Encouraging prayer God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything. On Encouraging Prayer, Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling Prayers for Prodigals and many other books on prayer, provides weekly biblical insight to help you learn to love to pray. And now, here's James. Oh, I'm looking forward to today's encouraging prayer.
We're going to talk about how to give thanks. When you really don't feel like it. But but James, isn't that a little, well, sort of insincere? I mean, like thanks but no thanks? Or thanks a lot, yeah.
It it could seem that way, but what we're really talking about here is. giving thanks so that we really can be thankful.
So that our hearts end up, in other words, Right where they need to be. Yeah, that is a good thing. Once you start to realize what you have to be thankful for, it does change your heart and your attitude about things. But what do you say to a person who says, how can I even start doing it when I don't feel like doing it?
Okay.
Well, first I'd say I get it, you know, because life is like that sometimes. Then I might also just gently add, well, what's the alternative? I mean, what do we do when we get sick and tired of being sick and tired? We know something has to change. Oh, yeah, that's so true.
This is where we just have to decide to get out of the rut and And, you know, we want to do something better because let's face it, thankful people are just a lot more fun to be around. The other day, my wife and I had this conversation. Did you wake up cranky this morning?
Well, put him back to bed, you know. You mentioned that you came across something this past week that can really help changing our attitudes about thankfulness. Yeah, yeah, it was written by Ben Patterson. And he's commenting on what's happening in First Chronicles, where they have this practice of. of thankfulness and It's something that's going on in the temple, and it's really cool the way he writes about it.
And it it's eye opening because when we think about being thankful, counting your blessings. We can kind of stop short because we think well Do I just have to make another list? Is that what I'm doing? And the way he describes this. He he's talking about 1 Chronicles 23.
where it it describes Praise and thanks to God in the temple. And he says, the care and attention. Given to Thanksgiving are extravagant and indiscriminate compared to modern Christian standards, or just about any standards for that matter. Thanksgiving. Was formalized to be done twice daily, regardless of how anyone felt that day.
Yeah. Yeah. I thought, wow, you know. They just do it. It's like that habit.
Yeah. Of giving thanks before a meal. Are we truly thankful or are we just? doing it. You know, if if we keep doing it.
Then We will be truly thankful, I think. but sometimes it it takes a little time to get us there.
So he goes on, Thanksgiving is not a task to be undertaken lightly. And he quotes Virginia Sam Owens. She says, it's not for dilettantes or esthetes. one does not dabble in praise for one's own amusement. No, Thanksgiving is not a result of perception.
Thanksgiving is the access to perception.
So Patterson sums it up this way. We think we need to see something. in order to be thankful. But it works the other way. We need to give thanks So we can see If we wait until we see it, We will never see.
See ya. And that's why Paul said to always be joyful, to pray continually. and to give thanks in all circumstances. Isn't that good? Oh wow.
You know, it really, really is. Because You know, I kept thinking that for me, you know, I think about the word praise in Hebrew. It's ta-da. Like, like you actually, are you going to duh? Like, and the more I've thought about that since I've understood it, um, the more that I see God when I even say that.
Yeah. And then as you begin to to I guess kind of like turn your focus back towards God instead of your own circumstances or your own situation or whatever you're doing. Um You know, it it's it's like coming home. Yeah, thanksgiving again. Yeah, yeah, and again, this is access to perception.
We need to see it that way. And so how do you do that? Practically. Uh I I think we just You know, first ask God to help us, and secondly, just start looking around. Like today I just looked out my window and Yeah, I noticed these beautiful colors.
And then I saw the the gorgeous blue sky. And how can you not be thankful for that? You know? And I I think we we've got to press pause. Just long enough to say, you know what, I am going to do that, and the more we do it, the more we realize how blessed we are.
You know, there's speaking of the fall colours and I was looking at him actually on my way to church Sunday, and I thought about it again several times today. That You know, in the season of the tree's life for that particular leaf, I mean, this is the fall season. It's the end of the road for that leaf, so to speak. But it comes into its full glory there at the end. Yeah.
And like Moses did, or so many saints. And I thought, oh man, God, look. Huh. You're saying I can really just come into full bloom right here at the end, you know, however whatever season you're in, right, you can really blossom. And it's a lot to be thankful for when you look out there and you see such beauty.
Yeah, yeah, it's like I want to be like that when I grow up, you know.
So yeah. this season, right, of of of Thanksgiving is is It's something that kinda leads into the holidays. And really kind of brings that awareness. I've always loved the way that it kind of comes together, haven't you? Yeah, yeah.
It it sets you up. For what's to come? Yeah. Which is that whole idea that that um I forget the name of the author you were quoting, but that's spectacular, and I'm going to have to go study that. That part of 1 Chronicles is when David is actually building the temple worshipers.
And it's amazing to me. The whole thing is that he didn't get a chance to build the temple like you talked about last week. And but he he was experiencing something that he had already experienced spiritually, right? Yeah. And send it up.
It's beautiful.
Something to think about.
Well, it's probably be a good time to close in prayer. And a prayer of thanks. I couldn't do it. Lord, thank you. I really do thank you for this episode of our encouraging prayer, and it encourages me.
To ask, Lord, show me how I could be more thankful. As you provide every breath, you provide every single thing we need all the time, even circumstances that challenge us and test us. Lord, I pray that you would help us to see that. Give us eyes to see. help us to be thankful so that we can see why.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.
