A Prayer of Thanksgiving
For many of us, we’ll be spending time this week gathering with family and friends for a time of eating and celebrating. We’ll enjoy delicious meals and have conversations with family members whom we perhaps haven’t seen for quite some time. The occasion, of course, will be the Thanksgiving holiday. Scripture certainly calls for us to be a thankful people (Ps. 106:1). I wonder, though, how often we go through the motions of the holiday without actually experiencing genuine thanksgiving to the One who is infinitely worthy. As we survey the origin of Thanksgiving, and consider a biblical framework for thankfulness, my hope is that you will begin to experience an overflow of Christ-centered, grace-empowered gratitude and gladness to the one, true, and living God.
The National Origin of Thanksgiving
The origin of thanksgiving in the United States really began in the year 1621. It was the previous year, 1620, when a group of 102 individuals from England, known as Pilgrims, traveled the very difficult two-month journey across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, which we now know as the United States of America. Some in that group were Christian separatists, which included radical Puritan parents, seeking religious freedom from the church of England.
However, because they landed in present-day Massachusetts, in the harsh winter of December, while lacking food and resources, half of the group were dead by Spring. Those who survived, with the help of the native Americans, were able to plant crops and reap a small harvest. So, to express their thankfulness to God, the pilgrims declared a three-day feast in that year, which marked the very first thanksgiving festival in what would later become America.
From there, about a century and a half later, George Washington, our nation’s first President, following a resolution of Congress, proclaimed that Thursday the 26th of November, 1789, would be a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” (Read the entire 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation here.)
Fast forwarding to the year 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a thanksgiving proclamation, after acknowledging the blessings of God in the midst of the civil war, saying:
“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.” (Read the entire 1863 Thanksgiving and Praise Proclamation here.)
And for the next 75 years presidents followed Lincoln’s example by declaring a National Day of Thanksgiving, every year, until 1941, when Congress permanently established that day to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. So, as we think about the origin of the Thanksgiving holiday, whether we’re talking about the celebration of the Pilgrims, or Washington’s proclamation, or Lincoln’s passionate exhortation, throughout the history of our nation, the motivation for thankfulness has been God and the blessings of His gracious provision.
The Biblical Precedence for Thanksgiving
From a biblical perspective, the concept of thankfulness absolutely permeates the pages of Scripture. Beginning in the Old Testament, for example, we find Moses leading the Israelites in a song of thanksgiving (Ex. 15:1-18). In Leviticus, we discover the establishment of feasts, which were instituted for the people of God to join together in celebration for all of God’s gracious provision in their lives (Lev. 23). In addition, the Psalms are also saturated with thankfulness to God (Ps. 92:1, 100:4).
From there, we likewise see how the call to express thankfulness is found in the New Testament as well. Paul exhorts the church of Colossae to “…be thankful”, to minister to one another “with thankfulness in (their) hearts to God”, and in all things to “give thanks to God the Father through (Christ)” (Col. 3:15-17). But the way we most often see this admonition to give thanks to God, expressed in the New Testament, is through prayer. Philippians 4:6 provides a good example of this, saying:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
We see thanksgiving included in the types of prayers listed in Paul’s instructions to Timothy (1 Tim. 2:1). And, finally, Paul explains to the church of Thessalonica that rejoicing at all times, being constant in prayer, and giving thanks in all circumstances is actually “the will of God in Christ Jesus” for genuine believers (1 Thess. 5:16-18). So, from both a biblical and historical perspective, we can clearly see the concept of thankfulness to God, which flows from a genuine heart of gratitude. The question is, where does this heart of gratitude originate? As sinful human beings who are born selfish, ungrateful, and discontent, a genuine heart of gratitude is certainly not something that comes naturally to us. Therefore, I believe our Lord has provided us with a helpful guide.
A Theological Framework for Thanksgiving
Although it’s often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer”, the guidance Christ provides to his disciples in Matthew 6:9-13, came in the midst of teaching them the difference between a dead religion and a devoted relationship with the living God of the universe. Interestingly, contrary to popular opinion, Jesus never said, “Repeat this prayer after me,” or “Pray using these exact words.” That was never the point. Rather, Jesus was providing his disciples with a model for prayer. And, as we’ll see, the very foundation of this model prayer is the thankfulness we should have in our hearts as the people of God.
