A prayer for gratitude and Thanksgiving by Debbie McDaniel, read by Leah Martin.

Oh come let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.

For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods.

Psalm 95. 1 through 3.

We have so much to be grateful for in this life

each and every day, but reality is that sometimes constant life demands, struggles, and

worries give more room to defeat than to a heart of things. Or we forget in the midst of busyness and pressures just to pause and

give thanks for all that God has done and continues to do in our lives.

Sometimes it really is a sacrifice to offer praise and thanks.

We may not feel like it.

We're struggling.

We're weary, or maybe we feel like he let us down.

We think God seems distant like he's far away or doesn't really care about what's troubling us.

Painful life blows and losses might have recently sent us spiraling.

But here's what can make a lasting difference.

We have a choice every day to give him thanks.

And with a heart of Thanksgiving,

we realize that no matter what we face, God doesn't just work to change our situations and help us through our problems.

He does more. He changes our hearts. His power through hearts of gratitude and minds focused on

him releases the grip that our struggles have over us. We're strengthened by his peace and refueled by his joy.

Let's pray.

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