• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

JustinHuffman.org | The Online Home of Pastor Justin Huffman

Grow in Christ as you discover the relevance and sufficiency of God’s Word for daily living.

  • Messages
  • Devotions
  • About
  • Books
    • Behold
    • Grow
    • Adorned

November 24, 2024 / Filed Under: Devotions

Thanksgiving Is Prayer & Proclamation

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100)

Thanksgiving above all involves communication with God. This is why the psalmist specifies that our thanksgiving is to be “to the Lord”, “into his presence”, within “his gates” and “his courts”, and expressed “to him.” Thanksgiving only takes place when we are talking to God.

Thanksgiving is only happening when prayer is happening.

We can try to develop a contented heart, we can express to others how grateful we feel — but it is not thanksgiving until we are talking to God and expressing our appreciation to him directly. Contentedness is not thanksgiving. Expressing a general sense of “being blessed” is not thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is you telling God, “Thank you!” Therefore, thanksgiving is only happening when prayer is happening.

However, it is also true that there is a public aspect to giving thanks. This is why gratitude is in the Bible constantly connected to the public proclamation of God’s glory. Here the psalmist exhorts “all the earth” to make a joyful noise, to serve the Lord, to know the Lord as God, and to be thankful to him. Even while we are talking to God, there is also an aspect of thanksgiving that is public worship and proclamation as well.

True thanksgiving overflows in public, prayerful proclamation of the goodness and glory of God.

So thanksgiving is first and foremost prayer. Yet it is not biblical thanksgiving if it remains only and always private. True thanksgiving overflows in public, prayerful proclamation of the goodness and glory of God.

Thanksgiving is private, grateful prayer gone public!

Consider this public, proclamatory element of biblical thanksgiving this Thanksgiving season. Ask yourself, as an individual or as a family, “In what way can we not only express our gratitude to God for his goodness to us in Jesus Christ, but also express how good God is publicly, out loud, outside the walls of our home and church?”

The Lord is always good, the psalmist reminds us, and so the Lord is always worthy of our personal gratitude and our public proclamation.

Save

Share on Facebook Share
Share on TwitterTweet
Share on Pinterest Share
Share on LinkedIn Share
Send email Mail
Print Print

Filed Under: Devotions Tagged With: Evangelism, Gratitude, Prayer, Psalms, Thanksgiving

Primary Sidebar

Are you starving for want of wonder?

God tells us, over and over again, to focus our starving souls on the superb reality of who He is, what He is doing, and what He promises to do for all who trust in Him.

And God’s invitation to glory in Him is nowhere more explicit than in the repeated command to ‘Behold.’

Justin O. Huffman invites us to meditate on ten of the occasions the command ‘Behold’ is used in the New Testament, and to feast on the wonderful truth we find there.

“Justin Huffman takes the familiar truths of Christ’s gospel and helps us to view them again with wonder—a sense of glory that both fascinates us and fills us with awe. Here is a book that focuses attention on Jesus and says, ‘Behold your God!’.”
     —Joel Beeke


“Behold provides a corrective lens for us to see that there is more to life and invites us to satisfy our deep soul–hunger by feasting on Jesus, the Son of God.”
     —Joel Morris

Recent Posts

  • Greet One Another With a … What?
  • Righteousness Like the Mountains
  • Is True Faith an Act of the Will?
  • Gain Is Godliness, or Godliness Is Gain?
  • The Dangers and Benefits of Revival

Categories

  • 2024 Messages
  • Articles
  • Book Excerpts
  • Culture
  • Devotions
  • Exegesis
  • Guest Writers
  • Messages
  • Q&A
  • Sermon Notes
  • Uncategorized
  • Well Said

Tags

1 Corinthians Advent Anxiety Bible Bible Study Christian Living Christmas Church Cross Encouragement Evangelism Faith Family Fear Finances Forgiveness Genesis God's Love God's Word Gospel Grace Identity Idolatry Jesus Lord's Prayer Love Marriage Missions Parenting Praise Prayer Psalms Ruth Salvation Sanctification Sin Sovereignty Spiritual Disciplines Spiritual Growth Studies in Genesis Thanksgiving Trial Wisdom Worldview Worship

Copyright © 2025 · Digital Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Global
All posts This post
Save
Write CSS OR LESS and hit save. CTRL + SPACE for auto-complete. Made by wpion.com