The Power of Being Thankful: 365 Devotions for Discovering the Strength of Gratitude (21 page)

Everything about our spiritual lives depends on our personal faith in God and our personal relationship with Him. We can enjoy that relationship because Jesus’ death on the cross gives us free, unhindered access to our heavenly Father. And our faith makes it possible for us to have an intimate, dynamic relationship with Him.

Thankfully, we as ordinary human beings have free access to God at any time through prayer. It is exciting to know we can approach the Creator of the universe boldly without reservations, without fear—and with complete freedom. God loves you and wants a personal relationship with you—how awesome is that! Personal faith in God opens the door to unlimited help from Him.

Thank You, Father, that I can have a personal relationship with You. Today I come boldly before Your throne of grace, with more than just requests and petitions; I come to you full of gratitude for all that You have done in my life.

Love respects the differences in other people. A selfish person expects everyone to be just the way he is and to like whatever he likes, but love appreciates the differences we all have.

Respecting individual rights is very important. If God wanted us to all be alike, He would not have given each of us a different set of fingerprints—we are all created equal, but we are still different.

We all have different gifts and talents, different likes and dislikes, different goals in life—these things make us unique, and we should be grateful for them. Love respects those differences. The person who loves has learned to give freedom to those he loves. Freedom is one of the greatest gifts we can give. It is what Jesus came to give us, and we must also give it to others.

I am thankful, Father, that You created us all uniquely. Help me to value the differences of others, and help me to love them just like You do.

We must not use our personal problems as an excuse to be grouchy and unloving with other people. Always remember that we overcome evil with good. This is why it is so important that we trust God, and while we are waiting on a change in our circumstances, we should remember to do good, do good, and do good!

In the Bible, the apostle Paul shares how even in times when he was suffering, he believed that God would take care of those things that he entrusted to Him (see 2 Timothy 1:12–14). We can be grateful that, like Paul, we are called to give our problems to God and refuse to worry.

A simple formula for victory is trust God, don’t worry, do good, and keep meditating on and confessing God’s Word, because God’s Word is the weapon we have been given by which we can overcome evil and do good.

Thank You, Father, that no matter what I may be going through, You give me opportunities to do good for those around me. I don’t have to focus on myself; I can choose to help others. Let me be an encouragement and a blessing to someone today.

Jesus not only loves to teach us—corporately—how to pray (see Matthew 6:9–13), He also loves to work with us as individuals. He wants to take us just the way we are, helping each of us discover our own rhythm of prayer and develop a style of prayer that maximizes our personal relationship with Him.

We can be grateful that God is far too creative to teach every person on earth to interact with Him through prayer in exactly the same way. He is the one who designed us all differently and delights in our distinctiveness. Of course, there are “prayer principles” that apply to all believers, but God leads each of us as individuals. Don’t feel pressure to pray exactly like someone else. If you pray as the Lord leads you, you’ll be amazed at the change it will make in your prayer life.

Father, I’m depending on You to teach me how to pray. Thank You for gifting me with my own personal and distinct way of communicating. Help me to use what You have given me as I spend time with You in my daily prayer life.

If we want to enjoy peaceful relationships, we will be wise to follow Jesus’ example. He was accused of wrongdoing regularly, yet never once did He attempt to defend Himself. He wasn’t bothered by what other people thought of Him; it did not disturb Him at all.

Jesus could do so because He knew who He was. He did not have a problem with His self-image. He was not trying to prove anything. He trusted His heavenly Father to vindicate Him, and, thankfully, we can do the same. It adds a lot of peace to our lives when we realize that God is our true defense, and we can remain calm while He deals with anyone who falsely accuses us.

Father, I desire to live in healthy, peaceful relationships. Thank You for the example of Jesus that shows me I don’t have to defend myself. You are my vindication, and that is all I need.