Father in heaven,
You are the sovereign Creator and Upholder of the universe. No blade of grass withers and dies outside of Your divine decree. No bite of turkey enters our mouths unless it has been given from You. We are utterly dependent upon You, Lord.
Father, we thank You for the good gift of thanksgiving, not the holiday, but the very ability to come before You offering thanks. It points to the fact that You are a personal God who delights in hearing from His children. It points to the fact that You are the Giver of every good gift from heaven.
Father, we thank You for the good gift of family and friends. In Your Word, we see the true Community to which all of community points: the holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit. We thank you that we catch a small glimpse of that glorious reality through our own relationships with those whom you have sovereignly placed in our lives. They are a source of joy, encouragement, and happiness. May our relationships, just as Yours, point to Your infinite glory.
Father, we thank You for the good gift of Your Son. In Christ, there is life. There is freedom. There is hope. Our lives only merit Your wrath, but shockingly, You showed love and grace through sending Jesus as our Substitute. Without Him, we have absolutely nothing, but in Him, we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. “All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Yet He emptied Himself and became accursed for us. Though He is perfectly holy, on the cross, He bore Your wrath for our sin. But the grave could not hold Him. On the third day, He rose again, and His resurrection showed that sin had been defeated.
Oh God, we thank You that we now live in that victory, and that you use us to spread the news of the victory of Christ. Not only have you saved us from sin, but now you use us as Your ambassadors. Though the battle has been won, it is being played out before us and through us by the proclamation of the gospel. We are not worthy, but in Your love and grace, You decide to use us for Your glory. What an honor to be used by our eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God!
God, we pray that our thanksgiving would not be limited to this one day, but daily, we would see our dependence upon You. Forgive us for our arrogance. So often we believe we are the masters of our own universe, but it is You and You alone.
Let us not celebrate thanksgiving with a big meal, but with a life, one that’s sole purpose is to give You glory.
We pray all of these things in the name of our Prophet, Priest, and King, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Cody A. Cunningham 