The holidays are fun aren’t they? Well aren’t they? In a few days we will be feasting on Thanksgiving Dinner, watching football and then on to Christmas shopping. I’ll never understand why the ladies want to get up before dawn the day after Thanksgiving, hit the road to their favorite mall and turn from ladies to raging maniacs. I’d much rather spend the day watching action movies or something.
The holidays are times when a lot of us put on a few extra pounds due to multiple dinners on Thanksgiving and Christmas. We all know what it’s like to want to please all those extended families. I’ve known of some who have eaten as many as three full dinners on Thanksgiving Day. How can you not put on some extra tonnage? I’d like to think that my current weight situation is due to the many holiday dinners I’ve had over the years, but that’s probably just a good excuse on my part.
The holidays can also cause us to be anxious. Don’t you just love the way TV commercials advertise the latest and best in toys, video games and clothing styles this time of year? I guess who can blame them. After all they’re just trying to make a living too. But then we’ve got to get to the mall the morning after Thanksgiving, stand in line for possibly hours waiting for the store to open, then rush like we’re racing for a million bucks to get one of those items that are the ones every kid wants for Christmas but there’s only a limited supply. Man, I think I’d rather face line of blockers; at least they only want control of the ball and don’t want to step on your face to beat you in line all to spend your hard earned money for a gift that little Johnny will play with for two weeks and then put on the shelf as another Christmas memento.
As Thanksgiving begins, let’s first of all remember what the original holiday was all about. It was to give thanks to God for a good harvest and for having enough food to get through the next hard winter. I’d say that Americans have come a long way since those first days wouldn’t you?
Giving thanks to God is something that should be a daily routine for us. Giving thanks with an attitude of real gratitude can work wonders in our lives. It causes us to slow down and think about all those simple, daily things we so easily take for granted. It also helps to ease those anxious emotions that have been proven to aggravate and actually cause sickness and disease. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Try it this season. It will make all the difference in your world.
Jerry D. Ousley is the Author of three books, “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey” and “Ordeal.” Listen to our daily broadcast Spirit Bread. Find out more by visiting http://www.spiritbread.com
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Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com
I’ve heard a lot of droopy prayers in my life. Hey, I’ve prayed a lot of them, too.
Prayers of desperation—God, you’ve got to help me!
Prayers of self-pity—God, things are so awful!
Prayers of resignation—God, if you want to leave me unemployed, then I can’t stop you!
But I’m learning how to pray a different kind of prayer—prayer said with thanksgiving. I learned it from St. Paul who, writing from prison, taught me a most powerful lesson. He said,
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Here he is suffering himself, yet he’s telling me to pray with thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is the seasoning that makes our prayers edible to God. After all, who wants to hear people whine all the time? I’ve learned that you can’t whine and give thanks in the same breath. Self-pity and thankfulness don’t mix any better than oil and water.
In fact, mixing thanks with prayer somehow changes it. When we remember what God has done for us in the past and think about who he is in the present—and express that in thankfulness—our prayers become more gentle, more trusting somehow. Thankful prayers are offered with faith. And faith is an essential ingredient for prayers that God chooses to answer.
We remember the Pilgrims on Thanksgiving Day, not so much for their turkey dinner, but for the sheer faith that inspired them to give thanks in a year that saw nearly half their number die of sickness. Yet they prayed with thanksgiving.
When your annual day of feasting is over, you may bemoan your extra helpings of dressing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. But if you can hang on to the “thanks” part of Thanksgiving, you’ll be a different person. Because when you learn to talk to God about your needs—mixed with a healthy dose of heartfelt thanks—then you have crossed the divide from whining at God to real prayer.
Happy thanks-giving!
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1. Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Taken from http://www.christianavenue.org/forums/articles-f12/index.html?s=&daysprune=&f=12
