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As we enjoy the month of Thanksgiving, we invite you to practice thanking God in advance.
If you’ve never heard of such a thing or tried it yourself, it may sound strange or perhaps even seem wrong. Are we tempting God when we assume He wants to bless us with what we want? Are we afraid we might disappoint Him with our requests? Is it selfish to ask for things we want and believe our loving Heavenly Father will provide what we ask for? Will we be disappointed if our prayers are not answered in the way and with the timing we hoped? On the other hand, do we want to continue asking for lists of things we want to be different – doubting if an answer will ever come?
The answers to these questions are personal and reflect the condition of our hearts. How we choose to pray, the way we approach our God matters and has impact. We have come to believe that thanking God in advance for the blessings we seek, as though he has already blessed us with them, demonstrates our trust and increases our faith in a Heavenly Parent who wants to bless us with our righteous desires. As long as our desires are in harmony with God’s will, we can trust that God will hear our prayers and answer them in his own wisdom and time.
Remember that Jesus promised, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). Instead of constantly worrying about God’s wrath and displeasure, let’s remember that Jesus asked, “what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:9-11). As we pray to God, let’s remember that he is eager to give us good gifts.
Those who came to America on the Mayflower signed a document we know as The Mayflower Compact, wherein they promised “solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick[.]” Governor John Winthrop said of the nation he was founding, “we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us” and the “Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with.” At the time Winthrop preached this sermon, his colony was a few thousand people carving out an existence on the fringes of human civilization. But the powerful nation he envisioned as a “city upon a hill” that would capture the eyes of all people is an answer to his prophetic prayer. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us confidently thank God for the abundance he has brought and will bring into our lives.
One of my favorite scriptures in the New Testament is:
The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
In this verse, Paul is clear that we can be wealthy or poor, and the love of Jesus would give us peace and strength.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need (Philippians 4:12-13).
May we use this month of giving thanks to not only thank God in advance for the blessings we desire but also to thank Him for the abundantly rich blessings we already have—and those He is lining up for us even now. Joy comes from our intentional awareness of all the goodness we are already blessed with. May your joy, and your blessings, increase as we enter into the month of Thanksgiving!
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LILY Pod: Thank God in Advance
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About the Author
Jeff Teichert, and his wife Cathy Butler Teichert, are the founders of “Love in Later Years,” which ministers to Latter-day Saint single adults seeking peace, healing, and more joyful relationships. They are co-authors of the Amazon bestseller Intentional Courtship: A Mid-Singles Guide to Peace, Progress and Pairing Up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeff and Cathy each spent nearly a decade in the mid-singles community and they use that experience to provide counsel and hope to mid-singles and later married couples through written articles, podcasts, and videos. Jeff and Cathy are both Advanced Certified Life Coaches and have university degrees in Family & Human Development. They are the parents of a blended family that includes four handsome sons, one lovely daughter-in-law, and a sweet baby granddaughter.
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