A Thousand Gifts, blessing, Faith, God, Gratitude, prayer, thank you, thankfulness, thanks, trust

When Thanks Exceeds Requests

11 Comments

When I first started growing in the faith, I used to write on the right column of my journal,

“Prayers”

On the left, my list of…

“Thanks”.

Each day when I sat down, I would look back and accumulate my thoughts.

Remember His goodness. 

See the magnificence of God…..and how He DID answer prayer, in small and big ways.

And sometimes the answer looked a little different than I thought. 

And I had to stretch my mind to the image of God…

To see His fingerprints scattered through my day.
  
And how He was faithful when I took the time to pray…..

And how life changed.  

My circumstances changed.

My heart changed….most of all.

And my prayers that once were for more stuff, more….of pretty much everything….became….

Carefully orchestrated by words well thought out.  

And prayers became more like….

  • Let me see you today around me, Lord.  
  • Let me have an impact on those I touch.
  • Change me Lord to look like you. 
  • Give me compassion…your heart in all I do.

And He faithfully worked.

At first….very little.  But as my eyes opened….

His answers became clearer.

And my list of thanks began to grow and grow.

And the ways He worked….I saw them now. 

And my thanks list grew longer than my prayers. And when I looked….

I could see God active everywhere.

And so today…..I continue in thanks with Ann.  And praise Him for His goodness and His hand…..

That is not too short that it cannot save….

So, here continues my list of thanks….

20)  I am thankful for my husband being home due to surgery to his hand.
21)  For our car breaking down while surfing in another state….and how it gave Dad & son days alone, away.
22)  For my brother and his wife and kids.  The days I spent at their home.  Sharing hearts and being Auntie for a bit.
23)  I am thankful for mornings. Where His breath breathes deep into my soul.  
24)  How His voice is so clear when the sun peaks through fog in early morn.
25)  For my kids growing….and how I can look back and see God moving.
26)  For the country I live in.  
27)  For the men and women who fight for our freedom.
28)  For seasons change.
29)  How the coolness of fall….reminds me of His grace.  
30)  For the chance to awake to the beauty of a new day.

Linking today with A Holy Experience

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11 Comments

  1. I actually clicked on because of the sunflowers…did not realize it was you…but not at all disappointed to find it being you…always blessed… I relate to your journey in prayer…the changes in heart…
    Blessings~

    Reply

  2. Hi Jen – what a lovely idea. I should do that as an exercise to see which side of my list is more prominent and make adjustments accordingly. Lovely post Jen, always right to the heart of it 🙂
    God bless
    Tracy

    Reply

  3. Ells – There is just something about sunflowers..isn’t there. They just seem to shout, “JOY”. My husband brought home some the other day & as the clouds gather….they, like the sun, seem to still light up my day. Thanks for reading, faithful friend.

    Tracy – You have such a heart of gratitude…I am sure your list of thankss would exceed your needs or prayers. Thanks, as always for reading, my dear sister in Christ.

    Reply

  5. Thanks for sharing your journey of prayer. Usually, these journeys stay below the surface. They go unseen. And people miss out on encouragement. Sometimes, we need those reminders that we’re not always doomed to pray — uphill — through the needs of life.

    Instead, we’re praying through change — a change in us, and for His kingdom. And often we just need to wait at the table with faithfulness. Thank you for your voice. We’re all sitting at the table together, so we might as well be using our own voices when we converse and commune, right? Be blessed with His Presence!

    Reply

  9. I also kept a similar journal, but when the thanksgiving and seeing Him in everything became more numerous than I could quickly write, I set the journal aside and began just looking up.

    In a single day, there are thousands of ways GOD manifests His Goodness and Mercy. I can never keep up with recording it all!

    Reply

  10. Cheryl – I never saw Autumn like grace…until just recently. So refreshing.

    Matthew – Prayer changes US. So true. And oh, to find your OWN voice in a world constantly quenching the God voice inside…a difficult thing indeed…at least for me.

    HopeUnbroken – Thank you

    Eileen – Yes, the joy of seeing the fingerprint of God in all…

    Beck – I love how you said, “God answers us with goodness”. Just beautiful!

    Connie – So good of you to see His beauty everywhere and be totally overcome in His goodness. What a gift.

    Thanks everyone for all your comments. ~ jen

    Reply

  11. loved this.. was blessed as usual by visiting.. I love the sunflower.. it makes me smile just to think how God made so many beautiful things!

    Reply

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