A Week of Thankful Prayers

Be Blessed and Inspired
13 hours ago
7 min read

As we enter this holiday season our minds first turn to thoughts and celebrations of Thanksgiving. Truly, there is no need to wait for the arrival of the last Thursday in November to begin thanking the Lord for all that He has done and continues to do for us. Here is a week full of prompts to inspire your prayers this week. And to spark a heart of gratitude for the whole year going forward. Enjoy!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

Day 1: Entering In

Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Thinking about such things will set the tone for everything that follows in our prayers.

Psalm 100:1-5, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. ²Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. ³Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. ⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. ⁵For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Thanksgiving is a means of worshipping the Lord. It gives Him thanks for every good and perfect gift. It changes our perspective from that of defeat or woe is me to one of gratitude, joy, and contentment. We have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. We have been given every benefit imaginable. We are invited into an unhindered relationship with our Heavenly Father! Counting our blessings is a surefire way of lifting our spirits. Recounting God’s blessings and plentiful provisions in the past, affirms our faith in the present.

Day 2: Lavish Benefits

Psalm 103:1-5, “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. ²Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— ³who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, ⁴who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,⁵who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s…. ¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his love for those who fear him; ¹²as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Every benefit that God pours out on us is an overflow of His endless compassion on us. He accomplished what we could not gain on our own. He freely gives; we need only receive. He is our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord. He restores and revives our spirits. He is our hope, and He holds our future.

He forgives, heals, redeems, loves, and shows compassion; He brings satisfaction and contentment; He offers us knowledge of His will and ways; He gives us a fresh start and new beginnings, by wiping our slate clean. He helps us to be strong and persevere. Psalm 103 uses the word compassion 4 times. Every lavish benefit brings us comfort, encouragement, blessing, and peace to our souls; and they flow from His compassionate hand. God withholds nothing good and offers us His best.

Let’s thank the Lord for loving us so much that He came down from Heaven and rescued our souls.

Day 3: Every Blessing

Ephesians 1:13-14, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

If we read all of Ephesians 1, we find affirmation that God wants us. He chooses, forgives, saves us. He makes us His child and welcomes us into His family. We belong to Him and will be with Him forever. God will never forsake, abandon, or turn us away. His arms are always open, ready to receive and embrace us. He gives us the future hope of Heaven where we will forever live in His household. He is our good, good, Father and He blesses us beyond our imagination. He also pours out every blessing for our lives here on earth—He has given us Holy Spirit to live inside our hearts, and He has given us His Holy Word through the Holy Bible. The same God who called the galaxies into existence and numbers the hairs on our heads, calls us into a personal relationship with Himself. He teaches us truth and guides us in wisdom; He gives knowledge of His ways—if only we’d stop more often to ask, seek, and listen.

Day 4: Joyful Noise

We can choose to rejoice even when we don’t feel like smiling. Thanking God for our blessings helps to push back the gloomy darkness.

Psalm 92:1-5, “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, ²proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, ³to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. ⁴For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. ⁵How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!”

We are encouraged to proclaim God’s love in the morning and remember His faithfulness as we crawl into bed each night. We can make music in our hearts, lift our voices high, and raise our hands to Heaven. We can give thanks in so many ways and for so many reasons—even without a harp or lyre.

Here are just a few things we have to be thankful for: God gives us strength; He defeats our enemies; He sends our foes running in the opposite direction. He causes us to flourish and bear fruit even in times of emotional or physical drought. He is upright, our Rock; there is no wickedness in Him. He worked salvation for us through His Son Jesus Christ. He is continually loving and faithful to His people. God keeps His promises and covenants forever. He upholds us, defends us, sanctifies, and helps us.

Let’s continue to praise, worship, submit, and give thanks to the Lord above. We can be thankful that He is also very present with each one of us here below. If you ever find yourself grasping for words of thanksgiving, you can always borrow some verses from Psalms to get your prayer started.

Psalm 98:1-9, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.”

Day 5: Glad Recollections

In Psalm 136, the refrain “His love endures forever,” is repeated 26 times. Read it for yourself if you haven’t already done so.

The psalmist encouraged his heart by repeating this truth, and this is something for us to meditate on and be grateful for too. Scripture tells us to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. So, what are we allowing our minds to be filled with and taken over by? Shame, regret, bitterness, unforgiveness? Meditating on the love of God will help redirect our thoughts and heal our hearts. Let’s make a practice of recounting God’s wonders, His creation, His deliverance, His guidance through the desert times; His protection; His redemption, and for His promise to make all things new in our life.

The psalmist proclaims: “His love endures forever.”

Do you believe this to be true? Keep repeating it until it’s tucked securely into your heart.

Day 6: Plentiful Provisions

Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, ³ he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right path for his name’s sake. ⁴Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

This is one of the most popular verses in the Bible, and with good reason. It reminds us that the Lord provides rest, quiet, restoration, guidance, courage, comfort, provision, anointing, overflow, peace, and protection. David wrote Psalm 23 and many other psalms not while things were peachy keen and perfect; he often penned verses during times of great distress. Yet even amid trials and tribulations, persecution and even fear for his life, David recounted God’s character and counted his blessings. This conscious act of giving thanks helped keep him from being overwhelmed.

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Day 7: Gracious Gifts

God blesses in so many ways. Let’s count our blessings every day. It glorifies God and changes our perspective.

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His love endures forever!”

He is the God of Heaven, yet He is very close to you and me. I encourage you pause and reflect on the blessings God has poured into your life. If you are having one of those days when it’s hard to think of anything, ask God to bring a blessing to mind. Then pray and give Him thanks. You can also pick a psalm and make it your own as you offer your praise. Notice a lift in your outlook and spirit.

You might also want to grab a notebook and make a habit of journaling your gratitude daily. You can challenge yourself to record even three things at first and then see how your list grows from there. And of course, continue drawing near to God this week.