For those celebrating Thanksgiving on November 26 in this challenging year of 2020, may this prayer drawn from God's Word guide you in your prayers of thanksgiving:
To You, O God, we lift our voices.
There is no one we desire on this Thanksgiving Day more than You.
Nor is there anyone more worthy of creation’s praise.
You are the strength of our lives.
You are our portion forever.
You have been our help in ages past.
And You are our hope for years to come.
Nations have raged, kingdoms have tottered, and viruses have consumed.
But in this year of troubles, You have been our Rock, our Fortress, our Refuge, and our Deliverer.
Goodness and mercy have followed us
and keep following us every day of our lives.
You keep feeding us from the abundance of Your house.
You keep refreshing us from the river of Your delights.
You keep sustaining us through the challenges of difficult times.
You keep us believing and hoping in You.
You keep feeding us from Your Word.
You keep giving us the grace to treasure what we cannot lose
and to give what we cannot keep.
Too many times this past year, our plans were thwarted,
but Your plans never failed.
Your purposes unfolded right on schedule.
Every day You acted on behalf of Your people, according to Your promises, and for the fame of Your glorious name.
So Lord, as we look forward to the days and months before us,
keep our hope firmly established in who You are and in what You have promised.
Keep us boasting in You and in all that You are for Your people.
Keep us exalting Your strength in our weakness.
Keep us trusting in Your enduring faithfulness.
Keep accomplishing beyond what we ask or imagine.
Keep proving Your grace sufficient through every challenge.
Keep giving joy in the midst of suffering.
Keep giving hope, courage, and consolation to every troubled heart.
Keep restoring;
Keep confirming;
Keep strengthening;
Keep establishing our souls—
until the trump resounds,
and the clouds are rolled back like a scroll,
and you descend,
and our faith becomes sight.
May the blessed assurance that it is well with our souls
keep controlling us until that great day when we see You face to face.
O Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly, we pray.
In Your Name,
Amen.
