T his coming Thursday is the day that is set aside in our wonderful country as a national day of Thanksgiving. As Christians we have so much to be thankful for and it should be very easy to find reasons for being thankful. Besides having so much of this world’s goods, we have all spiritual blessings which can only be realized by being IN Christ (Eph 1:3). But how thankful are we? There are others in the world that certainly do not have or ever will have the material things that we are blessed with in our life. Yet we still find ways to complain and wish that we had even more. In addition to all the physical things that we are blessed with, we should thank God every day that we have learned about Jesus Christ, obeyed Him, and are striving to live a faithful life on this earth until we die. We are promised that heaven is waiting for us to possess it IF we are faithful to the very end (Rev 2:10). Now that is something we can truly be thankful for.

As we bow our heads in prayer to God this coming Thursday, before we eat our meal, let us truly be mindful of all the wonderful things that God has allowed us to enjoy here on this earth. We should be thankful for our prosperity and for being able to worship God unmolested at any time. Let us thank God for our health and that He may bless us with many more years of faithful service in His kingdom. May we thank God for those that have had an open heart to receive His Word, and are now determined to serve Him for the rest of their life. We should thank God for the opportunities that He presents to us to share His Word with others. Let us also thank God for our children and pray that we raise them completely in the training and admonition that He dictates to us. May we thank Him for the congregation here at Valley and pray that we can all strive to continue to build each other up, keeping one another motivated for the cause of Christ and for each other, longing to be with God and each other forever in heaven. As we bow, there are so many things that we can be thankful for.

The importance of prayers of Thanksgiving to God is taught to us clearly in the Bible. Notice the following:

Psalms 50:14 “Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.”

Psalms 105:1 “Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!”

Psalms 106:1 “Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

1Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Hebrews 13:15 “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

Ephesians 5:20 “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

When we look at God’s Word, we can see where our duty is evident. We know that we have received many blessings from our creator in which we should be eternally thankful. Prayer is important because it is through prayer that God can clearly see in us what kind of children we really are. A prayerful child is one who talks to their father. God wants us to talk to Him and express to Him how truly thankful we are for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Can it be seen in us by our expression to God in prayer that we really are thankful for what we have, both physical and spiritual?