Every morning I feed heifers with our skidsteer. Trekking out to the shed to retrieve it, I plunk down in the seat and, getting comfortable, reach for the roll bar that keeps me safe, snugly positioned across my lap. Firing up the skidsteer, I flip the lights on and back out of the shed.
Driving over to the silage bags, I lift my eyes to the sky, and on a clear, predawn morning, the stars twinkle back at me. I’m in my Prayer Chair and greet the Lord. While I feed, I pray. Depending on the needs of the day, I either beseech Him for help or thank Him for answered prayer. Usually both. It’s personal, the specifics of the exchange between my Father and me, but I want to share with you the mode of the conversation, especially during Thanksgiving.
Heavenly Father: Thank You for a fresh, new day. I thank You that I’m here in this place, at this time. Thank You for giving me my dear husband to share life with, working through trials and tribulations and sharing joys and delights together. I thank You that together, we are in a process of growing closer to You each day. Keep us focused on You. Keep us humble.
Thank You for our three children, and how you put us all together so amazingly. What a journey! Thank You for allowing us the awesome privilege of parenting. Give us wisdom, Lord. Keep us open to Your direction. I’m thankful our way of life has taught our kids how to work, for with a good work ethic a lesson of humility is learned. Help them always to remember to Whom they belong.
I thank You for this farm and the way it provides for us. Thank You for the good crops the farmers harvested this summer and fall. We don’t have more than we need, we have just enough. Thank You for providing moisture and sun during the growing season and for keeping our crops secure during the storms. Thank You for sending Your angels for protection as we called them forth in the Name of Jesus. Thank You for giving us that right as children of God, that we may, as heirs of the Kingdom, employ their help in our time of need.
Thank You for sending Your Son, born of a Virgin, Who lived here on this earth sinless, breathed the air, and ate and drank and experienced humanity in every form, then died and rose again for our sins. Thank You for the hope of the resurrection. You love us so much it takes my breath away and leaves me humbled. The message of Your saving grace is for all of us, the simplicity of it is so profound. Rich, poor, black, white, it doesn’t matter; You don’t look at who we are or what we have, You love us simply because we are Yours.
Fill me up to overflow so that I may over flow You to others. Help me be authentic and real in my faith so that people see Your love in me. It’s not about me, it’s all about You, Jesus. Help me always to get out of my strength and get into Yours, for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
For the fortitude of Phil Robertson’s faith and the bravery he has gained through his faith in You, I thank You, Lord. He and his family share the gospel of Jesus Christ with millions of people through the Duck Dynasty episodes and how they conduct themselves. By their example and love for You, people are coming to know You in a more personal way. Phil Robertson has drawn a line in the sand, Lord, and refuses to buckle under secular pressure and for that I am so grateful. What a testimony to the goodness of God! What an example for us to follow!
Thank You, Father, for the men and women of the armed services who guard our great country and keep us safe, allowing us the freedoms that have been earned so selflessly and with great sacrifice. Bless them, Lord.
You have told us not to be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to You. You have promised, therefore, that Your peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Humbly, I thank You, Lord, for answered prayer, for Your constant presence and especially so in our time of deepest need.
Now to Him who is able, I give all the glory and praise and honor and thanksgiving as I offer this small prayer sitting in my Prayer Chair feeding Your heifers on our little borrowed piece of Your earth. Thank You, Father. In Your precious Son’s Name I pray. Amen.
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