Prayer Of Thanksgiving In The Evening

Thanksgiving Day Prayers – Ideas And Traditions For Your Family

Here are some ideas and traditions you can start with your family as part of your Thanksgiving Day prayers, to celebrate the real meaning of the holiday.

One of the most meaningful Thanksgiving traditions is the Thanksgiving dinner prayer, where we gather around the table and say thanks before everyone eats the meal.

This can be a very special time for your family, that you and your children can look forward to and remember for the rest of your lives.

Here are some ideas for a special Thanksgiving prayer, to make sure it is meaningful.

Recite Or Sing A Hymn Of Thanksgiving As A Family

There is something comforting and wonderful about reciting the same Thanksgiving day prayers each year. I know my late Uncle Joe always recited the same prayer each time he was asked to pray, and it something I still remember about him fondly.

A great way to allow your family to participate is to say (or sing, if your family is musically gifted) a Thanksgiving hymn each year. The poetic nature of songs makes them easier for everyone to remember, even if it takes the kids a couple of years to learn.

Here is one of my personal favorites, but there are many more you can choose from. I found a great list of Thanksgiving Hymns, with lyrics here.

For The Beauty Of The Earth Hymn

For the beauty of the earth,For the beauty of the skies,For the love which from our birthOver and around us lies,Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hourOf the day and of the night,Hill and vale, and tree and flower,Sun and moon and stars of light,Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,Brother, sister, parent, child,Friends on earth, and friends above,Pleasures pure and undefiled,Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of thine,To our race so freely given,Graces human and divine,Flowers of earth and buds of heaven,Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For thy Church which evermoreLifteth holy hands above,Offering up on every shoreHer pure sacrifice of love,Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

Another classic prayer of Thanksgiving is Psalm 136, which is a call and response prayer, where one person reads the verse and after each verse everyone else states, “His love endures forever.” It starts with “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Give thanks to the God of gods. Give thanks to the Lord of lords.”

Allow Everyone To Participate In The Thanksgiving Day Prayers

While I appreciate and think it is wonderful to have a main person in the family provide the main part of the Thanksgiving dinner prayer, it is equally as wonderful to allow everyone to participate in the prayer too.

Many families traditionally go around the Thanksgiving table saying what they are thankful for. You can make this more spiritual by making it, instead of a statement, more about prayers of Thanksgiving to the Lord. Everyone in the family can provide their Thanksgiving prayers, including young children.

No matter what a child says they are thankful for, even if it is silly or funny to us, is appreciated by God.

Remember Everyone In Your Family, Present Or Absent, Alive And Deceased In Your Thanksgiving Day Prayers

The most important thing about Thanksgiving day prayers is not their formality, but their sincerity. That is what true family traditions are all about.

It will strengthen the bonds between your family and friends to mention each person present at your Thanksgiving celebration and say something you are grateful and thankful for, about each them.

In addition, consider mentioning anything big that happened in your family that year, whether joyous or sad, to bring everyone together in celebrating the family as a whole.

It can also be a special time to mention those who cannot be with us today. My father always makes a special point of mentioning all those who cannot be here with us today, and it is so special to me.

We remember those who physically aren't present, and also those who have passed before us, and remember and give thanks for each of them. Try it with your family, it can be quite special.

Bible Verses Regarding Thankfulness You Can Use Within Your Thanksgiving Day Prayers

Some people find it meaningful to use Bible verses in their Thanksgiving dinner prayers, and some do not. To each their own. If you to use Bible verses here are a couple that deal with thankfulness. (All verses translated into the New International Version)

First, here are some Old Testament verses:

The entire Psalm 100 is about thankfulness, but verse 4 is the most relevant. It states, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Psalm 100:4

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

All of Psalm 30 is also about gratefulness to God, but especially verse 12, which states: “O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” Psalm 30:12

Next, here is one verse from the New Testament:

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Enjoy And Pass On The Tradition Of Thanksgiving Day Prayers To Your Children

No matter how you and your family choose to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, pass on the tradition of a Thanksgiving dinner prayer to your children. It is such a special memory as you grow up and have a family of your own.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! My wish for each of you is to have a blessed day with your family and friends.

