Psalms 100:4-5 NKJV
“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”
INSIGHT
–Thanksgiving to God is a way to express gratitude for His nature and the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Thanksgiving is a form of worship and a way to respond to God’s unchanging nature. The Psalmist in Psalm 107:1, extorts us to give thanks to God saying, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” As we enter the Lord’s gates this year, let us develop a culture of giving thanks to God for He is worthy of all our praise.
PRAYER
We give thanks to You Lord our God for You are Good and Your steadfast love endures forever. We enter Your gates with thanksgiving for You are good and Your mercies endures forever. Dear Lord Jesus we thank You for Your love and mercy upon us. Thank You for Your nature is love. We love You Precious Holy Spirit, thank You for loving us first. We enter Your gates this year with thanksgiving in our hearts and Your courts with praise. We declare that Only You deserve to be worshipped and praised. We humbly ask You to forgive us all our sins and iniquities and cleanse us with Your precious blood. May You protect us from political unrest and save our nation from war. May You have mercy on our nation and heal our land. May You heal our nation spiritually, economically, politically, socially and in every other way. We raise Your altar in this nation dear Lord Jesus and ask that You sprinkle Your precious blood upon us, Your blood that speaks better things than that of Abel. Only You dear Jesus will be worshipped and honored in this nation. We worship You and magnify Your name, and it is in Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen
Further reading: 1 Chronicles 16:34
Colossians 3:15-17 NKJV
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
INSIGHT
–Jesus promises us in John 14:27 that, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” Jesus grants us His peace that “passes all understanding to guard our minds and hearts” (Philippians 4:7). It is critical then for believers to be thankful to God for the peace and serenity we experience in the Lord through His grace of salvation. God calls us to be thankful in everything for none can add a single hour to their lives (Matthew 6:27).
PRAYER
Abba Father our lives are in Your hands. In You Lord our God, we put our trust. Thank You for giving us peace in our lives and nation. We trust in You dear Jesus confidently knowing that You will never put us to shame, nor let our enemies triumph over us. No one who hopes in You will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. May You help us and save us. May You save the nation of DRC Congo from criminal gangs who are tormenting and killing them. May You save all the war-torn countries in the world and save them. May Your peace that surpasses all human understanding continually reign in our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
Further reading: Psalms 25:1-3, Psalms 31:14-15
Philippians 4:4-6 NKJV
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”
INSIGHT
–Perpetual rejoicing is a call to all people. Rejoicing in the Lord negates every form of anxiety and fear that slowly creeps into our hearts given certain situations. The day before yesterday I saw a dream that our country Kenya had gone into a situation of political unrest. The government had shut down the social media platforms for a month and the gen z rebelled. Nationwide curfews were instituted and the military was deployed to establish dictator rulership. This gave me goosebumps, but I have hope since we have been praying for this our beloved nation, God will vindicate us. On Wednesday last week, the president of South Sudan ordered an immediate shut down social media platforms sighting mounting violence in the country. The minister of ICT in Kenya is threatening to follow the same route if the security is threatened. Let each one of us pray for this nation that God may continually protect us and grant us peace. Let us also rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to Him like king Jehoshaphat and the citizens of Judah and Jerusalem did, and the Lord fought for them against Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir.
PRAYER
We praise You our Lord our God in the beauty of holiness, for Your mercies endures forever. We give thanks to You Lord due to Your righteousness, and sing praises to Your name our Lord, Most High. We thank You for the peace we continue to enjoy in our nation. May You cleanse us and our nation with Your precious blood from every sin and iniquity that we have committed. May You sanctify us afresh merciful Savior. Vindicate us and our nation Oh God and plead our cause against ungodly people. May You deliver us from unjust men who desire to cause unrest in our nation. Lord You are the God and our Strength, save us from oppression and grant us continued peace. May You fight for us dear Lord Jesus and save us. Lord may You send out Your light and truth lead us in the way of righteousness. May You grant our leaders wisdom to institute trust policies to steer our nation forward. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Amen
Further reading: 2 Chronicles 20:1-29
1 Corinthians 15:57
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
INSIGHT
–Thanksgiving is a secret to obtaining victories in God. Our faith in God inspires true courage and commitment to His promises and as our hearts are gradually established even more when we give thanks during turbulent times. It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we otained victory in Him. Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. When we believe in Christ Jesus, He credits unto us His righteousness (Romans 4:24-25).
PRAYER
We give thanks to You Jesus, for You are good, and Your steadfast love endures forever. We thank You for Your sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of all mankind. It is You who has redeemed us by Your blood out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation by Your saving grace. We give thanks to You for loving us and saving us from darkness to light. Thank You for You have never left us orphaned but You have given us the Holy Spirit. We thank You for this far that You have brought us and the far that You are taking us. We thank You for the breakthrough’s that we continue to experience in our lives, families, church, and nation, and what You are still doing. We thank You for we have victory in You dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for the plans that You have for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a sure future. May You protect us from all evil dear Lord Jesus and preserve us from all harm. We thank You and we honor You, and it in Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen
Further reading: Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 9:15
Colossians 4:2 NKJV
“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;”
INSIGHT
-Apostle Paul exhorts the Colossian believers to be built up and rooted in earnest prayer while giving thanks to God. This sort of earnest prayer is vital, but does not come easy. It speaks of great effort steadily applied and diffuses the distractions of the devil as vigilance is achieved.
SUMMARY
Thanksgiving to God is paramount for all believers. God calls us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. To be thankful to God and bless His name for He is good and His mercy is everlasting (Psalms 100:4-5). When we give thanks to God in all circumstances, we find His peace that rules in our hearts. In all that we do in word and deed we are called to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Colossians 3:15-17). Further, God invites us to rejoice in Him always and pray while giving thanks (Philippians 4:4-6). God calls us to thanks to Him which empowers our victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
PRAYER
Abba Father You are Holy and Mighty. You are lifted above every throne. All nations praise You, all creation declare Your holiness. We raise Your banner in all the nations and among all the people. May You help us dear Lord Jesus to become persistent in prayer and diligent in seeking Your face. May You soften our hearts so that we may always have gratitude. May You do exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask of or think of according to the power that is at work in us. Lord we trust in You and exalt You. We believe that You are able to do more than we can think of or imagine. We believe that we shall be extremely fruitful since we abide in You and You in us. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in Your house forever. May You bless us and keep us loving Father, may You shine Your face upon us and be gracious to us. May You lift up Your countenance towards us and give us peace. Amen
Blessed Weekend
Further reading: Acts 12:5