“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy [steadfast love] is everlasting, and His truth [faithfulness] endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).
Dear Praying Friends:
How should we begin our day? With prayer, of course.
But how should we begin our prayers? With thanksgiving.
For what should we give thanks? God’s fundamental, intrinsic, basic goodness, as expressed in his unfailing love and faithfulness to us.
Then we can go on by thanking him for specific blessings to us, including the people in our lives, especially Christians, as Paul often does in his letters.
Now, I confess that I haven’t always opened my day or my prayers this way. I used to plunge right in with all sorts of requests for help to face what often seemed like daunting challenges ahead of me before I could “lay me down to sleep.”
Now, however, I find that by coming into the Lord’s presence with thanksgiving and praise, quoting this psalm as part of that process, my entire outlook changes and becomes more positive and hopeful. Not because everything will be smooth but because our God is good, gracious, and faithful, and he will be like the loving Father described in Psalm 103 and the Good Shepherd whose care for us is portrayed in Psalm 23.
Yours in his goodness and faithfulness,
Wright
