A Prayer to Give Thanks to God
God of Heaven,
Today I raise my voice
Together with the voices of men and women
From every era of history
From every area of the world
From every ethnicity and language,
To give you the thanks
That belongs to you alone.
Thank you, Creator God,
For setting forth your wise design
To establish the physical universe
For the revealing of your supernatural glory (Romans 1:20).
Thank you for the beauty of the earth,
For the vividness of its colors
And the richness of its flavors.
Thank you for the strength of steel
And the softness of satin.
All your works are exceedingly good.
Thank you, Father,
For making male and female
As the capstone of your creation.
Thank you for the endowment of the earth
To be the habitation and inheritance of mankind
And giving us a noble charge
To be fruitful and to exercise dominion
As stewards made in your likeness (Genesis 1:26-27)
And intended for your glory (Isaiah 43:7)
Thank you, Patient Sustainer,
For bearing with humanity
And upholding the world in which we live,
From the first act of corruption until now.
Through the centuries of our rebellion and resistance
You have continued to bring rain and harvest
And have showered graces both special and general,
Waiting to bring your judgment against evil
In order to bring your gospel, effectually,
To all your appointed people (Acts 13:48).
Thank you, God our Savior,
For pledging yourself to my redemption,
And the redemption of all your lost sheep.
Thank you, Father,
For decreeing and enacting the plan of our salvation.
Thank you, O Son of God,
For descending into our lowly mortality,
For dying under the load of my sin and shame,
For doing everything necessary to grant to your church
Forgiveness of sins
Freedom from Satan’s power
And a future of eternal life in the presence of God.
And thank you, Holy Spirit,
For raising my dead spirit to partake of Christ
And to possess all his benefits, through faith in him alone.
Thank you, O Faithful Provider,
For every paycheck,
For every loaf of daily bread,
For every breath.
I have every reason for contentment,
As I consider your abundant mercies to me.
I give you thanks for giving me many good gifts
Which I have requested from your hand in prayer.
And I also thank you for granting to me
Privileges and possessions I didn’t think to ask for
That have given me greater freedom and opportunity
To pursue a closer walk with you
And to extend more kindnesses to my neighbor.
Thank you for withholding from me
Those gifts I asked for in foolishness,
Which would have done nothing to profit me
But would have distracted my gaze
From the sufficiency of Jesus.
And thank you for bringing upon me
The afflictions that I asked you to withhold,
For my times in the valley of darkness
Have made your light all the more lovely
And your presence all the more precious.
I give you thanks for doing what’s best for me,
Even when I fail to understand your wise designs.
For I affirm your ways are higher than my ways,
And I am content to rest in your divine goodness.
O Lord of Eternity,
Thank you that the promises you have made to me
And to all your people
Are certain and unchanging.
Thank you for establishing a kingdom
For the eternal delight of your people, the Church,
And for pledging to be with us in it,
To wipe every tear, to banish death,
And to gladden our hearts forever.
Thank you, most Holy and Excellent God,
For we would have nothing apart from your mercy.
And as we give you thanks,
We are grateful to you for accepting our prayer
By virtue of the work of Christ,
Who makes our words and actions
Acceptable in your sight.
Thus, it is in the name of Jesus Christ
We bring this prayer to you in confidence,
For our good and for your enduring glory,
AMEN.