Thankfulness for God’s Character
Jesus begins this model prayer, in verse 9, by acknowledging the character and identity of God. He says there:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
So, notice, first of all, that Jesus points to the reality of who God is, in relation to His children who are seeking Him in prayer. When we pray, as genuine believers in Jesus Christ, we’re not petitioning a distant deity. We’re not talking to a God whom we do not know. Rather, we’re praying to our heavenly Father, who loves us and who has demonstrated that love by sending His Son into the world to live and die in our place (Jn. 3:16). Therefore, there is no fear in coming to Him, for He loves us!
Simultaneously, we acknowledge the second aspect of what Jesus says about God’s identity, which is that He is “hallowed.” This is a word that means “holy” which is to say that God’s very being and nature is supremely and uniquely His, in all of its glory, honor, majesty, and splendor. So, yes, God is our Father, and His accessibility, compassion, and mercy, in relation to us, is reflected in that. But at the same time, in His holiness, He is infinitely beyond the greatest weight of glory we can even begin to comprehend.
Therefore, our Father deserves the greatest honor and reverence in the way we think about Him, the way we speak of Him and to Him, and in the way we live our lives before Him. So, we should be a people who are unbelievably thankful for the reality that this holy God is now our Father, which has only been made possible through the cross of Jesus Christ. And, we must approach Him with that awe-inspiring awareness in mind.
Thankfulness for God’s Kingdom
Jesus continues, in verse 10, saying:
“Your kingdom come,”
Consider how different this is than how we often pray. I’ll be the first to admit it. Too often, my prayer sounds like, “Father, please be with me and help me…”. But Jesus calls our attention to the fact that the focus of our prayers should be seen through the sphere of his Kingdom. This Kingdom, which God continually described in the Old Testament, through His prophets, was inaugurated at the incarnation of Jesus Christ. As Jesus entered the world in flesh in blood, so too did the dawning of the Kingdom. And it was this Kingdom which was at the heart of Christ’s message. The gospel is the message of the Kingdom. It’s the good news that Jesus has entered our darkness, taken our punishment upon himself, and through his resurrection, accomplished the work needed to transfer us into the Kingdom of his light (Col. 1:13-14).
Therefore, not only is Jesus sitting upon his throne at the right of the Father, today, reigning in heaven and in the hearts of his people, but there is also coming a day when Christ’s millennial Kingdom will physically reign upon the earth as well. So, in thankfulness to God for this Kingdom, of which we are now citizens, we pray for its advancement and its appearing.
Thankfulness for God’s Will
At the end of verse 10, Jesus continues this model prayer, saying:
“Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
This is the pledge of allegiance to Christ’s Kingdom on earth. As believers, we live in the realm of the already and the not yet. God’s perfect plan of redemption is being carried out in time and space, as the gospel message goes forth and the Kingdom advances, but it requires us as citizens and ambassadors to submit to His will both in our hearts and in the world.
Therefore, this next aspect of the way our prayers should be modeled has to do with the daily, hourly, and minute-by-minute, crucifying of our flesh. The unredeemed flesh still continually seeks to climb the throne of self-exaltation, but according to God’s Spirit within us, we are called to deny the will of the flesh, and through faith, trust in the perfect wisdom and revealed will of God. So, to continually pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, both with our lips and with our hearts, is to be actively submitting our own wills to His plan and purpose, as it is revealed in His Word.
We see this act of submission demonstrated by Jesus, himself, in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:38-39). Although he wrestled with the Father’s will, we know that Jesus submitted to it and went on to drink the bitter cup of God’s wrath, down to the very last drop, as he surrendered his life to suffer in our place. And that is where our thankfulness comes from, as we pray for this in our lives, and in the lives of our children. It’s not from a heart of obligation, but from a heart of devotion; it’s from a heart of gratitude. Our hearts should overflow in Christ-centered thankfulness for the will of God to crush His own Son in our place and for the Son’s willingness to accomplish it.
