November 23, 2009

 Persevere in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving... Colossians 4:2

Thanksgiving Challenges

What are we thankful for today, this week/month/year? It is so easy to see all of the problems around us, and fear for the future as one crisis after another breaks on the news... but are we losing sight of our many blessings as we complain and/or do what we can to prepare for the worst?

Thanksgiving day is one such blessing, of course, and most of us at least spend some time then to count our blessings and give thanks to God, but I suspect we'd all be better off if we didn't leave it to one day a year.

How many of us open our eyes in the morning and think first of the most pressing problem of the day? We can, and should, take that concern with us into our prayer time - I do hope yours is in the morning...

But how much better would it be if we trained ourselves specifically to be grateful for life itself when we first open our eyes after sleeping! What if our prayer time was first dedicated to praise, thanksgiving and joy? Might we then see more clearly the answers God has for our troubles and worries?

Just an idea...