Showing posts with label Always Give Thanks. Show all posts

Monday, November 25, 2013

7 Ephesians 5:15-21: Part 3

Ephesians 5:15-21 * The Message (MSG)

11-16 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

Wake up from your sleep,

Climb out of your coffins;

Christ will show you the light!

So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

17 Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.

18-20 Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.

21 Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.[1]

PRAYER JOURNALING

1 Make sure to prayer journal your thoughts, what jumped out at you, what questions you have, what you said to God, what God said to you, and how you can apply it to your life.

2 List at least ten things for which you are thankful right now.

6 Ephesians 5:15-21: Part 2

Ephesians 5:15-21 * Expanded Bible (EXB)

15 So be very careful how you live [walk]. Do not·live [walk] like those who are not wise[foolish], but ·live wisely [like those who are wise]. 16 Take advantage of every opportunity[or Make the most of your time; …redeeming the time/season], because these are evil times [ the days are evil]. 17 So do not be·foolish [ignorant] but·learn what the Lord wants you to do [or understand the Lord’s will]. 18 Do not be drunk with wine, which ·will ruin you[is debauchery/reckless living], but be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak [ …speaking] to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord. 20 Always give [ …always giving] thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

21 Yield [Submit; Be subject;  …yielding/submitting;  grammatically linked to the previous sentence, and so part of being filled with the Spirit] to each other out of reverence [respect; fear; awe] for Christ.[1]

PRAYER JOURNALING

Make sure to prayer journal your thoughts, what jumped out at you, what questions you have, what you said to God, what God said to you, and how you can apply it to your life.

EPHESIANS 5:20

Ephesians 5:20 * GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

20 Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.[2]

Ephesians 5:20 * New King James Version (NKJV)

20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.[3]

Now, look at the versions of Ephesians 5:20 listed in Day or Chapters 5-6. What is the main idea from each of the translations or versions? Prayer journal your response before you read another word from today’s study or devotional.

ALWAYS GIVE THANKS

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:20 to ALWAYS give thanks. Always GIVE thanks. And, always give THANKS.

Can you tell the difference between the three things I just wrote, where I emphasized different words? Prayer journal your answer and write the differences in the meaning of each emphasized sentence of: ALWAYS GIVE THANKS.

So, we are to always give thanks.

How often is that? Prayer journal your answer.

We are to always give thanks. That means always and without stopping. It means we are to give God our thanks all day and night long, each and every day for the rest of our lives.

Prayer journal your thoughts.

READING THE BIBLE AND DOING BIBLE STUDY

Do you want to get the most out of the Bible? Do you want to grow a deeper faith each day? Do you long to hear a word from God?

If you said yes to any of those things, then let me share something with you. If you want any of those things, then you need to be in the Word of God. Period. End of story.

The Bible is His Word. It is the Lord talking to you and teaching you. It is His way of showing you the way to go. It’s instilling truth in your life.

Do you ever feel like your faith is low or running on empty? Do you ever feel like you could, and probably should, get more from your spiritual life and faith? The answer is simple. Get in His Word.

A YEAR OF ALWAYS GIVING THANKS is only one tool in your closet. Make sure as you use this devotional Bible study to look up all the verses and to do so in at least three versions of the Bible. Make sure to have your own private Bible study time and also do a Bible study with a group at least once per week. And, make sure to read your Bible each and every day all year long. If you read four chapters a day, you will read the Bible all the way through in a year, if you so desire. Or, do two chapters per day and read the Bible all the way through in two years, so you can take your time and absorb the Bible thoroughly and completely.

Implement everything in the previous paragraph, and your faith and your life will grow in leaps and bounds.

Do this for the rest of your life, each and every day, and see what God does with your life. It will be truly amazing.

ASKING A GREAT DEAL: TAKING A LOT OF TIME AND COMMITMENT

Just in case you are noticing something about A YEAR OF ALWAYS GIVING THANKS, and that is there is a great deal I am asking you to do, you’re right.

PRAYER JOURNALING

1 What did you learn today?

2 What did God say to you?

3 What did you say to God?

4 Before today, how often did you give God thanks? Was it always?

5 Write a summary of what you learned today.

6 List at least three more things you are grateful for.

What do you thank God for today?

List as many as you can in your prayer journal throughout the day and night. Be thorough. Spend as much time as you can--and even some you can't.

