September 6 - Giving Thanks Builds Faith

Thanksgiving is an important component of prayer. As you develop in your prayer life, you need to continually remind yourself of what God has done for you.

Luke 17 recounts the story of Jesus healing ten lepers, only one of whom came back and thanked Jesus for what He had done. It made quite an impression on Jesus.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (verses 15-19)

Other versions of Scripture translate the word praise as glory. In other words, thanking God for what He has done in our lives brings Him glory.

Offering thanks does two other things as well. First, it builds our faith. As we recall God’s goodness in the past, we can believe Him to move again. Because we remember God’s faithfulness, we believe Him for the future. In his classic book Prayer, Ole Hallesby said, “If we have noted the Lord’s answers to our prayers and thanked Him for what we have received of Him, then it becomes easier for us, and we get more courage, to pray for more.” Second, being thankful removes pride and replaces it with humility. Remember, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; see also Proverbs 3:34).

God who hears and answers, please pour thankfulness into my heart so that I will continually praise You for Your goodness in my life! Remove pride and replace it with deeper humility. Grow my faith in Your faithfulness! Help me to recognize when You are at work and to recognize each grace-filled act that touches my life so that You alone will receive glory!

--Adapted from The Power of Personal Prayer (Learning to Pray with Faith and Purpose) by Jonathan Graf. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.

Prayer Points

• Praise God as the one who lifts your soul up from the depths of despair and discouragement (Ps. 42:5).
• Thank him for being your Savior and your God.
• Confess those times when you’ve chosen not to allow God to wipe away the tears of distress.
• Commit yourself to praising God every day for his tender mercies.
• Ask God to keep you from becoming downcast in your soul.
• Ask God to cause many around the world today to “put their hope in God” (Psalm 42:5) and thus be able to confess with believers in every land “my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:11).