Hi Friends –

As we in America celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, I want to break briefly from our focus on the “Shake it Up” Prayer Event to offer a prayer of Thanksgiving to our Lord Jesus Christ, the giver of life!

Throughout the Gospels we read about Jesus giving thanks to the Father.  In the letters of Paul, he writes of giving thanks to God.  Jesus gave thanks before He broke bread at the Last Supper.  In Ephesians and 1 Thessalonians we are taught to give thanks to God in all things and for all things.  Thanksgiving is definitely a Scriptural principle!  (Here is the New Testament word search for “thanks.”  Give it a try!)

However, I want to close with my prayer of thanksgiving for you, from Ephesians 1:15-21:

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Happy Thanksgiving!