Dear Heavenly Father, Holy, Just, Merciful, Good,

We think back to the first Thanksgiving and imagine that times were uncertain and scarcity was not uncommon. We understand that relationships – both long-standing and new – were sometimes fragile due to differing perspectives and a feeling of living worlds apart. We know that good lives had been lost and were missed by those remaining. How familiar it seems.

And not just then, but through the history of this nation who, a rarity among nations, marks a special day of thanks to their Creator, we have paused amid the clamor of the amazing and common, hopeless and miraculous, and terrible and precious to give thanks.

So on this day spent around a common table, we thank You for food. As we think of cold months arriving, we thank you for shelter; for shelter from nature’s storms and life’s storms both. We thank you for Your comfort in distress and sadness. We thank you for celebrations. We thank you for saving us from the horror of sin, both our own and that of others. We thank you for people all around us, people made in Your Image, and the humor and kindness they show.

For You, Dearest Father, are in all of life. There is nothing hidden. And though times change, human experience varies in some ways, but in others is not so different after all. And You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. And we love You. And we are indebted to You for all of life’s goodness and protection in this present darkness. And we thank you.

In Jesus’ kind and blessed Name,

Amen.

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Dear Heavenly Father,

We most often think of things we see and events we experience when we give thanks. Well-loved places and people come to mind when we list our gratefulness. But, Father, our thankfulness must be wider and deeper, for beyond all of these are the invisible things from Your hand. Your love, of course. Yet more: Grace, Patience, Forgiveness, Discipline, Comfort, and Mercy.

We thank you for revealing evil to us so that we can see good more clearly. Thank you for pricking our conscience so that we can kneel in repentance. It’s not a punishment. It’s a gift. Thank you for teaching us courage. Thank you for the sense of Your Holiness in moments of quiet. Your patience is beyond our understanding. Your mercy – wider and deeper than we can grasp.

You never fail. You are faithful always. And, our dearest God, this day we are grateful for You in all of Your perfection and beauty. We give this day and all days to You, for You and You alone deserve all praise.

In Jesus’ Name

Amen

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Dear Heavenly Father,

In a time when we anticipate want in our futures and feel concern in our present, we look to You, because we remember how good You are in both good and hard times: How it was Your hand that parted the Red Sea when the enemy was bearing down on Your people; How it was Your presence that calmed the lions while Daniel was in their den; and how it was Your voice that cast out demons at Gadarenes.

We reflect on our lives – how You have been with us from the very beginning, from Day one. You’ve healed us when we were sick and some of us when we would have died but for You. You’ve rescued us from danger, both known and unawares. You’ve given us work to do and homes to delight in. Your creation calls to us to marvel and calms us when we need it.

When we are alone, You sit with us. We keep company together. And when crowds surround us, You are with us still. You call us by name. You teach us in all the kinds of places and people and times we encounter. Wisdom, understanding, discernment – bit by bit, slowly, but surely we learn.

You are so very, very good, Father. And we come just now to thank You. Thank You for history. Thank You for our past. Thank You for the present times when our faith can grow and we can see how bright the light of Your presence shines in the darkness. And thank You for an unknown future. All we need to know is that You’ll be there.

We lift Your Name above every Name. You are great and loving and merciful and good. Your judgements are righteous. And You, oh our Dear Lord and Father, You are our very breath.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Dearest Father,

Who was there the very moment we came into

being and knew what we would look like and how

we would think – could think;

Who watches us with care and insight, pleasure and sadness; great mercy and love;

Who anticipates our stumbles and successes;

Who measures our years and the minutes of our days;

Who sees our sins and hears our excuses;

Whose holiness we offend and Whose grace we dismiss;

To You, Father,

Of light and redemption and hope and delight and creation;

Of the tenderness of a mother and the encouraging discipline of a father;

Of knowledge beyond our comprehension;

Of unfathomable wisdom;

Of indescribable love;

Of mercy that travels deeper than the ocean and higher than the heavens;

Of presence;

We give thanks. No matter where we find ourselves nor when, You are there. You are there in good and bad circumstances. You are there when we are with friends, and You are there when we are among strangers, and You are there when we are alone. And when we pray, whether we sense it or not, You are there. You hear. Of all things great and small, the best of all is Your presence. For there is nothing good in our lives nor in this world that does not originate from Your hand. All abundance, all comfort in want, all beauty seen and felt and understood is from Our Heavenly Father.

And on this Thanksgiving Day we bring our small words of thanks to the Source of every blessing, and in great thankfulness for Your Presence.

In Jesus’ mighty and gracious Name,

Amen.

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Scratchy crunch of deadened leaves;

Musky scents of garden’s past;

Fading blues and reds and greens;

Shadows’ longer-reaching cast.

Spicy ciders, chocolate hot;

Comfort foods and pies and cake;

Fudge with nuts or maybe not;

Laden tables we can take.

Cozy fires with dancing flames

Mesmerize our dreams and thought;

Sweet traditions, years the same;

Sure reminders we were taught.

Heart’s desire is to express

In a place of grateful prayer

God’s abundance, His goodness;

And His kind and gentle care.

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Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank you for life from first to final breath, from parents’ delight to loved ones’ sorrow. And in all the days between: in the warm and easy days of goodness and contentment, in the harsh and frigid days of crushed spirit and lost hope, in the exhuberant days of learning new things, in the stumbling days of confusion and disappointment; in all of our days we give You thanks for life, itself.

We thank You for sustenance. For food, whether plentiful or insufficient; for enjoyable or pitiable shelter, in all degrees of health and comfort we are grateful. For it is by Your hand every help is given.

We thank You for good things, knowing that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. You, Father, are the One who loves His children – His creation – with a love that is beyond mere words of expression. That love desires not just good, but best. It wants more than we ask for ourselves and guides us to trust.

So on this Thanksgiving Day whether we are with loved ones or alone, we ask more than anything the pleasure of Your company, and we thank You for the many things You give whether we see and understand them or whether we are unaware of them. And until the day when all the world raises its voice in praise to You, we will praise You and thank You wherever we are and in whatever state we find ourselves. We. Love. You!

In the blessed and generous Name of Jesus,

Amen

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