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Continue steadfastly in prayer,
being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
— Colossians 4:2
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I don’t know about you, but praying with thanksgiving can be a real challenge for me. It’s much easier to just express my worries, frustrations, and desires.
Life is difficult, after all. We live in a broken world that often breaks us. And to make matters worse, sometimes we’re the ones doing the breaking. That’s why giving voice to our pain and disappointment through prayer can feel so honest and therapeutic.
But then passages like Colossians 4 challenge us to look again for what’s most real about our lives . . . our past, present, and future. Scripture tends to tell us there’s more to our stories than what meets the eye, and if we’re to see what’s really going on, we must do the difficult work of praying with eyes of thanksgiving. We must be watchful.
Response
As Christ-followers we embrace the hope that, somehow, the world is always going more right the same time it’s going wrong. This Hope, along with its close companion, Faith, coaxes us to stand on tiptoe, crane our necks, and catch a glimpse of the Good to come. It’s from this posture we can see that indeed nothing will escape God’s redemptive power.
When the apostle Paul writes about Faith and Hope, he has a way of also mentioning thanksgiving. Scripture describes a timeless and transcendent Thanksgiving—one that is particularly good at helping us find our footing when life knocks us off our feet.
So here’s my challenge for you this week: be defiantly thankful in your prayers and ask the Spirit to fill you with audacious hope. It might feel awkward or insincere at first, but with time, you’ll begin to see something more real than any struggle.
Closing Thoughts
Have you ever noticed that thanksgiving has a buoyancy to it? When you’re around people who practice costly gratitude, life feels lighter, even when it’s heavy.
This week will have its difficulties, no doubt. But let’s allow thanksgiving to help us find our footing when life knocks us off our feet.
Praying with you,
Addison
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