I know what you are thinking, “Isn’t it a bit early for a Thanksgiving prayer?” But in actuality, Thanksgiving, as we know it, started well before it was a national holiday associated with turkey, football and lethargy. Thankgiving was and is a state of mind in the Bible. There are many scriptures throughout the Bible that speak of thanksgiving. There are songs of thanksgiving, offerings of thanksgiving, praise and thanksgiving and other conglomerations of thanksgiving that are meant as an act of devotion, adoration and worship of God. One of the most popular references to thanksgiving in Christianity is from Psalm 100:4, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving in your heart, and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name.” We’ve all seen or sung that verse at one point in our lives, but maybe we’ve never really stopped to think about the real meaning behind the words.

We “enter” his gates with thanksgiving in our heart, which means that before we even set foot in the sanctuary, we have already been overflowing with thankgiving in our hearts. It’s a state of being that lives deeply within us. No one has to prod us to be thankful for God’s grace and mercy, we should already be there. We don’t have to wait for a specific day such as Thanksigving or a Sunday to express our thanksgiving, we walk around with it in our hearts.

And so, as we enter this season of thanksgiving, looking toward Thanksgiving, Mark and I wanted to start this series on Thanksgiving Prayers. From now until Thanksgiving we will be offering prayers on different topics, particularly those topics relevant to this season. Today we start the series with a prayer for expectancy so that we can look forward to God blessing and keeping us throughout this season.

Heavenly Father,

First and foremost I thank you for this day. It is the first Monday in the 11th month of the year and I thank you that you have allowed us to make it to this day. We thank you for all that has gone before us in the months that have passed, we thank you for the present moment and we thank you in advance for all that you will do on our behalf. We look forward to this new season that you have brought us into with great expectation. Let it be a season of revelation, a season of clarity, a season of generosity and a season of change. Let it be whatever season you need it to be in our lives. Let us look forward to the work you will do in us and through us and let that change be everlasting. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

What are you expecting this season?