21 Days of Prayer and Fasting With Rock City ChurchSample

DAY 1: GRATITUDE

Read: Romans 11:36; Psalm 118:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:18

As we enter the next 21 days of prayer and fasting, it is important to begin by establishing a proper heart posture. To do that, let’s start by discussing an important spiritual discipline: giving thanks. When you initially consider spiritual disciplines, you may not immediately think of gratitude. But the more we understand its importance and why we are instructed repeatedly to practice it, the more we will begin to see that it is essential for our understanding of God, as well as our relationship with Him.

If we believe Romans 11:36 which states that everything is from Him, exists by His power, and is intended for His glory, then our ability to exercise gratitude ultimately reveals what we believe about the goodness of God. His evident goodness in creation not only makes plain His invisible attributes, but should naturally evoke within us a sense of gratitude. Inversely, when we withhold our thanks, we are allowing ourselves to doubt the very nature of God.

By cultivating a posture of gratitude, we affirm in our minds and hearts who God is and His will for our lives. When we believe in His goodness, our gratitude becomes our worship, and our thankfulness serves as our praise.

PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You, not only for who You are, but for revealing Your goodness to me through the beauty and complexity of creation. Would you cultivate within my heart a posture of gratitude and help me to acknowledge that everything I have is from You, and that You alone deserve all the glory?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. What are you most grateful for?

2. What area of your life might you be taking credit for, rather than giving God the glory?

3. What is something that you used to thank God for that you no longer do? Why might that be?