Starting Thanksgiving Early

 OCTOBER 3, 2022

In the past few years, I have started thinking of October as a month for thanksgiving. My intention is that each day I aim to make space  for richer and broader gratitude than I might ordinarily offer to God. You see what I realized is that I have so much to give thanks for that a Day, or a weekend of thanks each year is just not enough time to cover the many parts of living and experience that I am grateful for.

The Apostle Paul's example of nonstop thanksgiving is an encouragement but also a challenge. When he says that he has "not stopped giving thanks," Paul does not mean that he is literally praying every moment. To me, I believe that Paul is speaking about living with a thankful frame of mind, or world view, that is expressed in prayers of gratefulness. I imagine that he may have made it his daily practice to give thanks to God for those companions who were faithfully living as Jesus Followers.

So what if this week we start thanksgiving early, not waiting for the weekend, but to try each day this week to structure our life with regular moments of gratitude. 

For example, morning devotions, praying before meals, or evening/bedtime prayers.

I don’t know how you feel about your prayers of gratitude, I have found too often mine are short and rather predictable. If you give a nod of the head to predictable prayers, I wonder, if we spent a few additional moments thinking about how God has blessed us might be a good step.

What would happen if we asked the Holy Spirit to bring to mind blessings, we haven’t thought about much, or perhaps even reflected on before?

What if we asked God to help us live each day with a constant sense of gratitude?

TAKE AWAY

How might you make the rest of this week before Thanksgiving Day into a season of gratitude?

What might you do by yourself? 

What might you do with family and/or friends?

Let Us Pray

God, thank you for the example of Paul in this passage, for his consistency in thanksgiving. Help me, to imitate this pattern in my own life. May I learn to thank you, not only in predictable times and ways, but also throughout the day. Help me to notice the gifts you pour upon me and to offer nonstop thanks for them. May this week be filled with gratitude to you. Amen.