A Thanksgiving Prayer to God
Our dear Father,
As this Thanksgiving approaches, I have been meditating on many things. The news that swirls about these days is continually more upsetting and sometimes frightening. Things often seem out of control around the world. A lot of people are in a state of panic and fear as they watch the economic turmoil unfold. If I am not careful, I know that I can add one more fearful and worried voice to the din. If I am not careful, I can feel my stomach begin to knot up. If I am not careful, I can be drawn in by thoughts of self-preservation and selfishness. The words I hear on the news, the accusations and blame that fly back and forth, the anger and frustration, the bleak images, can make me feel helpless, powerless and alone - until I listen to Your voice and Your promises.
Your still small voice comforts me amidst all the shouting and rhetoric. When I listen, Your words resonate in my mind like beautiful music. Help me stay tuned to Your voice. Help me remember Your promises and listen to Your infinite wisdom. In Genesis 8:21-22 after the flood, You told me, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of men’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” I believe you! In Matthew 6:25 You told me, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” I believe You!
Your word tells me in I John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…” I will try not to fear! When Your disciples thought it was okay to destroy men’s lives because of offenses, You said in Luke 9:56, “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” I believe You!
Your voice has told me many times that I should forgive because that is what You do. It was what Your Son lived and died for. In Luke 6:37 You told me to “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” In Your example prayer in Matthew 6:14, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, Your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” I want forgiveness, so I will endeavor to forgive. In verse 12 of that same chapter You said You would forgive my debts if I would forgive my debtors. So far in life I have been able to repay all of my physical debts, but as I see some of my neighbors just unable to repay their debts, help me to be compassionate enough to write their debts off or write them down, so as to ease their burdens. And help me to share my blessings with others so I can encourage them. I will also try to forgive offenses of all sorts, for I have also been an offender.
Oh Father, I am already starting to feel better. Thank you for listening to me and leading me toward Your still waters, so I could hear Your voice. Please forgive those who do not yet comprehend Your love and mercy. Forgive those who have succumbed to greed. Forgive those who strike terror in us. Forgive those who misunderstand Your divine nature and the holy words contained in the Bible. Forgive those who spread fear and anxiety in Your name, those who divide and accuse and think they do Your will. Please lead those who have difficulty forgiving to Your still waters and Your peace.
Please help me to notice the many blessings You pour out on me and the world, the beauty and limitless bounty of the earth. Everything we will ever need You have thought of ways to provide for. The solutions to every physical problem we face await our discovery through the minds and imaginations You have created in us.
Thank you for providing Your Son to heal our souls and wipe away our tears. I believe You when You promise that a new age will dawn, when men will beat their “swords into plowshares.” I see the evidence in Your word that the day is not far off when that will be reality. Until that day arrives, I promise to go to work wherever and whenever work needs to be done. I promise to share the fruits of my labor with my neighbors. I promise to allow my neighbor to use his talents and abilities to serve me and my family at fair and just compensation. I promise not to hoard but to share. I promise to embrace the future and not fear it. I trust You to keep Your promises. Please help me to keep mine. I love you and the humanity You made in Your image because You first loved us. Thank you, dear Father, in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen
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