The Prayer of Thanksgiving and Praise

In Philippians 4:6, Paul says we must do everything by “prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving” (emphasis added). We tend to read right past those two words, but they are vital to our prayer experience. Thanksgiving is a way of expressing worship, not only thanking Him for who He is, which is a primary thing we must do, but it’s also thanking Him for what He has done and is doing for us. What’s important to grasp here is that giving thanks and praise in prayer is actually a deep expression of faith. This kind of worship is like saying, “God, regardless of what I see, regardless of my circumstances, You are God. I am not. I trust You. I praise You.” It’s when we do as Paul and Silas did in Acts 16 after they had been beaten and locked in the innermost dungeon. Though their feet were in stocks, they sang praises to God with no idea what their future held. They knew only who held their future, and He miraculously delivered them.

Praising God in prayer when life doesn’t make sense and we don’t understand doesn’t minimize or deny what we are going through. Instead, it redirects our focus to who God is. We are giving thanks to God for responding to the prayer we are currently offering up. We are thanking Him for the answer and for moving in our lives, for delivering, healing, and restoring us. Whatever petition we’re giving to Him, we thank God that He hears and cares for us, and then we worship Him for bringing the desired outcome. That is one of the strongest prayers of faith that can be prayed.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful to Him, and bless His name. —Psalm 100:4, MEV