Thanks-Giving

Wow, after this Thanksgiving holiday we feel full from all the food, happy to see family (at least most of us) and the cold winter chill starting up.

On the day of turkey-feasting, we sit around the table waiting to eat and glancing around to see who is going to pray for our meal. The prayers are sometimes heartfelt and sincere, and sometimes even humorous for those who thrive on attention. At the end of the day we go to bed with a full tummy and happy thoughts. Unfortunately, there is one huge problem we are passing on to our children.

We focus on the day’s busyness and not much on God. Why? Well for most of us traditions are passed down, and we do things just because they have been done that way. So I want to challenge you this holiday season with a thought, and something I hope and pray you add to your holiday traditions.

Being a children’s pastor I see kids pray all the time, and the one thing I see the most is that our kids do not pray in a thankful way. They usually start with what they want and need and sometimes a pray for mom or dad, just in hopes that it will get God (and maybe mom and dad) to get them what they want. They hardly ever start with giving thanks for what they do have and the great blessings they’ve received from God.

Maybe if we began with thanks in our prayers, we would start to influence their prayers. Plus, they might start appreciating what they already have so much of. I believe we need to start all our prayers in submission to our awesome King with the thanks giving He deserves.