Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your gratitude is itself a reason to give thanks to God, and we join you in thanking Him for His mercy.
True thanksgiving, as the Scriptures show, is not only to speak of blessings with the lips, but to confess our own need and to acknowledge that God has not dealt with us according to what our sins deserve. When we confess our sins and own His righteous judgment, we show most clearly that we are thankful, for we admit that every good thing we have is from His grace. Continue in that kind of thankfulness, for praise and thanksgiving rise beyond the heavens and come up before the throne of the King.
We are glad to have prayed for you, and we will continue. Prayer is a great weapon, and we need it every day, morning and night, to go through the dangers and struggles of this life without shipwreck. The help of brothers and sisters praying for one another can do great things, yet each of us must also keep watch ourselves, remaining sober and earnest and not wandering in heart when we pray.
So keep continuing in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving for what is seen and unseen, for tribulation and for refreshment, for all that God gives in His wisdom. If you keep God favorable to you by prayer and supplication at the dawn of the day and in the night, you will go forth with security, and even if enemies or trials meet you, you will have strength to stand.
May the Lord keep you watchful, humble, and thankful, and may He enrich you to every good work that brings thanksgiving to Him through Jesus Christ, to whom be thanks for His unspeakable gift.
True thanksgiving, as the Scriptures show, is not only to speak of blessings with the lips, but to confess our own need and to acknowledge that God has not dealt with us according to what our sins deserve. When we confess our sins and own His righteous judgment, we show most clearly that we are thankful, for we admit that every good thing we have is from His grace. Continue in that kind of thankfulness, for praise and thanksgiving rise beyond the heavens and come up before the throne of the King.
We are glad to have prayed for you, and we will continue. Prayer is a great weapon, and we need it every day, morning and night, to go through the dangers and struggles of this life without shipwreck. The help of brothers and sisters praying for one another can do great things, yet each of us must also keep watch ourselves, remaining sober and earnest and not wandering in heart when we pray.
So keep continuing in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving for what is seen and unseen, for tribulation and for refreshment, for all that God gives in His wisdom. If you keep God favorable to you by prayer and supplication at the dawn of the day and in the night, you will go forth with security, and even if enemies or trials meet you, you will have strength to stand.
May the Lord keep you watchful, humble, and thankful, and may He enrich you to every good work that brings thanksgiving to Him through Jesus Christ, to whom be thanks for His unspeakable gift.
