When my children were very young I joined a mom’s prayer group at their school. Right after drop-off, several of us would gather for 30 min to pray over our children and their teachers and staff. Our prayers would begin with praise as each of us would take turns praising God by his name and attributes. Next, our prayers would turn to thanksgiving as each of us expressed thankfulness as it came to us. And finally, we would end our time bringing our petitions before the Lord. Almost every time, we found that our “thanksgiving” took up the greatest part of our prayer time. Praying in this fashion allowed us to prioritize our prayer and it became no surprise that when we began by praising the Lord’s attributes, it was so easy to fall into an attitude of thanksgiving.

No matter what we need to pray for, thanksgiving can always go with it! Years later, I still find myself following this prayer pattern. Whenever I have to travel somewhere with my kids, we have made it a point to begin our journey with prayer (a habit learned from my Dad). We usually start praying as we pull out of the driveway and continue while we drive. One day, when my daughter opened her eyes after saying Amen, she exclaimed, “Wow!, we had a lot to be thankful for, look how far we got!”

Losing ourselves in our prayer time is such a beautiful feeling! We all have a few moments every day, whether intentional or while driving, to pray. I encourage you to begin with Thanksgiving. Start simple, “Thank you, Father, for this new day”, or “God, you are awesome, I appreciate everything you do for me.” Let’s be thankful and watch as we grow closer to God with each “Thank You”!

Suggested prayer: Thank You, Father, for all you have done for me. Help me to make gratitude the focus of each of my prayers to you. Let me be thankful before anything else. Thank you for being patient with me as I learn to rely on you. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

1.    Psalm 100:4 (KJV).

Today’s Encounter was written by: Veronica B.