5 Ephesians 5:15-21: Part 1

PRAYER JOURNALING: A PRAYER OF THANKS

Write out a prayer of thanks to God before we even start the devotional today. Take some time to turn to Him and turn your heart and mind to always giving Him thanks today, this day.

List three things at least as to why you are thankful for this new day.

ALL THE BIBLE VERSES LISTED

We will try to look at several, if not all, verses about thanksgiving in the Bible. Needless to say, I am going to type out several verses for you to read, and will give several verses for you to look up, where I will say, for example, “(See Luke 9:23).”

Look all of them up in your own Bible as well. Make sure that I am not steering you wrong. For all you know, I could change a couple of words around, or worse, listed the wrong reference. Do not trust what I say. Instead, read your own Bible and see it for yourself.

WHEN IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE OR DOESN’T REALLY GRAB YOU: If you read the translation or version I have listed, and it does not grab you, then try to read the same verse or verses from your favorite version of the Bible. Does that help you get more out of the verse? If so, great. If not, check out another version of the Bible.

WHEN YOU WANT TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A VERSE: Look up as many translations or versions of the verse or passage as time will allow. I recommend for each time you look up a verse or verses, look up at least three version, but preferably more. Why? The more versions you look at, the more you will get out of it and the greater and more in-depth grasp you will have of the text.

Personally, I try to look up at least five versions, but will also look up more when I really want to study something.

So, make sure to look up at least three versions of the Bible of everything I list or type out. Then, you will get the most out of this you can.

Also, as you read each and every verse in this A YEAR OF ALWAYS GIVING THANKS, make sure to prayer journal your thoughts, what jumped out at you, what questions you have, what you said to God, what God said to you, and how you can apply it to your life. Why? Again, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it—pure and simple.

EXPANDED TEXT

I think you will start to see a pattern in my writing and in this devotional. If it’s a really good passage of Scripture, jammed-pack with golden nuggets, I am going to list more than just the verse that talks about thanks. After all, the more we look at the context of the verse about thanks, the more we will understand what thanks is, how to give it, what it means, etc.

Today is another example of me expanding to show more than just the verse of thanks (see Ephesians 5:20). Write out Ephesians 5:20 in your prayer journal at this point. I recommend writing at least three versions of the verse in your prayer journal. Then, pick one to memorize.

Ephesians 5:15-21 * New American Standard Bible (NASB)

15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.^{^[1]}

PRAYER JOURNALING

1 Make sure to prayer journal your thoughts, what jumped out at you, what questions you have, what you said to God, what God said to you, and how you can apply it to your life. Also, is there a verse or verses you want to memorize or at least look at each day? Pick at least one.

2 What did you learn from verses 15 and 16?

3 How can you be careful how you walk, my friend?

4 How can you make the most of your time?

5 How can you avoid evil during your day? The answer is found in verses 15-16. Prayer journal the answer.

6 What did you learn from verse 17?

7 How do you avoid foolishness? (The answer lies in verses 15-17.)

8 How do you understand what the will of God is? (The answer lies in verses 15-17.)

9 What have you said to God up to this point?

10 What has God said to you up to this point?

11 List at least five things in which you are grateful for.

12 How can you apply these verses to your life today, tomorrow, and in the future?

The FIRST Thanksgiving

What you know about history might be wrong. (I say with a smile on my face and offer you a wink.) I know most of what I knew about American History was wrong until I moved to Virginia a while ago. So, I wanted to share this new factoid with you.

The First Thanksgiving did not happen where or when you might think. (I know I didn't know this until somewhat recently.) It happened in Virginia, believe it or not, at the Berkeley Plantation in what is now Charles City, Virginia in the year 1619.

It was based on the tradition to give thanks to God and was about prayer. So, yes, it was a religious and spiritual tradition. Take a look at each these links to learn the true history about the First Thanksgiving in the United States of America (particularly link 3):

1 http://www.berkeleyplantation.com/index.html

2 http://www.berkeleyplantation.com/4-centuries.html#fourcenturiestop

3 http://www.berkeleyplantation.com/the-new-world.html

(Side-Note: I also have found out since I moved here that I am a distant relative of the Harrisons.)

