04/17/2024
This morning we are looking at our prayers and their forward facing nature. In my morning reading Pastor E.M. Bounds proposed that although gratitude and thanksgiving are predominately about those things realized, our "prayer deals with things desired, asked for, and expected." He goes on to write "As prayer brings things to us that produce gratitude and thanksgiving, so praise and gratitude promote prayer and encourage more and better praying." I have found this to be true in my prayer life, and I hope you have also.
There is a uniqueness to the gratitude and thankfulness that I express each morning in prayer. I am grateful for, and thank God for, certain things as yet unrealized. Some of you are probably a little confused by this, but we should have enough faith in God's provision and mercy that we begin our prayers by saying "My God, My Father, thank you for this day." When I pray this way I am expressing my gratitude for all the blessings He will bestow on me, my family, and those I pray for, during the coming day. By doing this I am also thanking Him for prayers which remain unanswered. This is not simply thanking Him for those things I have realized, but for those which are as yet unseen.
Our God is faithful and merciful. If we listen to the scripture below we will realize that when we give thanks in all circumstances, we don't have to wait... We become thankful in advance. Much like a morning glory blooms, our gratitude has already blossomed, but is waiting in anticipation of the light of the coming day to open fully.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
I taught a Sunday school lesson a few years ago titled "Who Fights Your Battles"; in it I used an account from the conquest of Canaan...
“I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.”
Exodus 23:27-28 ESV
This was the promise God made to the Israelites as they prepared to enter Canaan, but if we hold to God's promises in our own lives then he goes before us too; not just into battle, but in all things. So why wait to thank Him when our trust in Him should already be complete? We should certainly pray for things to come; pray for our desires and needs, but our faith should also lead us to thank God for His promises that are being fulfilled even as our words of prayer are offered. The next few verses beyond those I taught in Sunday school say this...
“I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.”
Exodus 23:29-30 ESV
Not all prayer is meant to be answered immediately, but it will be answered. Although God may address our desires over time, we can be grateful and thankful right now! His Word is never failing and His promises are always true. So this morning when we pray let's begin by thanking God for this day. Let's thank Him not only for the dawn, but for His promises that will be fulfilled and that are already being worked towards completion. Scripture gives us the foundation for this kind of faith...
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 ESV
Praise God for the work He is doing in your life. Be grateful and offer thanksgiving for those things that remain unseen. Our scripture this morning was from 1st Thessalonians 5, so it is appropriate that in closing I should pray this scripture, and these blessings over you...
Prayer:
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV
Father, thank you for this day, and all you have provided, are providing, and will yet provide. Thank you Lord for every answered prayer as it comes to fruition in due time, and is answered in accordance with your will. Thank you too for the times when your answer is “no” because it is not in conformance with your will and character to do such a thing. In these instances Father, teach us to know you better, and to pray as we should. Give us a deeper understanding of you, and show us how to ask faithfully according to your Word, will, and who you are. Abba, we often pray without giving thought to what we are asking you for. We often pray for things we don’t fully understand, or know the consequences of, so we ask that you to respond to us just as you did when Jesus prayed saying “Let your will be done.” And Lord, we also ask that your Holy Spirit guide us in our prayers and understanding; even to the point of praying for us when we haven’t the words. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who hears our prayers, and who begins to act on them from the moment they are received. Teach us patience as we wait on you Father because there will be times when we will hear you say “no”, and other times when you will have set them in motion but we can’t yet see them, or hear only silence. We are often impatient Lord, and it is our nature as children to expect immediate gratification when we pray, but you are faithful, and your response, and our joy, will come in the fullness of time, and when you have either perfected us to receive it, or made your response to be perfect for us.
Great are you our God, and greatly to be praised! We thank you, and praise you now for all you have done, are doing, and will do in answer to our prayers. We lift you up knowing full well that you see our hearts, and that our prayers will be answered. We give you the glory now for all things we have asked, are asking, or will ask. We are confident that we will one day see every answered prayer. This is our firm belief, and we hold to it, even if it should carry us into eternity before we come to realize that you have answered us. All glory is yours Father, and we thank you now, in this and every prayer, for you are truly the great I AM… the source and fullness of all love, goodness, kindness, mercy, grace, and all that is righteous and perfect.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes