Prayerful Thanksgiving

Over the past few days I have been pouring over the psalms. One reoccurring theme is that of thanksgiving and today God really spoke to my heart through Psalm 116: 1-2 which states “I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. “ I think that David, like all of us at a certain time, has called on God in a time of need. Many people simply believe that God is too busy for them, or that He doesn’t care. However, this is clearly contradictory to what we are taught in these verses, and all of scripture. When God’s ear is inclined to hear our prayers it is an imitation of His willingness and longing to have a relationship with us. This is the reason that Christ died, that the veil of sin separating us from the Father would be torn and that everyone would be able to enter into God’s presence and humbly submit our requests to Him. As a result of his answered prayer David then devotes his life to God vowing to always call upon Him. We should take note of God’s willingness to hear our prayer and “be swift to hear, and slow to speak” as James commands. David’s prayers were heard not because of his works, but because of God’s grace. In my times of need I always need to remember to not be worried about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let my requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6) The key phrase and theme of these verses is thanksgiving. We can pray and complain, but it is so much better to thank God for all He has done in our lives simply because we have so much to thank Him for.
-- Luke Tanner