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Источник: //www.household-management-101.com/thanksgiving-day-prayers.html

Finding Peace Through Prayers of Thanksgiving

I know a lot of women who suffer from a noticeable deficiency of peace. I’m one of them sometimes. I’m not talking about a peace that equates to having a day with nothing on the calendar, plopping down on the sofa with a cup of hot tea and a good book.

Not that this doesn’t sound inviting, but let’s be honest—that’s a rare occasion for most of us. The peace I’m talking about doesn’t require a mountain cabin or a getaway weekend. It can happen anywhere, even in the most hectic moments and places of your life.

But only because gratitude knows where to look for it.

It Takes More Than Prayer

If we were sitting across the table from each other, you could tell me what’s stealing your peace right now without having to think hard. You may be grieving a loss that never settles far from your conscious thoughts.

You may be crying yourself to sleep at night over a situation with a son or daughter that is beyond your ability to control—a failing marriage, a little one undergoing diagnostic medical tests, perhaps open rebellion against God and against your parenting decisions.

Maybe you’re facing some health issues of your own, or your income just isn’t meeting your monthly expenses, or your church is in turmoil over some hot-button issue.

We know that we can and should pray about these matters. But praying is not all that we can and should do.

“Do not be anxious about anything,” the apostle Paul wrote, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6–7, emphasis added).

To put it even more simply: In every situation . . . prayer + thanksgiving = peace.

When prayer teams up with gratitude, when we open our eyes wide enough to see God’s mercies even in the midst of our pain, and when we exercise faith and give Him thanks even when we can’t see those mercies, He meets us with His indescribable peace. It’s a promise.

God’s peace is one of the many blessings that live on the other side of gratitude.

Prayer is vital—but to really experience His peace, we must come to Him with gratitude. Hard gratitude. Costly gratitude. The kind that trusts He is working for our good even in unpleasant circumstances . . . the kind that garrisons our troubled hearts and minds with His unexplainable peace.

Are you facing one or more chaotic, unsettled situations? Is your soul weary from striving, stress, and strain? There is peace, my friend—God’s peace—waiting for you just beyond the doors of deliberate gratitude. But the only way to find it is to go there and see for yourself. God’s peace is one of the many blessings that live on the other side of gratitude.

Go to God’s Address

God’s command to be thankful is not the threatening demand of a tyrant. Rather it is the invitation of a lifetime—the opportunity to draw near to Him at any moment of the day.

Do you sometimes long for a greater sense of God’s nearness? When pressures intensify, when nighttime worries magnify in strength, when the days are simply piling up one after another, or when life simply feels dull and routine, do you crave the assurance of His presence?

The Scripture says that God inhabits the praises of His people (Ps. 22:3 KJV). God lives in the place of praise. If we want to be where He is, we need to go to His address.

This is a recurring theme in the psalms: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!” (Ps. 100:4). “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving” (95:2). Thanksgiving ushers us into the very presence of God!

The tabernacle in the Old Testament was the place God set apart to meet with His people. In front of the entrance to the Holy of Holies—the sacred seat of God’s manifest presence—stood the altar of incense, where every morning and every evening the priest would offer up the sweet scents, representing the prayers and thanksgiving of God’s people who sought to draw near to Him.

Those ancient rituals were types and symbols of a relationship that we as New Testament believers can enjoy with God anytime, anyplace. Through His sacrifice on the cross, Christ has granted us access to the Father who dwells in us by His Spirit.

See what happens when you open your heart afresh to the Lord, moving beyond the normal, the canned, the almost obligatory phrases of praise and worship, where you truly begin to “magnify him with thanksgiving” (Ps. 69:30).

Yes, see if expressing gratitude to the Lord doesn’t “magnify” Him in your eyes, increasing your depth perception of this One who knows your name, counts the hairs on your head, and manifests His love for you with one blessing after another.

See if the practice of intentional gratitude doesn’t transport you even nearer to Him—not just where your faith can believe it but where your heart can sense it. Thanksgiving puts us in God’s living room. It paves the way to His presence.

This post is adapted from Choosing Gratitude by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth (used by permission). 

Источник: //www.reviveourhearts.com/true-woman/blog/finding-peace-through-prayers-thanksgiving/