Day 12 of Prayer

Daily Scripture

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1

Daily Devotional

Today, the idea is simple: Give thanks to the Lord. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles make the importance of giving thanks clear. In Luke 17:11-19, we see how Jesus values giving thanks. In this story, ten men with leprosy come to get healed. They cry out to Jesus for healing and after Jesus takes pity on them and gives them instructions to show themselves to the priest, they follow his word and are healed. However, after their healing only one, a Samaritan, comes back to thank Jesus for his mercy. Jesus’ response was “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” So often we can be like the other nine lepers, who are earnest in crying out to God when we are in desperate need but forgetful to thank God after he meets our needs. Over these 30 days of prayer, I am sure we have seen and will see God answer our specific prayers and move in powerful ways. God wants us to cry out to him, ask him for things, and pray faithful prayers. But we must not forget to come back to him and to give him thanks for what he does. We must be just as earnest at thanking God for the miracles he does as we are when we ask him to perform miracles.

Daily Challenge

Today, spend some time in prayer simply to give thanks. Thank God for his character: specifically, his goodness and his love like it describes in Psalm 107. Thank him also for the ways that you have seen him answer prayers, the ways he has worked in your life, and the ways he has healed you.