Praying with Thanksgiving, episode 160

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If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right

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here at the When You Love a Prodigal podcast and also help and hope for your own life journey.

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As I always say, remember to actually write down anything God sparks in your mind to do

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or say as you're listening or you probably will forget.

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I'm almost always consistent in praying about almost everything.

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I've been walking with the Lord long enough.

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I understand that I should engage him in every situation, even some challenging ones, such

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as when my six-year-old daughter flew out of a swing, landed on concrete and cut her

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chin open.

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I thought she had broken her neck.

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My prodigal got stuck in the sand at Daytona Beach in his lowered truck, and the tide was

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coming in.

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He had no way to get out.

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I laughed, by the way.

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He did not think that was funny.

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When he and his friend had had too much to drink and ran off the road and landed on an

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electrical box which proceeded to catch fire and they were knocked out, that was certainly

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something to pray about.

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They did come out of it, but the truck was ruined.

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My other daughter's son was in a lockdown at his school with an active shooter there.

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It was an hour wait for my daughter before she knew if her son was okay.

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He was.

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When my son was trimming a large hedge with a chainsaw, it kicked back and gashed his head.

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He has a nice scar.

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I have had no trouble praying for each of those things and many others, especially because

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my prodigal seemed to have those kinds of things all the time.

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But in Philippians 4-6, the instructions are more specific.

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Pray about everything with Thanksgiving.

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Our natural response, if we know the Lord, is to pray about when hard things happen,

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scary things happen, hurtful things happen.

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We pretty naturally go to the Lord.

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But he says, come with Thanksgiving.

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Pray, yes, give thanks, that is much harder.

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But it is exactly what we are told to do, even in scary out-of-control circumstances.

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Give thanks.

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It has been one of the most important, helpful, and even life-changing truths I have learned.

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Why does God say this?

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Everything, all things, how can we do it?

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He says it is because he knows giving thanks is the fastest way to change us, to bring

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the good change into our lives.

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When we say, thank you, Lord, almost immediately our focus changes.

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Instead of centering on the pain caused by my circumstances, I center on God.

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Sometimes it is barely perceptible, but it is there, and a small shift, therefore, from

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fear to faith.

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When we say, thank you, Lord, we are saying, I believe you are God, and I believe you are

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good.

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It doesn't feel like it right now, but your word assures me it is true.

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I have known it to be true, and I choose to believe it now.

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And when we say, thank you, Lord, we are expressing trust in God and His trustworthiness.

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That step of faith and obedience does a couple of wonderful things.

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First, my mind and my emotions quiet.

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They settle.

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Perhaps even relax, and I begin to experience peace in the midst of turmoil, hope when there

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seems to be none.

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And in ways I don't fully understand, saying thank you begins to open doors.

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It's as if those words said in hesitant trust give God a key to me, to you, to our hearts

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and our minds.

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With that key, he unlocks doors about our pain, our anger, our fear, our resistance.

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We begin to get glimpses of answers to our prayers, of more steps forward than backward,

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of new attitudes, and occasionally of outright transformation.

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Whatever place our journey has led us to now, even in our difficult journeys with prodigals,

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we can benefit from some reminders of why we can keep trusting God.

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He is God.

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He is good.

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He loves us.

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Jesus, who died for us, is our bread and water and shepherd and much, much more.

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The Spirit of God lives in us, comforting, encouraging, giving wisdom, providing for

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every need that we have.

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So you see, all of God, Father, Son, and Spirit, are in us, available to us, and there to take

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care of the needs of our lives, and to confirm their great love for us.

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So perhaps those reminders will spark the solid evidence that we are genuinely growing

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in that trust in God.

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Brennan Manning, one of my very favorite authors in his book, All Is Grace, suggests this,

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The foremost quality of a trusting disciple is gratefulness.

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That's interesting, isn't it?

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Gratitude arises from the lived out perception, evaluation, and acceptance of all of life

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as grace, as an undeserved and unearned gift from the Father's hand.

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So consider these characteristics of gratitude.

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Brennan Manning suggests them, and I'm talking about them.

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It is not difficult when we believe that all, giving thanks in all things, means all.

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It's not difficult for us to make a list of all the blessings, the good things in our

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lives, for which we are grateful.

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It would be a good practice to do that daily.

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But the kind of lived out gratitude that is proof of our trust in God will also include

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saying, Thank you, Lord, in everything, including those things we prefer were not happening

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in our lives, even for the pain caused by a loving prodigal.

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Another thing to notice is that gratitude pays attention.

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The busyness of life, the bombardment of messages from our culture, and the challenges of the

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choices of one we love all distract us from an awareness of our God who is active in every

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detail of our lives, as it says repeatedly in the song, The Waymaker, even when I don't

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see it, you're working.

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Even when I don't feel it, you're working.

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You never stop.

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You never stop working.

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You never stop.

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You never stop working.

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I love that assurance.

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God's working, even if I can't see it, even if I don't know what's happening.

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A heart of gratefulness, of gratitude, stays aware of God in the beautiful events and joys,

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and in the difficult circumstances and experiences.

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This kind of gratitude pays attention to what he is doing, what he is saying, how he is

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working.

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We notice God is at work.

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Gratitude is catching.

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I bet you've experienced that.

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You know those people you don't want to run into, the complaining whiny ones who pass

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on to you their negative, ungrateful attitudes.

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But you also know the ones who, in the midst of difficulties and disappointments, still

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exude joy and gratitude.

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You love it to be with them, and perhaps you even catch some of their grateful spirit.

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We tend to think that only joyful circumstances will make us thankful.

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In reality, joy, in any circumstance, good or bad, comes from an already grateful heart.

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And then it's good to remember that there is a God.

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Brennan Manning says that gratitude focuses on God.

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He says the character of gratitude is anchored in trust, that there is someone to thank.

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Someone that you're saying thank you to for whatever is happening.

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Having that kind of attitude means having God as the central focus of your life and

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thinking and attitudes.

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We have affirmed that all that God is, hopefully we have begun to see that God is totally trustworthy.

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He provides for us.

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He meets our needs.

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He stays with us.

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He gives us strength and perseverance and wisdom and hope.

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As our trust expands, so will our gratitude.

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We will increasingly choose to give thanks in all circumstances as we are urged to in

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Versaicelonians 5.

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So my encouragement to you as you approach Thanksgiving Day, give thanks.

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How?

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Every day, name or write down at least one thing concerning your prodigal that you are

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thankful for.

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Can't think of any?

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Then start with things in your own life and your relationship with God.

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Try adding one more specific thank you every day.

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But if one is all you can manage, God will gladly receive that and still begin that transforming

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work in your heart and mind.

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Did you write it down?

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What God has said to you?

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Are you feeling a little more thankful?

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Even in the hard times?

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Even in the dread you're experiencing looking at holidays, which are often painful?

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Give thanks.

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I am thankful for you.

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God bless you.