Wednesday January 22, 2025

Today is Wednesday, January 22. This week we continue our study on the Practice of Prayer and explore what it means to talk with God.

In the quiet stillness of a bright January morning, I settle into the special space I have set aside to talk with God. I pause my thoughts and silence my mind. I breathe deeply and slowly and focus my whole being on the God who loves me. Holy Lord, teach me what it means to talk with You, express my innermost thoughts and share my deepest feelings. Today I bring You my prayers of gratitude, lament, petition and intercession. Amen.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7

Keep your prayer life simple. Just talk with God. He loves you. Talking with God can be broken down into four categories that provide an accessible model for prayer – gratitude, lament, petition and intercession. Today we will focus our time on prayers of gratitude. Prayers of gratitude are talking with God about what is good in life and what is good in the world.

The beginning point of this type of prayer is just being thankful. Thankful for our relationship with God, thankful for the good things in our lives, and thankful for our relationships with family and friends. Someone told me the way they begin every morning, as soon as they open their eyes, they rest their head upon the pillow, look up at the ceiling and give God thanks.

All of life is a gift. Every breath we breathe, every smile we share, every sunrise we witness, every friendship we have, every moment we spend are gifts. Gifts that invite us to give God thanks. Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ His Son is the greatest gift of all. It inspires us to begin each day in praise and sing like the birds on the rooftops welcoming the rising sun.

In today’s scripture from the book of Colossians, Paul tells us how to live our lives. Live life in Christ, he says, rooted in Him, built up in Him, strengthened in the faith and overflowing with thankfulness. Live with that posture – a posture of thanksgiving. Overflow with gratitude as Paul suggests. That is a great way to begin each day’s practice of prayer – centered on God and overflowing with thanksgiving.

Prayer Prompts:

• Ask God to give you a heart of gratitude so that you overflow with thankfulness.
• Make a list of what you are thankful for today and lift prayers of gratitude to God.
• Thank God for all that is good in your life and in the world around you.

Pause and Pray

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Resources utilized: John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way – The Prayer Practice, Session 02, Talking with God, practicingtheway.org.

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