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online)

4 Keep a Thanksgiving List

Make sure to prayer journal about at least three things you are thankful for each day.
I keep a list of 25 things I am thankful each day, where I add a couple items to my list all day and night long—so I am always giving thanks to God.
Start your list today, but try your hand with listing 25. From here on out, write as many as you can per day, with a minimum of at least three, but preferably more.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

3 1 Chronicles 16:8-9: Part 2

1 Chronicles 16:8-9 * Expanded Bible (EXB)

8 Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him [L call upon his name].

Tell [Make known among; Proclaim to] the nations [world; peoples] what he has done [his deeds/accomplishments].

9 Sing to him; sing praises [make music] to him.

Tell about all his ·miracles [wonders; wonderful acts/works].[1]

I have the feeling you might wonder how much time we are going to spend on the passage of 1 Chronicles 16:8-9, but there is a reason we are spending so much time on the verses. Actually, there are a couple of reasons:

1 We should never rush through the Word of God. We should take our time with it and spend as much time in it as possible. The more we time we spend on it, the more we ponder it and think on it, the more we apply it to the lives, the better.

2 It is an important passage about giving thanks and tells us why and how to give thanks.

So, let’s spend another day on this passage—today.

Moreover, there is a reason why we are looking at several translations of the same biblical passage. It’s because the more versions or translations of the verses we read, the more broader and in-depth understanding we will glean, just like the more time we spend on it will bring more understanding and comprehension as well.

I think if we were to take one verse from the Bible and study it alone all day and night long for the rest of our lives, we would discover we learn something new about the verse each day. After all, the Bible is living and active:

Hebrews 4:12 * New American Standard Bible (NASB)

12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.[2]

PRAYER JOURNALING QUESTIONS

1 Spend some time and give God thanks and pray to Him in your prayer journal, as it says in verse 8.

2 Write your thoughts about 1 Chronicles 16:8-9 from the version written out in Day 3, just before this section and afterward. What did you learn?

3 What have you said to God?

4 What has God said to you?

5 What can you apply to your life? How? Plan to do so immediately and make sure to prayer journal your plan about how to apply 1 Chronicles 16:8-9 to your life.

1 Chronicles 16:8-9 * New Century Version (NCV)

8 Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him.

Tell the nations what he has done.

9 Sing to him; sing praises to him.

Tell about all his miracles.[3]

PRAYER JOURNALING QUESTIONS: TELL WHAT GOD HAS DONE

1 What has God done in your life—today, yesterday, in the last week, in the last month, in the last three months, in the last six months, in the last year? In the last two years? Five years? Ten? More? Be thorough. List as many things as you can. This will take hours to days to weeks or months to get it all down on the page. Spend some time here.

2 1 Chronicles 16:8-9: Part 1

1 Chronicles 16:8-9 * GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

8 “Give thanks to the Lord.

Call on his name.

Make known among the nations what he has done.

9 Sing to him.

Make music to praise him.

Meditate on all the miracles he has done.[1]

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THANKS?

Ideally, we will go through the Bible and read every single thing the Word of God says about thanksgiving and ingratitude in the next year. But, there is so much to cover, so we will see how far we can get in the study, look, and reflection (Hint: There might need to be another book of this type written—or maybe three or four. We shall see.)

This is the first reference we will look at: 1 Chronicles 16:8-9. Let’s first, however, start with a baseline and figure out where we are with thanksgiving in our lives and in the Bible.

Remember the rule of thumb for this entire year: The more you put into this year, the more you will get out of it.

PRAYER JOURNALING QUESTIONS

Today has quite a few questions, but it is for a reason. Please answer each and as thoroughly as you can. Do not give simple answers and make sure to explain your answers. Be thorough. Write more than you normally would in response to each question. Remember the rule of thumb for this entire year: The more you put into this year, the more you will get out of it.

1 Define thanks.

2 How do you offer thanks to someone?

3 How do you offer thanks to God?

4 How often do you try to offer God thanks?

5 How often should you offer God thanks”

6 What can you do in order to offer God more thanks in your life?

7 So, what does the Bible say about thanks? Write in your prayer journal anything that comes to mind.

8 What do you think the Bible says about thanks?

9 Write your thoughts about 1 Chronicles 16:8-9 from the version written out in Day 1.

10 Write your thoughts about 1 Chronicles 16:8-9 from the version written out in Day 2.

11 What did you say to God about questions 1-4 today?

12 What did God say to you about questions 1-5 today?

13 What do you hope to get out of the next year?

WRITE A PRAYER OF THANKS

Write a prayer of thanks about everything from Day 1 and 2. Make sure to thank Him for as many things as you can. In other words, be thorough. Do not shortchange your thanks to God for anything from this devotional or from what God has done throughout your day and night the last two days.

