A Note from Hixon Frank
1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.
Hey Church!
Saying “please,” “ma’am,” and “thank you” were part of my upbringing. Born in Atlanta, GA (Fulton County) to a 4th generation Georgia mother and a Virginia father, I had little choice but to learn the pleasantries of a would-be “Southern Gentleman.” It is no exaggeration to say that I was corrected hundreds of times when “please” wasn’t part of my request or I failed to show proper respect by tacking on “sir” or “ma’am” to my responses.
Of all the polite talk and propriety my parents made mandatory in our lives, the biggest was saying “THANK YOU!” My mother, a true Southern Belle, would say, “It doesn’t take much effort, it shows appreciation, and people like to be thanked when they have done something for you.”
I soon learned I could repeat those pleasantries with or without genuine sincerity and still have the same effect on people. Being pleasant, in most of the South is expected, regardless of the underlying motivation. Some 45 years later I still say “please,” “yes sir,” “yes ma’am,” “excuse me,” and “thank you,” without giving it much thought.
But when it comes to our private prayer life, God sees right through our pleasantries into our hearts. God, the Bible says, looks at our heart and not our words. (1 Sam 16:7) In a sense, “our words are only measured for their sincerity and not for their boasts.”
THANKSGIVING is the next type of prayer we are looking at in our series on prayer. Like adoration, thanksgiving is praising God for what He has done. God has done so much for each of us, not the least of which was sending Christ to save us from our sins.
I am far from an expert when I comes to being THANKFUL, but when I am alone, and there is no audience except Him, and I offer prayers of thanksgiving from a sincere heart … God is always faithful to reorient my heart towards Him in the following ways … (excerpts from my personal prayer journal in Feb. 2024)
- I see God as much bigger.
- I see that He is much more engaged in my life than I realize.
- I see that the good things He has provided seem endless.
- I see that I didn’t do anything to deserve those things.
- I see that the difficult things demand thankfulness, as well. It is the difficult things that drive me towards Him (if I allow them to).
- I see that I am physically more calm.
- I am more patient.
- I smile more.
Even the Mayo Clinic says that “thankfulness/gratitude can decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease. It has also been associated with lower blood pressure.”
So, when you are in your PRIVATE PRAYER TIME…
- Ask God to bring to mind all that you have to be thankful for!
- Write those things down in some detail (Making sure you have plenty of paper because you will need it!).
- Next, simply pray those things back to God as an act of worship and THANKSGIVING!
See these passages as examples of prayers of thanksgiving.
You have been prayed for today,
Hixon