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Prayer
- Thanking God

In study 1 we thought about ACTS as a way to remember the elements of prayer.
T is for Thanksgiving

 This thread (Prayer):
  1. Why pray?
  2. Adoring God
  3. Confessing to God
  4. Thanking God
  5. Asking from God

Why?

Think about why we should thank God. Is it obvious, or are there problems with the idea?

 

Making requests with thanksgiving

Read Philippians 4:4-6 -
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Why might Paul say to thank God as we ask Him for things?

Thanking God not only shows proper gratitude, but reminds us of what He has done so far. That then encourages us to ask with faith for what we need next, knowing He has been faithful to us in the past.

Notice verse 4. Paul says we should 'rejoice in the Lord always'. Rejoicing because God is great and good naturally spills over into gratitude.

 

Be thankful for what?

Each of us will want to thank God for different things. But here are some things to consider:

The sky's the limit of course, and we will never be short of things to thank God for if we remember that He is God over all things.

 

In all circumstances?

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 -
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do you think it is easy to give thanks in all circumstances?
Is there a difference between giving thanks to God in all circumstances rather than for all circumstances?

 

Practice

Spend a little time, deciding what you want to thank God for - maybe jot the headings down - and then pray. It may feel strange, but it really helps if you speak aloud. If there are two of you looking at this, then take turns, and encourage each other. If you are alone, then there's no-one to feel foolish on front of is there?.

 

Any questions?

If you have any queries, or comments, then e-mail us and we'll get back to you
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Bible references

Matthew 6:25-34
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own

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Psalm 68:6
God sets the lonely in families,
he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

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Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

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Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Psalm 139:13-16

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

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Isaiah 43:1-3
1But now, this is what the LORD says-
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.

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Romans 5:6-8
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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1 John 4:7-12
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. .

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