“In His praying, as well as in every aspect of life, Jesus was consciously seeking the glory of His Father. That is why He could say at the end of His ministry, ‘I have glorified You on the earth’ (John 17:4). “
Henry Blackaby, Experiencing Prayer With Jesus, p. 135
Please read the first blog post entitled “Why Fast?” This explains what fasting is and why we follow Jesus in this spiritual discipline as together we seek the heart of God.
Each day during our 21 Days, we will focus on one part of the ACTS prayer acronym – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. We will spend between 3-5 days on each part of the ACTS prayer acronym. Each devotion will take less than ten minutes of your time.
We want to encourage you to grab a journal or a notebook – something to write on as you walk through each devotional. Yes, it will add a few minutes to the time it takes to do the devotion, and it will also deepen your experience and shape your walk with God for years to come. This journal or notebook will be a keepsake to remind you of God’s faithfulness during this challenging season for all of us.
Thanksgiving
Engage the Word
Read Colossians 3:14-17
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Love is the most important of the all virtues (“above all”), and it ties all the other virtues together (v. 14). It is the first of the fruit of the Spirit and the other virtues follow—joy (Col. 3:16), peace (Col. 3:15), patience, gentleness, kindness, and meekness (Col. 3:12).
When love rules in our lives, it unites all these spiritual virtues resulting in beauty, harmony and oneness, which is a significant indicator of spiritual maturity. And this posture of life puts us in a much better frame of mind and heart to be grateful, fueling a life of worship that results in “spiritual songs” from the heart – full of thankfulness!
The fullness of Christ comes from an overflow of His peace and His word and His name, resulting in our thankfulness. Verse 15 ends with the most direct of this list of exhortations to thankfulness, “And be thankful.” Literally, it means, “become thankful,” because we are to keep on striving each day for a deeper gratitude than we had the day before.
Reflect on the Truth
- Think for a moment about those people in your life who are difficult to love. Write down a few names. How does reflecting on this passage shine some light on the value of loving even those difficult people?
- God uses difficult people in our lives for His purposes – for our good and His glory. As you think about allowing “the peace of Christ to rule in your hearts” and Paul’s exhortation to “be thankful”, ask the Holy Spirit to bring this peace to rule in your heart, and express thankfulness even for those difficult people in your life.
- What is God teaching you about gratitude and thankfulness?
Depend on the Spirit
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the deeper longings, desires or motives in your heart that those thoughts are pointing to. (For example: you may write down, “My mind can’t even begin to comprehend all of your wondrous works, and even as I’m trying to think about them, I’m reminded of all of the distractions and disappointments of life. I need your help.”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His word, His Spirit, His people.
For Prayer
Today, pray for the families of Ascent Church. Pray that each family would grow in love and gratitude toward one another, in unity and oneness, that marriages would be strengthened and that relationships between parents and children would grow stronger. Pray also for those who are single, divorced or widowed – that they would live lives of gratitude and thankfulness.
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Content from these devotionals has been adapted from various resources, including The Bible Speaks Today commentary series by John Stott, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary by Derek Kidner, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary by Tremper Longman and others.
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