During a Sunday worship service, our congregation said this
prayer of confession in unison: “Gracious God, like many
believers before us, we complain when things do not go our way.
We want abundance of everything rather than what is sufficient
to sustain us. We would rather be elsewhere than where we are at
the moment. We would rather have the gifts You give to others
than what You provide for us. We would rather have You serve us
than serve You. Forgive our lack of gratitude for what You
give.”
Abundance is no guarantee of gratefulness or thanksgiving.
Prosperity may even turn our hearts away from the Lord.
When a group of Jewish exiles returned from Babylon with
Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, they gathered to
confess their sins and those of their fathers. They prayed:
“Neither our kings nor our princes, our priests nor our fathers,
have kept Your law . . . . For they have not served You in their
kingdom, or in the many good things that You gave them, or in
the large and rich land which You set before them, nor did they
turn from their wicked works” (Neh. 9:34-35).
Confession is a powerful prelude to a prayer of thanks-giving.
Obedience is the Amen. — David
C. McCasland
Lord, before we come to ask Your blessing
On this special day we call Thanksgiving,
We would bow to You, our sins confessing,
Then we’ll lift our praise in grateful living. —Hess
Confession opens the door to thanksgiving.