Offering Prayers of Thanksgiving: Learning to Pray by the Holy Spirit

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray..." - Luke 11:13 NRSVUE

This semester in seminary, I'm taking a course called Practical Prayer with Dr. Nancy Penton. In the course we:

"...consider prayer practices and patterns from the ancient paths...construct prayers for occasions of celebration and... lament. We notice and reflect on the potential pitfalls in our practices of prayer... and explore historical practices of prayer in the liturgical and scripture-centered traditions."

As one of our first assignments, we had to introduce ourselves to classmates with why we are grateful. When class began, I was sleepy and tired after a long week of sermon preparation, bible study, new visitor initiatives, and my full-time job. After listening to about five of my classmates' introductions, I noticed that something within me began to shift. My heart lifted and I became appreciative for the moment (to be able to take a moment) to be centered in gratitude.

Life will LIFE sometimes... actually most of the time, Life is doing the most! But I realize that even still, the least we can do is say a prayer of thanks. It might be just the pause we need to refocus on the One who gave life more abundantly.

As homework, we were asked to write and submit a prayer of gratitude. I immediately thought of the prayer we recite during the offering segment at church. It begins giving honor and recognizing the dominion of God. In that moment, I recognized that the prayer I was writing was not just a homework assignment, it was an offering of thanks from my lips to God's ears, which I'm confident has more eternal value than monetary offerings.

So, gleaning from our church offering prayer and reflecting on Luke 11:13, I wrote a prayer to God. As I was led on what to write, I became so overwhelmed with God's Love. I thought about what the Father chose to do and what Jesus voluntarily gave even when he knew what it would cost him! Love began to flow from eyes and through the pads of my fingertips.

I began to reflect and slowly felt myself filling with awe and reverence for such a God... One who sees me, loves me, forgives me, graces me, and shows mercy on me! What a God!!

As I thanked God, I noticed my hands and I began to feel my fingertips. I noticed my fingertips gliding across the keyboard without effort. I began to think about my thinking, and how I think; how it's possible for me to hear my thoughts without speaking and how God can do the same.

It reminded me that I am made in God's image.

I reflected on the fact that I decided to document my thoughts here, that my brain recognized my intention, and fulfilled it by sending electric messages, without words, through nerve fibers that received that intention and communicated to my fingertips what should happen to fulfill that intention.

And here I am typing, seeing, breathing, feeling, thinking, listening, reflecting, and sharing all at the same time, all by the Power of God.

I finished the homework assignment, and I almost posted it here, but I sensed that I shouldn't; that it was spoken between me and God.

But I will share that my heavenly assignment, our heavenly homework is not done. That assignment is to remain intentional in God's presence.

I know firsthand that our best attempt at being intentional with God can be thrown off by life's intention to take us on the wildest rides. Sometimes, the day makes it so hard to form words, and we can't even think, let alone think of what to be grateful for. But that is why Jesus gifted us the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that we would need all the help God could send to remain in relationship with God after Jesus' physical presence departed earth.

So, when we can't form words, we can learn to pray by the Holy Spirit. Like the disciple asked Jesus in Luke 11:13, we can ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray and what to say.

I'm recognizing that gratitude as prayer is more than just a decision to talk, it's also an offering. I believe that's why the Spirit brought to mind my church offering prayer when I began writing. As an offering prayer, we must give what will be pleasing to God, not pleasing to us. To know what pleases God, we can read scripture and we can ask the Holy Spirit, the only One who "comprehends what is truly God's." (1 Corinthians 2:11). To do that, we must first position ourselves to learn to pray by the Holy Spirit. Here's a simple way that I ask for the Spirit's help:

Holy Spirit, thank you for being with me. Please teach me how to pray in thanks in this moment. Open my ears and guide me on what would be pleasing to the Lord to hear. In Jesus Name, Amen.

James 1:5, confirms that when we ask in faith, God will give the answer generously. So, wait in expectation to the hear from the Lord as the Lord waits in expectation to receive your sweet offering of thanks. May God be with you and continue to bless you.

Reflection Questions:

1. How does verbalizing what you're grateful for affect you during difficult seasons of your life?

2. What ordinary things in your life do you typically take for granted? Where can you see the presence of God's fingertips in these areas of your life?

3. What's one thing you can do this week, to demonstrate your gratefulness to God?