Also, as you give God thanks, thank Him for certain things from your past, things from today, and things from the future.

This does not have to be a formal prayer by any means. What matters is that you make it personal. It’s also okay for it to be rough and unpolished. God does not care about that. He care about your heart. That’s all. So, do not put undue pressure on yourself.

As you pray, think of God as your father or your best friend or both, whichever is easier for you. Pour out your heart to Him.

1 God Has A Purpose for You and A YEAR OF ALWAYS GIVING THANKS

1 Chronicles 16:8-9 * New Living Translation (NLT)

8 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.

Let the whole world know what he has done.

9 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.

Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.[1]

Welcome to a year (or whatever timeframe you end up reading this) of always giving thanks. I imagine it’s going to be quite the journey for each of us. God will not leave us where we are and will use what we learn to bring himself more glory and honor and praise. We just need to make sure to give it our all, no less, and see what God’s going to do with it, through it, and change us.

There is a reason why you have looked at this blog post series or book, let alone possible purchased a copy. It’s because God has put it on your heart. He has put the desire on your heart to bring Him thanks always (see Psalm 37:4).

I repeat:

You are reading A YEAR OF ALWAYS GIVING THANKS for a reason.

PRAYER JOURNALING QUESTIONS

1 What do you think the reason is God gave you an interest in this topic, blog post, or book?

[1] NLT: Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Welcome

Welcome, friend, to a look at doing something few of us do, yet alone all year long, and it’s always giving thanks.

Thanks might be a new concept for some of us, if we are honest without ourselves.

I am one of those people, by the way. The idea of giving thanks is rather foreign, but always giving thanks to God is far more foreign and is something I don’t even know or recognize. I’ve tried to give thanks, but not all the time. I’ve always tried to keep a gratitude journal—and that flopped. I know giving God thanks is important, but I think my hang-up has been: How do you give God thanks? That’s what this book is about. It’s about learning to give thanks always, and all year long, for the rest of our lives.

This is a devotional. It’s true. But, it’s so much more than that. It’s also a Bible study, a workbook, and is a prayer journal—all rolled into one.

This book is a book meant for devotions. It’s a book of thoughts on thanksgiving and what the Bible has to say about thanksgiving. It’s also about the things we are thankful for and is how we will create a list of what we thank God for in our lives. It will be our way to count our blessings and look all around for glory sightings.

I hope you read it as a devotional, where it brings you to devotion to God and for God—as you always give Him thanks. Read a sentence or two, a page or two, or a chapter,—and think on it all day and night. Pray about what you read or what makes you think. Let it inspire you to offer God thanks for the things in your life.

You might even think about keeping a prayer journal to write in and write everything you are thankful for and any thoughts that come to mind as you go through this book.

Read this book slowly. Absorb it. Do not just read through it as fast as you can. Chew on each word. Think about them and get the most you can out of them. The words I use are intentional and are meant to get us to think and inspire us to always give overflowing thanks.

There will be an accompanying Bible study and journal in time. However, if you look up each and every verse in your favorite Bible translation (version) and journal about them, then you will get a great deal out of it and it will be a wonderful Bible study. Do it all by yourself, with a friend, or with a group.

Set your own pace. Take a year to get all the way through it, as you look at it each and every day and allow it to bring you to the Lord and thank Him for everything in your life and all that is around you. Or, take a month or several years Just don’t rush through it and make sure to think deeply on these things (see Philippians 4:8 and Psalm 1:2).

Although, I think this can be one of those resources that the moment you finish reading it all the way through, you will want to do it all over again and see how and how things have changed in your life just since the first read-through and participation.

Make sure to give this your all. Do not give a half-hearted attempt, if you want to get the most out of this ALWAYS OF ALWAYS GIVING THANKS.

Enjoy!

