Gracious God Welcomes Thankful Prayers 10/15/26

Through my experience with Bible Study Fellowship leadership training, I’ve come to appreciate the value of starting prayer with praise. Whether it’s a prayer before a meal, a quick prayer in the car on the way to school, a bedtime prayer with the kids, a pre-service prayer at church, or other corporate or private prayer times, I usually start by praising God for who He is and His unchanging attributes. Then, I thank Him for what He has done.

The apostle Paul not only knew how to praise God but also consistently gave thanks. While my thanksgiving is often about how God has worked in my own life or the life of those closest to me, Paul’s thanksgiving extended to fellow believers in Rome, whom he had never even met!

Romans 1:8-13  “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.  God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. ¹¹ I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— ¹² that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.”  

Our prayers reflect the attitudes of our heart, and yet God can use certain disciplines in prayer to transform our heart attitudes. As we spend time praising and thanking God, our perspective on our needs shifts. Similarly, as we thank God for others, our attitude toward them also changes.

Like Paul, who will you thank God for today? How can you lift them up in prayer and pray for ways to mutually encourage each other?

I pray that we grow in our thankfulness to God for one another. God welcomes any sincere prayer, but He knows a regular attitude of gratitude transforms us and helps align our prayers with His will and purposes.

Alice