Thankful

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  Col. 4:2

So it's Turkey Day, and the day when everyone in Canada "gives thanks" and remembers to count their blessings.

Alas, why is a grateful heart only cultivated once a year? Why do we not celebrate God's mercies, which are new every morning, daily? This is a pet peeve of mine, this entitled generation that takes so much for granted and so little with gratitude.  Even "please" and "thank-you's" have lost popularity in people's vernacular, and so many want more and more and more rather than be grateful for how much abundance they already have.

I really like Col. 4:2, because it begins the verse talking about prayer, and is a command for us to continue to pray, which implies that we should be praying already.   I also love that the word steadfastly is in there, because often we pray when we want something, and when life is good we tend to shove God aside.  He's not Santa, peeps.  He's not our genie in a bottle.  He is Jehovah, Creator, Almighty God, and He is deserving of all of our praise and our prayers, in good and in bad.  Always.  So the verse begins with an imperative to pray at all times, to continue to do so, to be steadfast in the good and the bad.

Then there's the word watchful, which I also love because it requires us to use our brains, to examine, to notice.  When we pray, we are to take notice, to be thankful and to check our hearts even as we come before the throne of grace and ask God to hear our prayers - are they for His glory, or for our own? And maybe the word watchful also requires us to examine our prayers to see how God has already answered, and to be thankful in that too.  Even His no's are an answer; do we thank Him for setting limits for us and loving us by doing so?  Being watchful in it (our prayers) with thanksgiving - how lovely would it be to pay attention, even as we pray, and notice what He has already given to us!

And so, my Turkey Day challenge to you is to practice Colossians 4:2, to steadfastly pray and to be watchful in your prayers and thankful in your hearts. And let's do this 365, not just one Monday every year. :)