Thankfulness for God’s Provision
Looking now to verse 11, Jesus continues his model praying, saying:
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
This aspect is not just a petition, but it’s also an affirmation. We’re expressing our dependence upon God as our heavenly Father, to provide for the needs of each day and to sustain us by His good and gracious hand. In that way, we should be humbly acknowledging our dependence upon Him and praying that our physical needs be supplied. But at the same time, we can also think of this in terms of God’s spiritual provision for us as well. As Jesus declared in John 6:51:
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
So, when we receive our daily bread, including the wonderful meals we will enjoy this Thanksgiving, we should acknowledge and appreciate that provision. But we should also see the deeper significance of God’s spiritual provision through the giving of His Son, Jesus Christ. Because while food must be continually received for nourishment, Christ, who is the bread of life, has been offered up on our behalf, and he will nourish us spiritually, both now, and for all of eternity.
Thankfulness for God’s Forgiveness
That leads us to verse 12, as Jesus continues, saying:
“and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Here, Jesus points us to both the problem and the solution of our spiritual need. In other words, food is an example of our most basic physical need, as human beings, because we need food to survive. But from a spiritual perspective, the need supplied by the bread of life is not a full stomach, but a forgiven soul. As the Psalmist proclaims:
“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Ps. 32:1-2).
So first and foremost, we are a thankful people because of the forgiveness that’s been granted to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our sins have been forgiven and our debt has been paid. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). But then secondly, as citizens of God’s kingdom, this also means that we live in the realm of forgiveness. We live a lifestyle of repentance, depending upon the mercy and grace of God to continually forgive and cleanse us from sin (1 Jn. 1:9). Notice, though, that it’s not just about our own sin. Jesus’ prayer example goes a step further than that. And it essentially says this: “Lord, let the extent of our forgiveness, the forgiveness you grant to us, today, be on the same level as the forgiveness we have extended to others.”
The idea is this: a person who has truly been forgiven, and who understands the depth of God’s grace shown to them through the gospel of Jesus Christ, has a heart that has been transformed. And, that transformed heart and life overflows in forgiveness to others. Therefore, if we are withholding forgiveness toward another, or struggling to forgive someone else for the offense they’ve committed against us, we need to look no further than the cross to see how great a debt the Lord has forgiven us. As the Puritan writer Thomas Manton once said,
“There is none so tender to others as they which have received mercy themselves, for they know how gently God hath dealt with them.”[1]
We should be a thankful people because of the forgiveness of God, both for the forgiveness we have received and for the desire we’ve been given to forgive.
Thankfulness for God’s Protection
That brings us to the final aspect of Jesus’ model prayer, as our Lord continues, saying:
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
As we consider this aspect of Jesus’ prayer under the shadow of the cross, we realize that Jesus is not referring to physical protection. There’s certainly nothing wrong with praying for God to protect you and your family, but often times, physical protection is where the primary focus of our prayers end. Contrary to the way we so often pray, however, this model prayer is not focused on our physical safety or happiness; it’s aimed at our holiness.
So, this is another plea for God to provide us with something we do not naturally have. It’s a prayer for protection, not from physical danger, but from spiritual rebellion. As citizens of Christ’s kingdom, we want to avoid, at all costs, even the possibility of rebelling against our King. He is our Lord and Savior and God, and our desire is to give him honor and adoration, but sin is diametrically opposed to that desire. So, as we acknowledge our great need for the protection and deliverance that can only be provided by our loving heavenly Father, we are thankful for the protection He provides, by His grace.
The Biblical Response of Thanksgiving
Therefore, as we consider who God is and what He has done for us through His Son, I want to encourage us to see this prayer model of Jesus as a framework for our thanksgiving. As we reflect upon the gospel of Jesus Christ and seek the Lord in prayer, thankfulness should fill our hearts, permeate our lives, and pour forth from our lips. My prayer for you and your family is that genuine thanksgiving would abound in your lives, not just during this week of the Thanksgiving holiday, but today and every day. As Paul exhorts believers in 1 Thessalonians 5:18:
“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
References:
[1] Manton, Thomas. The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, D.D.: With a Memoir of the Author. (United Kingdom: J. Nisbet & Company, 1870) 184.