How to Embrace a Gratitude-Filled Prayer Life
On Monday mornings I attend a prayer group for moms at my church. It sounded like a community—and an activity—I desperately needed as I strived to flourish in my faith and my life while raising two children with special needs.
Our prayer meetings start with a time of praying through several Scriptures that praise a particular attribute of God. Then we transition into a time of thanksgiving, where we thank God for His character, His Son, and for the things He is doing in our lives.
This time of praise and then thanksgiving has become my favorite part of our prayer time. I get to listen to how the others in the group pray these Scriptures and praise God for who He is, before we then thank God for what He is doing in our lives.
It’s a time where I don’t seek anything of God, but simply savor the wonder of who He is and who He wants to be in my life. A time where I let go of my worries and prayer requests and just revel in the awesomeness and love of God. After a beautiful time of entering His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4), we then begin a time of intercession for our children.
The Blessings I Already Have
Following this formula of prayer helped me realize how often I go to God in prayer when I need something, rather than go to Him because I’m thankful for who He is and what He has already done in my life. It made me realize how often I would bring my petitions to God, treating Him more like a magic genie than the generous giver of all my gifts.
We’re invited to bring our requests to God, but Paul says to do so with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).
Philippians 4:7 continues on to say that when we present our requests to God with thanksgiving, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m feeling anxious about something but choose instead to focus on the things I’m thankful for and how God has provided for us in the past, it helps me to let go of a lot of those worries and trust that He’s in control. It opens my eyes to all the beautiful blessings that I already have in my life and how God has been working—both in my circumstances and in my heart.
Gratitude-Filled Prayer
Having a heart—and prayers—filled with gratitude and thanksgiving helps us experience contentment and peace in our lives, letting go of our continual striving for more. It helps our bodies, our minds, and our faith as we remember all the wonderful things God has done for us. Practicing and praying with thanksgiving and gratitude gives us peace, reminding us that God has been there and met our needs before, and He will do it again in whatever situation we find ourselves in.
When Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s prayer (Luke 11:1-4), He taught them to first acknowledge and praise God before listing any petitions.
Reading through many of the Psalms, we see David (and several other psalmists) pour out his heart and his petitions to God, and then turn to God in praise and trust and thanksgiving.
Following these prayer patterns of Jesus and David, we see that it’s important to include a time of praise and thanksgiving in our prayers. It honestly doesn’t matter if we include the praise and thanksgiving at the beginning, middle, or throughout our prayers, what matters is that we include it. A time of praise, thanksgiving, and gratitude embedded in our prayers has the power to change our prayer lives, our hearts, and our entire outlook on life.
Meet Jenn Soehnlin
Jenn Soehnlin enjoys writing about faith, praying Scripture, special needs parenting, and more at www.embracing.life. She is the author of Embracing This Special Life, and On the Same Page with God. She also loves spending time with her husband and two sons, curled up with a good book, meeting a friend at a coffee shop, or enjoying a wonder walk through nature.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
