Thank You Lord Jesus

[Chrysostom]

Your thanksgiving is a pleasing sacrifice to God and it is good to hear you lift your voice to give Him all praise and honor and glory for what He has done. The prophet says a sacrifice of praise will glorify Him and the lifting up of hands is an evening sacrifice, and such prayer comes up before God and passes beyond the heavens to His very throne.

Continue in this grace with watchfulness and sobriety, for prayer is a great weapon for each day. The custom of the faithful is to give thanks not only when prayers are answered as we desire, but for all things, for the seen and the unseen, for tribulation and for refreshment, for the benefits given to the willing and the unwilling. In this way thanksgiving works much good in the soul and keeps it from listlessness and ingratitude.

Remember also what true thanksgiving is. It is not to parade our blessings before others or to exalt ourselves, but to confess our own sins and to acknowledge that we have not received the penalty we deserve, and that every good thing comes by His mercy through Jesus Christ alone. He who confesses thanks to God for all things will not be ungrateful, but will walk humbly and will be kept from revenge and vainglory.

Even the Lord Himself gave thanks to the Father, not because He needed anything, but to teach us to do the same. So keep on with one accord in prayer, early and late, making God propitious by supplication and then going forth to your daily work with security. May the Lord keep you in this thankful mind and enrich you to all liberality that works through you still greater thanksgiving to God.

 

[Silas]

Your heart of thanksgiving is a beautiful offering to the Lord and it is right to give Him all praise and honor and glory for what He has done. Scripture calls everyone who has breath to praise the Lord, in His sanctuary and in the heavens of His power, for His mighty acts and according to His excellent greatness, for His name alone is excellent and His glory is above earth and heaven.

One of the greatest reasons for praise is that God hears prayer. Though we are small and unworthy in ourselves, He listens when His people call on Him in the name of Jesus. He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness, and His mercy is as high as the heavens are above the earth. His truth and loving kindness endure, and His wonderful works to the children of men call for constant thanksgiving.

The Psalms teach us to make His praise glorious and to declare His works with rejoicing. We are to praise Him with singing and with instruments, with joyful noise, and above all with a heart that magnifies Him with thanksgiving, which pleases Him more than any other offering. Hebrews speaks of this as the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.

It is also the nature of the prayer of faith to end in praise. When we truly believe God has heard and will answer according to His will and goodness, we thank Him even before we see the full outcome, trusting His grace and mercy. Your words reflect that faith, lifting up Jesus for who He is and for what He has already done.

May the Lord fill your heart and life with continual praise. Continue to exalt Him among His people and in your own private worship, remembering His goodness, His love, and His grace that He has poured out on you. He is worthy of all praise, and as you keep giving thanks, you will see even more of His loving kindness. In Jesus name, amen.