Read: 1 Chronicles 16:23-34

For this weeks Thanksgiving reflection we turn to something that James Spencer from the Moody Center wrote earlier this year titled “A Prayer of Thanksgiving: Grateful for the Giver.”  Here is what he writes….

“As the body of Christ endures our current moment of trouble, it seems an appropriate time to remember that “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3). The Israelites spent 40 hard years in the wilderness depending on God for all the necessities of life to learn that walking in obedience with God matters. It is not that food, shelter, clothing, or health are trivial matters. They aren’t. God does not teach Israel to detach from the physical world or to view the creation He has made as evil. Rather, God reminds Israel that trusting in God’s wisdom is the means by which those who walk with God navigate that challenges of the physical world.

Even after the forty years in the wilderness, God recognizes the human tendency to focus on the gift and to forget the Giver (Deut 8:11-20). Several years ago, I wrote the following prayer to help remind me that, as D.L. Moody said, “I am so thankful that I have a joy that the world can not rob me of…a treasure that the world cannot take from me…” No matter what we face, we have God with us. Unlike those around us, we have His peace, which is beyond our understanding; His hope, which is not grounded in health or prosperity; and His joy, which is not fleeting but endures as we come to know God more deeply. Let’s pray that even in the midst of the challenging times in which we find ourselves that we will find it in ourselves to have hearts of gratitude.”

Make it Personal:  Here is the full D.L. Moody quote mentioned above… “I am so thankful that I have a joy that the world can not rob me of; I have a treasure that the world can not take from me; I have something that it is not in the power of man or devil to deprive me of, and that is the joy of the Lord.” – D.L. Moody