Praying with Thanksgiving, episode 160

0:00 If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right here at the When You Love a Prodigal podcast and also help and hope for your own life journey. As I always say, remember to actually write down anything God sparks in your mind to do or say as you're listening or you probably will forget. I'm almost always consistent in praying about almost everything. I've been walking with the Lord long enough. I understand that I should engage him in every situation, even some challenging ones, such as when my six-year-old daughter flew out of a swing, landed on concrete and cut her chin open.

0:54 I thought she had broken her neck. My prodigal got stuck in the sand at Daytona Beach in his lowered truck, and the tide was coming in. He had no way to get out. I laughed, by the way. He did not think that was funny. When he and his friend had had too much to drink and ran off the road and landed on an electrical box which proceeded to catch fire and they were knocked out, that was certainly something to pray about. They did come out of it, but the truck was ruined.

1:36 My other daughter's son was in a lockdown at his school with an active shooter there. It was an hour wait for my daughter before she knew if her son was okay. He was. When my son was trimming a large hedge with a chainsaw, it kicked back and gashed his head. He has a nice scar. I have had no trouble praying for each of those things and many others, especially because my prodigal seemed to have those kinds of things all the time.

2:17 But in Philippians 4-6, the instructions are more specific. Pray about everything with Thanksgiving. Our natural response, if we know the Lord, is to pray about when hard things happen, scary things happen, hurtful things happen. We pretty naturally go to the Lord. But he says, come with Thanksgiving. Pray, yes, give thanks, that is much harder. But it is exactly what we are told to do, even in scary out-of-control circumstances.

2:59 Give thanks. It has been one of the most important, helpful, and even life-changing truths I have learned. Why does God say this? Everything, all things, how can we do it? He says it is because he knows giving thanks is the fastest way to change us, to bring the good change into our lives. When we say, thank you, Lord, almost immediately our focus changes. Instead of centering on the pain caused by my circumstances, I center on God.

3:41 Sometimes it is barely perceptible, but it is there, and a small shift, therefore, from fear to faith. When we say, thank you, Lord, we are saying, I believe you are God, and I believe you are good. It doesn't feel like it right now, but your word assures me it is true. I have known it to be true, and I choose to believe it now. And when we say, thank you, Lord, we are expressing trust in God and His trustworthiness. That step of faith and obedience does a couple of wonderful things.

4:25 First, my mind and my emotions quiet. They settle. Perhaps even relax, and I begin to experience peace in the midst of turmoil, hope when there seems to be none. And in ways I don't fully understand, saying thank you begins to open doors. It's as if those words said in hesitant trust give God a key to me, to you, to our hearts and our minds. With that key, he unlocks doors about our pain, our anger, our fear, our resistance.

5:14 We begin to get glimpses of answers to our prayers, of more steps forward than backward, of new attitudes, and occasionally of outright transformation. Whatever place our journey has led us to now, even in our difficult journeys with prodigals, we can benefit from some reminders of why we can keep trusting God. He is God. He is good. He loves us. Jesus, who died for us, is our bread and water and shepherd and much, much more.

5:55 The Spirit of God lives in us, comforting, encouraging, giving wisdom, providing for every need that we have. So you see, all of God, Father, Son, and Spirit, are in us, available to us, and there to take care of the needs of our lives, and to confirm their great love for us. So perhaps those reminders will spark the solid evidence that we are genuinely growing in that trust in God. Brennan Manning, one of my very favorite authors in his book, All Is Grace, suggests this, The foremost quality of a trusting disciple is gratefulness.

6:43 That's interesting, isn't it? Gratitude arises from the lived out perception, evaluation, and acceptance of all of life as grace, as an undeserved and unearned gift from the Father's hand. So consider these characteristics of gratitude. Brennan Manning suggests them, and I'm talking about them. It is not difficult when we believe that all, giving thanks in all things, means all. It's not difficult for us to make a list of all the blessings, the good things in our lives, for which we are grateful.

7:29 It would be a good practice to do that daily. But the kind of lived out gratitude that is proof of our trust in God will also include saying, Thank you, Lord, in everything, including those things we prefer were not happening in our lives, even for the pain caused by a loving prodigal. Another thing to notice is that gratitude pays attention. The busyness of life, the bombardment of messages from our culture, and the challenges of the choices of one we love all distract us from an awareness of our God who is active in every detail of our lives, as it says repeatedly in the song, The Waymaker, even when I don't see it, you're working.

8:25 Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. I love that assurance. God's working, even if I can't see it, even if I don't know what's happening. A heart of gratefulness, of gratitude, stays aware of God in the beautiful events and joys, and in the difficult circumstances and experiences. This kind of gratitude pays attention to what he is doing, what he is saying, how he is working. We notice God is at work.

9:06 Gratitude is catching. I bet you've experienced that. You know those people you don't want to run into, the complaining whiny ones who pass on to you their negative, ungrateful attitudes. But you also know the ones who, in the midst of difficulties and disappointments, still exude joy and gratitude. You love it to be with them, and perhaps you even catch some of their grateful spirit. We tend to think that only joyful circumstances will make us thankful. In reality, joy, in any circumstance, good or bad, comes from an already grateful heart.

9:55 And then it's good to remember that there is a God. Brennan Manning says that gratitude focuses on God. He says the character of gratitude is anchored in trust, that there is someone to thank. Someone that you're saying thank you to for whatever is happening. Having that kind of attitude means having God as the central focus of your life and thinking and attitudes. We have affirmed that all that God is, hopefully we have begun to see that God is totally trustworthy.

10:38 He provides for us. He meets our needs. He stays with us. He gives us strength and perseverance and wisdom and hope. As our trust expands, so will our gratitude. We will increasingly choose to give thanks in all circumstances as we are urged to in Versaicelonians 5. So my encouragement to you as you approach Thanksgiving Day, give thanks. How? Every day, name or write down at least one thing concerning your prodigal that you are thankful for.

11:23 Can't think of any? Then start with things in your own life and your relationship with God. Try adding one more specific thank you every day. But if one is all you can manage, God will gladly receive that and still begin that transforming work in your heart and mind. Did you write it down? What God has said to you? Are you feeling a little more thankful? Even in the hard times? Even in the dread you're experiencing looking at holidays, which are often painful?

12:05 Give thanks. I am thankful for you. God bless you.