for Your many and great blessings that You have showered over us all, despite our foolish ways and sinful pride. How great You are, and what a gracious God that You should care for me despite my manner towards you and others at times. Thank You Father for Your unconditional and everlasting love. May I grow more and more to be like You. I ask that You continue to guide and teach me in all that I say and do, and that I may do all according to Your will. I ask You to continue to pour our Your bountiful blessings and mercy on myself and my whole family. Amen.

Prayer of Thankfulness for the Blessing of Jesus Christ

Our dear heavenly Father, may Your name be glorified for You alone are worthy, for You looked down on our pitiful world and chose to give Your only Beloved Son to be the perfect sacrifice to pay the price for the sins of all of Your people. There are no words that are sufficient enough to praise and bless You for all that You have poured over the heads of Your children, and into the hearts of those that love and trust You. You alone are worthy of our thanksgiving and praise, and we bless Your name forever and ever, amen.

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Verses:

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.” Hebrews 12:28

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

“For all of this, Your Excellencey, we are very grateful to you.” Acts 24:3

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A Prayer for Thankfulness When You’re Struggling
By Wendy van Eyck

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

If you’re struggling with being thankful for an imperfect life at the moment here are 5 different ways to practice thankfulness:

1. Toe to head thank you

As a teenager I heard Mike Pilavachi speak at a Soul Survivor event. I can’t remember most of what he said but one thing stuck with me: a prayer of gratitude when you wake up in the morning. I still do this from time-to-time. Basically the idea is that as you wake up in the morning you start at your toes and you thank God for the ability to wiggle them and then you move up naming various body parts and why you are thankful for them until you reach your head. I generally find at the end of this prayer I’m pretty cheerful about the day ahead.

2. Grace

Another way to build gratitude into your life even when you aren’t feeling it is to say grace before your meal. Don’t make this a rote prayer that you learnt at kindergarten. Use each meal as an opportunity to thank God for one good thing in your life. If you’re really drawing a blank, you can always simply thank him that you have food for one meal.

3. The Ann Voskamp method

A few years ago now, Ann Voskamp wrote a beautiful book about how she learnt to embrace gratitude through hard things. It is called One Thousand Gifts and if by some chance you haven’t read it yet, you should. Without giving too much away the basic premise is find 3 things to be grateful for each day. Ann Voskamp’s lists always read like poetry. I tried my own list for a couple of months while Xylon had chemo and I definitely found myself noticing the small things to be thankful for that I might have otherwise missed.

4. Sunset thank you

One of my cousins, Pam, was telling me recently how from the time her children are small she tells them every time they see a sunset that God loves them and just like the sun sets every evening God’s love for them will never change. I thought this was a beautiful idea. It also made me think of the sunset as an opportunity to thank God for being part of the day we just lived. Even if I didn’t feel him there the sunset reminds me that was.

5. Last thought at night

Something I try and do each night as I fall asleep is thank God for at least one thing that happened that day. This prayer is usually really sleepy but it helps me to fall asleep in good frame of mind and forget all the difficult things that might have happened in the day.

Do any of these ideas sound doable to you? Do you think they’d help get you into a cycle of cheerfulness-prayer-gratitude?

Prayer: God, sometimes life gets me down and I find it hard to see things to be thankful for. Open my eyes to see the gifts you’ve given me in my life. I’m going to start by thanking you for loving me enough to come to earth and die so we can live together forever. Amen.

Editor’s Note: The following is an abridged version of 5 Ways to be Thankful When Life isn’t Perfect by Wendy van Eyck. To read the full article, follow this link. 

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