Sacred Prayer - a 5-Day Reading PlanSample

Faith sees how there is much to give thanks for now—which gives much hope and deepens much trust for the future, because the same loving God, who is giving grace upon grace now, will faithfully come with grace upon grace in the future too.

The truth is: You will discover the strength to live through today’s crisis, and tomorrow’s crisis, and every crisis coming—because just as you can build a memory muscle as you exercise, you can build a gratitude muscle that builds a strong trust in God.

Developing a muscle memory when you exercise means you’ve worked and practiced a motion so often that your body “remembers” what to do, how to move. So it too is possible to faithfully strengthen your gratitude muscle, so your soul remembers what to do in crisis: Do doxology. Give thanks. Build a strong trust in God, who will always provide more than enough grace for the challenges of every single day. . . .

When you flex your doxology muscle day in and day out, your soul remembers what to do in heartbreak. The most important way to prepare for suffering is to be prepared to give thanks. Because even when we don’t know what is coming up ahead, we prepare to keep turning to God, coming to God in thanks, because we trust, with all our hearts, that He still calls us beloved, that He still loves us with all His heart. We may not know what tomorrow holds, or what the road ahead of us holds—but when Jesus is our road, we know our road will hold and that Jesus holds us. How can we not give thanks?

Every time we remember to give thanks—God remembers all our broken places and gives us true joy, as we give Him true thanks.

The bottom-line truth is: We don’t wait till we’re joyful to be grateful, since being grateful . . . is what makes us joyful.

Gratitude isn’t merely the way we feel some of the time; gratitude is the way we frame all of our lives. Thankfulness is more than a wave of emotion; it’s a posture for our living.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I have taken many of Your blessings for granted, but I come to You now with a repentant heart that seeks to be in Your constant presence. Thank You for loving me and for showing Yourself to me. Amen.

For more about Ann Voskamp and Sacred Prayer :

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