thanksgiving

Saturday, August 24, 2013 (7:42 a.m.)

Grumble, Growl, Snarl, Hiss, Boo,

Honest to YOU that's my heart at this moment! You have given me blessing after blessing and still I persist in the negatives. How will it ever change? Or will it?

Talk to me Father. I truly ask You here to straighten me out!

For the better part of two hours much earlier, my plan was to come out here and go through the motions. I was going to put on a happy face and fake my way through this. Why would I want to pretend with You?

The phrases, “Act as if” and “Fake it 'til you make it” come to mind. Is that really something You would ever have me do? You are good. True. Loving. Kind. Would You really have me pretend? Talk to me Father. Straighten me out I pray.

Thank You Father! I ask. Honestly. And You answer. With Truth. Your Truth. The Truth of Your Word. The Truth of the ages!

Searching “Life Recovery Topical Index” I was looking for 'pretense' and found “PROMISES”. Reading the lengthy list that followed, I saw “Step 11 – Finding God”. Turning to Psalm 105, I was again reminded to “Thank the Lord for all the glorious things He does” (v.1a).

Much earlier this morning I had been wholeheartedly singing of all I was going to do, left over from yesterday's unfinished prayer. My plan was to ♫enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart; enter His courts with praise; say, “this is the day that the Lord hath made”; rejoice, for He hath made me glad♫

Each one of those sentiments was based on something I was going to do. ♫I will...♫ Thank You Father for reminding me that it's by seeking 'through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out' (Step 11, of 12). It's not through my own power and strength that I get to love You as I do. It's because of Your love for each of us.

I confess to getting caught up in mistakes of the past. There's all the woulda, coulda, shoulda's that seem to compound daily when left unchecked. I look in this Psalm, reading the comments below and am reminded that I am not the only person to “grow impatient with our slow progress”.

As I sit here, brought nearly to tears once again by records of Your goodness and grace, how I truly thank You for all You have done in my life. I absolutely seek You for the strength I need today. And I wholeheartedly ask You to fulfill Your promises of hope and victory.

You are so incredibly good. Why I insist on allowing my focus to be taken off that Truth I will never truly know. Thank You for reminding me! Thank You for all the glorious things You do! Thank You for being my God. My Father. My very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

Thank You for Your promises to listen when we pray (Jeremiah 29:12) and to be found when we seek and look for You in earnest (v. 13). Deuteronomy 4:29-31 affirms this Truth. The words jumping off the page right here are “and listen to what He tells you” (v. 31b). This is where I desperately need Your help Dearest Dad! It's not only in the listening that I have trouble. It's in the hearing and the obeying as well.

Have Your way with me this day. Empower me to Your good and to Your glory. I love You. I long for that to be evident in all I say and do this day. Be my focus. Let ♫the things of earth growing strangely dim In the light of Jesus' glory and grace♫

Thank You for the privilege of being honest in Your presence. I love You. Amen.

(662 words ~ 8:53 a.m.)