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Thanks And Praise
Brian Mashburn
May 26, 2013
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Thanks And Praise
A very precious memory of mine happened when I was about to graduate from High School.
My sweet family was in dire straits financially, and one of the "sacrifices" that I was going to make was to not get a Senior Ring. But one afternoon after school, my youth minister called me up and said he was coming by to pick me up. It was all mysterious, and he really enjoyed himself having me in the dark. But he pulled up to a jewelry store, asked for a Senior Ring brochure, handed it to me, and said, "Brian, someone wants to buy you a Senior Ring." They wanted to remain anonymous.
I remember being flushed over with wonder and gratitude. Of course I wondered who it was, and why on Earth they chose me to bless with such an extravagant gift. On my hand, it was an ever-present reminder that someone out there wanted to see me blessed.
I'll tell you this - if I ever had the opportunity to be in this person's presence, and knew what he had done, the MAJOR THEME inside of me would be gratitude. No matter what else we talked about. Forever, I would interact with him with this amazing gift influencing me.
When you pray, do you pray from a posture of gratitude?
Jesus did. More than any other type of prayer that is recorded about Jesus' prayer life, praise and thanksgiving are at the top, and second place isn't close.
After what God has done for us, no matter what else we pray about to Him forever, we should be interacting with Him from gratitude and praise influencing us.
Praise God.