This week I am posting excerpts from my book, First of All, Pray<\/i>. Paul urged in 1 Timothy 2 that the people of God top their to-do list with praying for others. Thanksgiving is included in that list of \u201cfirst of all\u201d ways to pray.<\/p>\n
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.<\/i> Philippians 4:6<\/p>\n
Excerpt from Chapter 1<\/b>:<\/p>\n
The Direction You Gaze Determines Your Destination<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cA second truth in this verse empowers you to pray about the chaos around you without being weighed down by the sheer awfulness of the situation. You see, as a human, your natural tendency is to gravitate to\u00adward the object you are observing. I learned this from my drivers\u2019 ed teacher when I was fifteen. He warned the four of us crammed into the well-dented \u2018beginner drivers\u2019 car that if we watched cows and horses grazing in the field, that\u2019s where we would end up\u2014in the pas\u00adture and not on the highway! That\u2019s why God included thanksgiving in His list of prayer methods\u2014so that you gravitate toward Him and not the problem!<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you ever been frightened about situations in your life and asked God for help? If you prayed without <\/i>thanking or praising Him, you probably continued to feel very afraid, trying to battle anxiety on your own be\u00adcause your eyes remained glued to the problem. Giving thanks to God pulls your attention off <\/i>of the enormity of the problem and onto <\/i>the greatness of God. As you gaze at God, giving Him thanks for His willingness to do wonderful things for you, the anxiety you feel drains away. If you find it creeping back in, you just ramp up your thanksgiving to God again! Thanksgiving is a powerful antidote for the anxiety you feel.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you try to ignore fearful situations in your life in an attempt to resist fear? Do you think about Job when he said, ‘For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me’ <\/i>(Job 3:25) and try to avoid Job\u2019s out\u00adcome by pretending there is no problem? Is denial your strategy for dealing with fear? Is that <\/i>the way you walk by faith?<\/p>\n
\u201cThink of the boy David, one of the greatest wor\u00adshipers in the Bible, watching sheep out in the pas\u00adture. When he spied the lion and the bear stalking his sheep, did he conquer his fear by ignoring the situa\u00adtion? Of course not! He rose up, likely with a mixture of adrenaline, fear, and a strong protective instinct and killed the carnivores! His faith empowered <\/i>him to con\u00adfront those hungry varmints despite <\/i>the very real dan\u00adger! He didn\u2019t seek to protect his faith by looking away from the predators or by denying their existence. Dead sheep <\/i>would have been the outcome of that kind of faith walk. Even worse, without the experience of sub\u00adduing the vicious beasts, David may never have been equipped to take down Goliath!<\/p>\n
\u201cIgnoring <\/i>evil, by definition, is ignorance<\/i>! Thanking God, however, in the face of evil acknowledges His greatness despite the growing darkness. This power\u00adfully applies to facing the destructive forces at work in our nation. Faith confronts the frightening events with the Word of God. Ignoring such forces in our country in an attempt to stay in faith actually prevents <\/i>you from becoming a part of God\u2019s solution to change the course of events. The sense <\/i>of fear is not always the spirit <\/i>of fear spoken of by Paul (see 2 Timothy 1:7); at times Holy Spirit-initiated warnings are alarming\u2014even frighten\u00ading\u2014yet they are sent by God to reveal that danger is looming. <\/i>In response you pray and dig into the Word to prepare for battle\u2014and victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen fear does rise up\u2014and it will\u2014ask God how to deal with it and <\/i>the fearful situation instead of hiding under the covers, hoping the boogeyman will go away! Declare like David, \u2018When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You\u2019 <\/i>(Psalm 56:3). Then in prayer con\u00adfront the giants both in your life and <\/i>our nation, giving thanks to God for His Goliath-defeating power!\u201d (Excerpt taken\u00a0from pages 20-23; First of All, Pray: Prescription for a Nation in Crisis;\u00a0<\/em>\u00a9 2013\u2013Dorothy Frick)<\/p>\n The Lord is my light and my salvation; 4\u00a0<\/sup>One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: Psalm 27:1-6<\/p>\n Thank You, Lord, for the wonder of Your abiding and protective presence in our lives!<\/p>\n Dorothy <\/p>\n
\nWhom shall I fear?
\nThe Lord is the defense of my life;
\nWhom shall I dread?
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
\nMy adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>Though a host encamp against me,
\nMy heart will not fear;
\nThough war arise against me,
\nIn spite of<\/i> this I shall be confident.<\/p>\n
\nThat I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
\nTo behold the beauty of the Lord
\nAnd to meditate in His temple.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
\nIn the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
\nHe will lift me up on a rock.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
\nAnd I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
\nI will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.<\/p>\n