Father,
Today I want to enter into Your presence, through Your gates with these words of Thanksgiving composed through inspiration from Your Word, more powerful and life giving than any other word on earth.
I will praise You with my whole heart for all You have done and are doing to make me into the person You wanted Mary Coleen Frazer Hambrick to be when You allowed my conception and birth. I will be glad and rejoice in all You have done and all You are doing, whether that which I go through seems good to me or seems bad at the time. Who am I to judge what is good or bad for me when You, Lord turn all things to good when I trust in You with all my heart?
Lord, all Your works in my life – from the moment of my conception to this Thanksgiving Day – are works that are turning me from a fear filled woman to a fear less woman, strong in You because of Your Word. It is nothing I have done, but what You are doing in me that is making me strong in You. Because of You and Your love for me, I am able to embrace every situation as a process to help me cultivate endurance and strength of character.
Thank You for Your Word and all You are doing in my life to bring me to the place You want me, eventually residing with You because of what Jesus has done for me at the Cross thousands of years before my grandparents' grandparents were conceived to now.
Without You I am poor, sorrow filled and fearful, but You set me on high and I want to praise and thank You with a life filled with songs of praises to You because of all You have done and are doing.
All these things You are doing, help me know You are near. Help me live my life with thanksgiving because You are the great High King over all kings, presidents and any other human ruler who sets himself or herself up. Lord, there is no wisdom, no insight and no plan that can succeed against You.
Although I would live my life as a song, my voice is a noise; and yet it is a joyful noise and shout, and therefore, I pray that it blesses You because of sincerity, rather than perfection.
I know You are my Lord and God, and You made me. I am grateful that You chose to make us rather than evolve us; it would have still been Your hand, but all creation sings because of Your handiwork and I declare and know that You are Creator, and that we did not make ourselves. Thank You, I am grateful to You for You are good and love us with a fierce love that we cannot ever comprehend; and that Your mercy endures forever.
Lord, I want to be Your obedient servant because You have set me free. As I seek to obey You and leave the details of my life to You, the freedom You have given me through Jesus' sacrifice gives me the ability to soar like eagles, walk like elephants and run without being tired like a cheetah. I am so much more free than if I tried to live my life my own way. Lord, I can never thank You enough or repay You for all You have done.
And thank You for Your mercy, even to those who do not acknowledge You. You are not a God who will destroy a person because that person refuses You, but You still provide for them, even without their acknowledgement of Your love for them. You give rain at the proper time for the thankful and for the unthankful as well. Your mercy, truly, endures forever.
And because of Your love to me, help me live in gratitude to all You have done in my life by loving even those difficult to love. I have a long way to go before I am able to do this perfectly, but You are helping me and I thank You.
Only by Your hand can I achieve that goal, only by Your hand can I learn to relax in You, ask You for what I need and be thankful, even before receiving that which I need. I know that You give peace to all who trust in You for each need, even a peace that we cannot understand.
Thank You for all You have done, and thank You for each person You have given in our lives. Help us love as You love so that we can, in a small way, give You the gratitude You so deserve.
In Jesus Name, amen.
Psalm 9, 69, 75, 95, 100, 107, 116, 147, Proverbs 3, 21, Isaiah 40, Romans 5, 8, Philippians 4