You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Psalm 119:28 ESV
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thess. 5:18 NLT
Heavenly Father, I want to begin (and continue) this day with a spirit of gratitude—for the glory of your name and the health of my heart. Though I can default as easily as anyone to whining and carping, comparing and coveting, you have given me copious reasons to overflow with thanksgiving.
Father thank you for registering my name in heaven (Luke 10:20)—for writing me into the book of life, with the indelible ink of your grace (Rev. 3:5). Nothing can separate me from your love; or cause you to love me more or love me less.
Your steadfast love endures forever, because of the once-and-for-all work of Jesus on my behalf. Because you have hidden my life in Christ, I live in your permanent favor, constant delight, and unbreakable providence. Hallelujah!
Though I don’t always understand your ways, see your hand at work, or like your sense of timing, the gospel of your grace has freed me to trust you in the storms and dark places of life. Speaking of which…
Father, thank you for being sovereign over our joys and our tears—over our rejoicings and our sufferings; in the days when we declare, “Great is thy faithfulness!” and in the days when we cry out, “How long, O Lord?”
Father, thank you for telling us some things are only going to make sense later—that in this life we only know in part (1 Cor. 13:9). Forgive me when I want answers more than I want you. Forgive me when I want relief more than I want a changed heart. Forgive me when I demand my “thorn in the flesh” to be taken away more than I want to rest in your sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Forgive me when I am more childish than childlike.
I know the Day is coming, of wiped tears and redeemed pain, of finished stories and no more sad, of all things new and no more bad. Until that Day—until that blessed Day, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ beautiful and trustworthy name.
