A Family Prayer of Thanksgiving - Your Nightly Prayer - November 14th

Audio By Carbonatix

A Family Prayer of Thanksgiving
Your Nightly Prayer
by Amanda Idleman

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15 

SOMETHING TO PONDER 

A prayer to cultivate a spirit of gratitude together with those we love.

The Fall season is a busy one! Our families are spending our time shuffling around between school, sports, activities, work commitments, celebrations, and then all of a sudden, the holidays sneak up on us. I’ve realized over the past few years, as my kids have grown, that the effort required to prepare for every holiday is huge. Honestly, it’s hard for me to slow down enough to really enjoy the moment. 

The heart of this season is gratitude. We gather for Thanksgiving, we begin to prepare for Christmas, and all this pausing to celebrate really is just a forced opportunity to be present and be grateful. It’s a chance to love our people well, and that doesn’t always mean buying them lots of things; love is best expressed in the simplest gestures. Hosting a family dinner, playing games together, sharing all the things we are grateful for as a family, or offering each other encouraging words are just a couple of simple acts that foster love and gratitude in your home. 

Keep it as simple as you can this Fall, in an effort not to overwhelm yourself with so much doing that you don’t have the mental and emotional capacity to enjoy your people. Doing, giving, preparing, and celebrating just for the sake of being busy is not accomplishing what we need as families. We have to ground our practices and traditions in a holy effort to remain intentional, connected, and thankful for the chance to be together. 

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER 

God, I ask that you would help me and my family practice gratitude this fall. Help us not to overschedule, overplan, or overdo the fall and holiday season. Let all that we do as a family be done in love. Help us to be intentional about our routines and traditions, making sure we are not just busy for the sake of being busy. Help our hearts connect with you and with each other through this season. We love you and are so thankful for all the things you have blessed us with. Let us not lose sight of you! Amen. 

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. How can you protect your heart over the fall, ensuring that a busy calendar doesn’t lead to burnout, stealing the magic from the season? 

2. Consider some ways as a family you can be intentional about connecting? How can you better express your gratitude for one another?

3. What are your favorite things about this season? Find ways to enjoy your favorite things and favorite people.

Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.

Photo Credit: GettyImages/AlexRaths

Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is encouraging others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for Your Nightly Prayer, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, Your Daily Prayer, and more. She has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com, Biblestudytools.com, and Christianity.com. She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God's Heart of Love for Mommas, alongside her husband’s companion devotional, Shepherd. You can find out more about Amanda on her Facebook Page or follow her on Instagram.

Now that you've prayed, are you in need of someone to pray for YOU? Click the button below!