Tag: spiritual leadership

Categories
Worship

The Hard Work of Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving Day!
The one day of the year we are supposed to be thankful.
Then we can go back to being regular ole grumps!

Actually, this isn’t the only time of the year when we are to be thankful, but the thankfulness aspect of today was originally about being thankful for a good harvest. Having a good harvest meant lots of food on the table, so I guess that is why our holiday tradition for today is eating until the point of discomfort!

So the eating isn’t hard work, though having motivation to do much else with that full belly might be. The laughing at the table with family isn’t hard work. The watching of football games with each other isn’t hard work. So what is the hard work of Thanksgiving?

I believe it is keeping a right focus in today’s American society about WHO we should be thankful to.

It will be easy today to say…” I am thankful because such-and-such happened to ME because I was able to use MY abilities to….” And in doing so, we can focus our thanks on self – on I and Me. That is the American way. To go against that grain takes effort.

The hard work is to honestly ask and answer the question – who has ultimately given us these good things to be thankful for? Who has blessed us with family, with the good things that are on our table, with the innate abilities in us to even work and provide for our families?

God.
He alone.
He is the reason you have food on the table.
He is the provider of rain.
He is the provider of life.
He is the reason you are able to take each breath.

The hard work is refocusing today on Him – the author of good gifts. “Every good thing given and every perfect gift come from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

“Will we only give God the things that cost us nothing?” King David was freely offered what he would need to make a sacrifice to God, but David replied: “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not…sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”

It won’t cost us much to be a part of the celebration today, but refocusing our attention on God is hard work. Stepping up as the spiritual leader of your family and asking them to pray with you to thank God might be foreign to you and your family. It is a foreign concept for many in America today. But God desires for you to exalt His Name, and today is the perfect day to do so.

The rest of Thanksgiving won’t cost you much. “But it costs plenty to pray with others. Prayer is hard work, and it takes courage, dedication, concentration, and steadfastness.” As we pray with others, we open up our lives to them – our thoughts, our ideas, our beliefs. This is hard work that God desires of us today – to open ourselves up to others in prayer as we honor Him with thankful hearts.

Don’t let the day just be about turkey and dressing, full bellies, football, hunting, or shopping. It will be easy to stop there. Go further. Do the hard work. Refocus the day on the Giver of all good things so that your family members develop a deeper Thankfulness to the One worthy of all Thanksgiving.

Categories
Relationships

With Whom Are You Praying?

“God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hands, we are fed. Thank You Lord for daily bread. Amen.”

A lot of Christian parents seem to do a pretty good job of helping their children learn to pray at meals and even to say their bedtime prayers. Hurray! This is excellent.

But based on my conversations with these same parents, I have a sneaking suspicion that these moms and dads aren’t praying together. So my question to you today is – Are You Praying With Your Spouse?

What I sense is that wives desire for their husbands to step into that spiritual leader role in the family and to lead in prayer with and for them, but that we men often shy away from doing so. Husband, are you leading you wife in prayer?

Prayer together with your spouse is a MUST. “Your prayer life together is important. Sure, you might be able to have a good marriage without it, but that misses the point entirely. The real question here is this: Can my marriage meet God’s call without shared prayer?” The answer is, or course, a resounding No! “If there are never times when you desire prayer with your wife… then your prayer life is on life support and your life is out of balance” (from Every Man’s Challenge)

I have been surprised that when I have had people pray together with their spouses at church, I have had multiple couples come to me and say – “Thank You for making us do that. I had never before heard my spouse pray for me.” Would your spouse say something similar?

Men, step up and be that spiritual leader. Do it before tomorrow. Before you turn off the light and drift off to sleep tonight, simply say, “Honey, I think we should pray before we go to bed.” Start tonight. And then don’t stop – repeat it each night. Pray for your children together, pray for your parents, pray for you two AS parents, pray for each other. And then watch the difference it makes in your life and in your marriage!