Come Into His Presence With Thanksgiving

I remember in the early months of this autumn the Lord laid it on my heart to pray for revival in the life of our church.  And then He brought the revival one Friday night.  Our church's youth gathered together and listened as a couple filled with the Holy Spirit talked with us.  At the end, the Lord granted us such a time of confession and repentance as I have never seen.  The Lord was so merciful and gracious to answer my prayers!  He brought a revival to our church that evening, but more than that, He brought a revival to my own heart.  The Lord has grown me exponentially closer to Him as a result of that evening.  I treasure it as one of my greatest memories.

After all this, though, how much time do you think I spent in thanking Him?

After the Lord was answered my prayers so much more abundantly than I could have ever asked or imagined, you would have thought I would have shed tears of joy and spend many minutes rejoicing over the mercy of my Lord.

Honestly, I probably spent a total of five measly minutes in praise.

Pretty sad isn't it.  After all the Lord did for me, what return did I give?  Only to rush on to my next request, without pausing for even a moments gratitude.

I am reminded of the story of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed.  Out of those whose lives He completely transformed that day, only one of them came back to thank Him.  To him Jesus said, "“Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?' And He said to him, 'Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well'” (Luke 17:17-19).

What about you and I?

Will we be like the nine who did not return to give glory to God, or will we fall down at Jesus' feet with spirits of gratefulness.  Many, many verses speak on the topic of thanksgiving. Truly it is an important part of Scripture.  Yet how important do we make it in our own lives?

Think about how God feels when we refuse to acknowledge our thanksgiving to Him?

He has poured out His very life for us and blessed us with everything we need for life and godliness. He has given us all things richly to enjoy. He answered even our petites concerns to show us that He loves us and cares for us.  He provides us strength by the minute and His mercies are a never ending waterfall flowing down upon us.

He has done all this for us, yet we do not thank Him.  How discouraging this must make Him feel! Imagine if you had given someone of everything you had--your love, possessions, and time--and they refused to acknowledge it with even the slightest of smiles. How would that make you feel?

Over these next few weeks, make thanksgiving a priority. Write down verses on thanksgiving and hang them up in your prayer closet, on the bathroom mirror, and over the kitchen sink to remind you to live in a spirit of gratitude.  Watch how this praise changes your heart as your eyes are turned from what you don't have to what you do have.  Watch, for as you pour out your heart and bring glory to your amazing King, He will bless you as well.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" ~Psalm 100:4

P.S. If you are a young lady, I invite you to join me in the King's Blooming Rose's Thanksgiving Challenge for the month of November.  Let us give thanks to the Lord!