~ Stacy Duplease

Another book

I have started to write yet another new book. It's the other two books all rolled into one.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Two Different Books

I've decided to write a regular devotional book and a devotional Bible study book for this series and will in time do a prayer journal. Here are the covers:

Thanks Thought

Thank You, Lord

Thank You, Lord for another day to serve You.

Help me to live for You, not me, today.

Thank you for another opportunity to bring You glory and watch for glory sightings in my life today.

(Photo and Image Credits: Stacy Duplease)

Thursday, November 21, 2013

2 Adding to Your Thanksgiving List

2 Adding to Your Thanksgiving List

Take some time, as much as you have. I highly recommend an hour if you've got it. Otherwise, take what time you can.

Writer as many things as you can down on your thanksgiving list as you can.

Then, do it throughout the day whenever you think of another--or when you are on break.

It's rather amazing how this happens. But, it does. The more you get on your list, the more you will appreciate your life and everything God has done. Then, you will start to change. You will grow closer to God and deeper in your faith. You won't be able to help yourself.

Thank You, Lord

Thank You, Lord for...

Write fast and as many as you can in your prayer journal (or thanksgiving journal). Get ready, get set, go!

~ Stacy Duplease

1 Welcome to a Devotional Bible Study: An Introduction

Welcome to a new devotional Bible study called:

Always Give Overflowing Thanks:

A Devotional Bible Study

QUESTIONS:

What is thanks exactly? How is it defined?

What does it mean to give God thanks?

Why should we give God thanks?

How often, or when, should we give God thanks?

How do we give God thanks?

What does the Bible say about thanks?

What does it mean to give an offering or sacrifice of thanksgiving?

When was the last time you offered thanks?

What does thanks mean to you?

Is your life an offering of thanks?

Do you offer thanksgiving to the Lord as an offering or sacrifice?

Do you always give thanks to God?

Do you always give overflowing thanks? (And, what does that mean anyway?)

Do you keep a thanksgiving prayer journal?

Is thanksgiving something that comes easily to you--or is it more challenging?

How mindful do you need to be in order to always give overflowing thanks?

What is overflowing thanks?

How can you have overflowing thanks and offer it?

This devotional Bible study will cover all of those questions and more.

WHAT IS A DEVOTIONAL BIBLE STUDY?

It is a Bible study done in smaller chunks of time, reading, and prayer journaling, but are meant to be done throughout the day and not all in one sitting.That way, you can think about it and let it absorb while you don't rush through the material. It's meant to peculate and simmer.

Ideally, you would look at this study morning, noon, and night. Therefore, you'll see that this book is set up with lessons in groups of three.

However, if you do not have the time to read morning, noon, and night, once a day, or reading more, are all just fine. Go at the speed that works for you. And, it's okay to change how many you read and participate in each day.

Just make sure to do at least one per day. That way, you are constantly offering thanks, and counting your blessings, in your heart and mind.

SELF-PACED STUDY OR IN A GROUP INSTRUCTIONS:

I don't know about you, but there are times I find one sentence so profound, I could read it, think on it, and prayer journal about it for an entire day, week, month, and even year. Therefore, use this book as a self-paced study, unless of course, you are doing this in a Bible study group. Then, if you are in a group, vote on how many lessons people would like to read each day.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS STUDY:

1 Read through all of the material. Prayer journal about the material as you go.

2 Then, go in-depth and read it a second time through. Take your time with the material and prayer journal (what is mentioned in the next section) and ponder it fully and all night and day long.

3 Do this in a group.

GET A THANKSGIVING PRAYER JOURNAL: A REQUIRED TOOL

What do you need for this Bible study? Do you want one or two journals? That is the question. And, it's time to decide and purchase them if necessary.

This devotional Bible study requires prayer journaling. The only questions is, do you want one journal or two? After all, I recommend answering every question asked in this study, if you want to get as much out of this as possible. I also recommend journaling anything god says to you, or you say to God, as you go through the study. Journal about what jumps out at you, questions you have, problems you're having, prayer requests, praises, etc. You will need a journal for all of this--and I recommend doing it in a prayer journaling format where you journal as a prayer to God. So, that might be one journal.

You might want to keep your Thanksgiving List (or Always Give Overflowing Thanks List) in another journal.

Or, you can keep both in one.

It's up to you.

