THANKSGIVING 2

THANKSGIVING  2

Php 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.

CONTEXT – CONTEXT – CONTEXT

. . . . in – by – with – let . . . .

Thanksgiving does not stand alone – especially in this passage.  If you  read it  s l o w l y  you’ll see it fits with other things.

“in everything”

Everything means – well, everything.  The good, the bad and the ugly!  The “yeeehaws,” and the “Oy veys.”

“by prayer and supplication”

Think “earnest petition” – serious asking – thought through requesting that relies on the grace and power of the one being petitioned.

“with thanksgiving”

That would be with as complete as possible cognizance of the blessings we have in our relationship with Him.  Again – some thinking, reflecting and remembering required.

“let your requests be known” – declare what you desire – speak up – speak out – holler.

Ok, we know He knows what we desire – but no relationship survives without communication.  And this isn’t just some reading of a “wish list” it’s a considered communication of what we believe (rightly or wrongly) that we need. 

“with thanksgiving” means that we need to be aware of all He has done and that is the context of our petition.  It calls us to think before we pray about all He has done – all of His grace.

Now, you may ask, “Will he answer my prayer?”  Yes He will do so always – either Yes or No.  The answer will come in His time in His way but it will come.

So why, with thanksgiving?

Well, we all ask for many things.  Sometimes he says Yes, sometimes He says No.  Since we became His that’s always been the way of things.  He has said “No,” to many of our prayers and we are still His.  Oh, it may have been (and may still be) tough to handle but His Yes or No is always the right answer.

Has he ever said “yes,” so could learn a tough lesson?  I once Prayed for a certain job.  I just knew it was right for me and I was right for it.  I asked and asked and asked.  He said, “Yes.”  Within 3 weeks I wished He hadn’t.  I prayed to get out of there.  It’s the only job I was ever fired from.  They gave me a choice – resign or be fired – I took be fired since I agreed with them that it was not the place for me.  I got my “Yes,” but His “Yes,” didn’t have the result I expected.

I’m thankful for that weird experience.  I began then to learn to really think about what He did for me – even the stuff I didn’t like or enjoy.  Though not sensing the blessing at the moment I was able to see the blessing later.

Really searching for all we can be thankful for isn’t only about the “goodies.”  It’s also about His discipline, His refining, His molding us into Christ’s likeness.  Some of that is really fun – but a lot of it, because we fight it, isn’t.  We need to be thankful for that as well.

I use this illustration:

You’re on some strong medication – big time adult stuff.  You spill your pills.  A small child grabs one of the pills.  Now it is amazing how strong those tiny hands can be when they don’t want to let go of something.  You try prying them.  You try slapping them?  How far would you go to get that pill out of that child’s hand?  I know it’s extreme but would you risk breaking a finger to get that pill? 

We’re a lot like that little child.  We see something and have a sense that we want it so we grab it.  Now we don’t really know (as he does) whether it’s good or bad for us, we just know we want it.  No it begins.  How far do we want Him to go to keep us safe?  If He tears something deadly or merely damaging, out of our hands and in the course of that it hurts are we really going to complain?

Like that little child, we don’t know the danger.  We don’t know we’re being saved from harm.  We just know it hurt to let it go. 

Thanksgiving needs to be broader and deeper than we commonly thing.  When I was in training to be a police officer a friend of mine offered to teach me to shoot combat style.  We spent an entire 15 hours shooting.  Hundreds of rounds.  The next morning I could barely open or close my hands.  My arms ached.  My hands were bruised and useless.  I went through a lot of ice.

But, when it was time to go through the combat skills test I aced it.  OK – bragging time >  In under 30 seconds, at 7 yards I put 18 rounds on target and reloaded.  Note;  I was shooting a 6 shot revolver so I had to reload twice in the process – I reloaded 3 times before time ran out.

The point?  When I won that competition I was absolutely thrilled.  I was gob-smacked!  I didn’t even remember the pain I suffered for several days.  Later I was grateful for that 15 hours of work and the resultant discomfort.

Heb. 12:11  For the moment all discipline (tutorage, instruction, cultivation) seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Folks, as Turkey Day approaches I’d suggest we take some time out and really count all our blessings – those we liked and enjoyed and those that – well, not so much.

If we go to God with thanksgiving – thanksgiving for all of it – we go to Him much more confidently.