Pray your prayers with thanksgiving

When I'm bothered about something to the point of anxiety and distress, I remember the "be anxious for nothing" prayer direction in Philippians chapter four:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.


Taking stuff to God in prayer is great advice. But Paul says to tell God about what's bothering you with thanksgiving. I think that what this does is to keep us from prayers that are just negative complaining prayers, where we recite the facts of how the proverbial glass is half empty.

Adding thanksgiving puts a positive note into your prayers. God is fully aware of the thing that is driving us to prayer. Being thankful in prayer is an act of faith. Being thankful says, "no matter what I believe God is good".

Praying with thanksgiving is not victorious denial. We are not thankful for sin, death, or loss. We are thankful for God, who is good no matter how we feel.

Comments