Now, it's also up to you to decide, as well, whether this will be a paper or a digital journal. If you go with the paper version, I HIGHLY recommend you to type it up[ and save it on a computer and over the internet/cloud so that you can save it permanently. Paper journals can be lost, stolen, damaged, and the ink can fade--whether it's handwritten or printed out from a printer. The only permanent journal is saved to the cloud where it can be accesses from any computer at any time in any place.

So, go ahead and figure out what you want to do.

If you need help with digital journaling, check out this link. It should help:

http://storykeeper2121.blogspot.com/2013/01/journaling-101.html

Figure this out and then proceed.

AN EXAMPLE OF HOW I PRAYER JOURNAL

I figured I would give you an example of what I do as far as prayer journaling, so you can have an idea as to how you could.

I do digital prayer journaling and I do a combination of journaling. Here is what I do:

1 I use http://penzu.com/r/34f16257, which is Penzu.com, an online journal.

2 I use my cell phone.

3 I use my Amazon Kindle Fire 8.9-inch HD 4G.

4 I cut and paste #1-3 into a document on my computer. I put my thanks list and my devotional Bible study journaling all in one file.

5 Then I save the document on my computer. Then, I email it to myself. Then, I save it on the cloud (like Box, Google Drive, Carbonite.com, etc.).

6 Then, I cut and paste from the document and put my list into its on separate document.

7 Then I save the document on my computer. Then, I email it to myself. Then, I save it on the cloud (like Box, Google Drive, Carbonite.com, etc.).

WHY PRAYER JOURNAL AT ALL?

Can you tell me three things God did in your life on the 10th of last month?

Can you tell me four things God did in your life on 04 April 2012? If it's your birthday or something else that you can remember off the top of your head, pick another date around that time.

Can you tell me what happened on 17 August 2001?

Have I made point #1 yet as to why we should prayer journal?

As to the second point, so Nehemiah 9:16-17 cannot be said about us.

Nehemiah 9:16-17 * Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

16 But our ancestors acted arrogantly;
they became stiff-necked and did not listen to Your commands.
17 They refused to listen
and did not remember Your wonders
You performed among them.
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love,
and You did not abandon them.

{HCSB: Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.}

I want to remember the wonders God has done in my life, don't you? This is the second reason why we should prayer journal.

Another reason why we should prayer journal is because it forces us to slow down and deal with the text. We cannot rush through it.

Another reason to prayer journal is the more you prayer journal, the more God will speak to You and the more you will listen to Him.

And, finally, so we can review later and analyze what we learned well, and still apply to our lives, or learn what we need to work on in our lives.

So, let's prayer journal.

PRAYER JOURNALING LESSON:

Go back to the beginning of this chapter and prayer journal your answers to each of the questions listed.

HOW ARE YOU WITH OFFERING THANKS? IS IT EASY OR HARD?

Is giving thanks something that comes easily to you?

If it is, thank God.

Thanksgiving is not something that comes easily to me. However, that's because I think that's because I didn't fully understand what it is (and still don't in many ways, but I am growing in it) and why we should give Him thanks.

In fact, giving thanks, as I ought to give Him thanks, is a new concept for me. I've tried in the past to do so on a daily basis, and even kept a gratitude journal, but the concept has never fully grabbed me, nor have I understood it better than I do today (and will tomorrow).

I've learned that thanksgiving takes a great deal of constant, purposeful mindfulness in order for me to offer Gog thanks all the time. It's not something I can stop focusing on. It does not come naturally to me. Therefore, I want to immerse myself in thanksgiving. I think it will help me to be more mindful.

So, how about you? Where are you with thanksgiving?

CONTACT ME: LET'S FORM A COMMUNITY

I would love for you to contact me and tell me if you are taking this adventure with me. So, how can you reach me?

Email me at: agodlyvision@gmail.com

Get on my blog at: http://col267.blogspot.com/ and add a comment at the end of any blog post.

Connect with me on my Google+ Community at:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/117051598962837472541?cfem=1

Let's form a community and encourage one another, ask questions, share experiences, and share the thanksgiving we have in and for our lives. Let's share glory sightings!

I bet a community of people offering thanksgiving 24/7 will be a place we can go to and get inspired and offer thanks. The communities can be formed via my blog or the Google+ community.

PRAYER JOURNALING

Add to your thanksgiving list five things you thank God for today.

~ Stacy Duplease