Prayer for the End of Each Day

God gave us a gift to end each year- the gift celebrating the birthday of His Son.

Now, I know we are all trained to have good manners, right? Remember when you were a kid, your mother nagged you to write thank you notes to the relatives who gave you presents at Christmas?

So, what should we do with the most important gift we have ever been given (Jesus)?

We should say thanks.

It is just good manners.

The groovy thing is- when we use our good manners, we get stronger inside. It is good for us.

I would like to offer a one-year experiment to my blog friends:

Would you take this year and at the end of each day this year, right before you go to sleep, take a good length of time and thank God for:

1) all the beautiful things you have seen or experienced that day (there are some things- find them),

2) for the things you have learned about Him or from Him,

3) for Jesus, the awesome gift.

Let’s go for it, and see if God blesses us and changes us. Keep me posted…

Prayers of Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving week, after all- so prayers of thankfulness are the just right thing to do.

A prayer of thanksgiving is simply saying thank you to God for the things He has done. That is just good manners…

One way to pray thanksgiving is to make a “gratitude list”. Write a list of things you are thankful for and read it to God. (This, by the way, is a very wise way to end your day- makes for better sleeping patterns.)

Another way to make a prayer of thanksgiving is to read to God some of the verses in the Bible that share thanks for what He has done. Offering up to God his own words is a powerful form of thanks. (Think about it- did you ever hear anyone quote something positive you had said? It feels awesome. That is how God must feel when we value His words enough to quote them to Him.)

Here are some thanksgiving verses from the Bible that you could read to him (thanks to Biblegateway.com):

Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

Psalm 75:1  We give thanks to you, O God,
we give thanks, for your Name is near;
men tell of your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 105:1  Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

I Corinthians 15:57  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 2:14  But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

II Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Ephesians 5:20 Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:12  Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[a] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Colossians 3:17  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

What are some ways that you have found to thank God for what He has done?