Praise & Thanksgiving Walk us into Presence

Daniel 9:3-5, ESV

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.

Just like Esther, Daniel rose up by going low—by seeking God through prayer and fasting. Daniel’s prayer had three main components:

• Praise/thanksgiving

• Repentance/confession

• Supplication (the ask)

You can read the full prayer in Daniel 9—and we’ll look at these three points in greater detail later—but we have to take note that Daniel’s prayer began with praise and thanksgiving.

As we enter into this Thanksgiving week, we must understand that praise and thanksgiving precede everything else. Again, this is all throughout scripture. One psalmist writes:

Psalm 100:4, NIV

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

And Jesus Himself—when He was teaching the disciples to pray—said, “This, then, is how you should pray: “’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,” (Matthew 6:9).

The Lord’s Prayer begins with praise.

Praise and thanksgiving set the stage for everything else. They bless God, and they change us—by walking us into the peaceful presence of God.

So, this Thanksgiving week, let’s walk into God's presence by starting our week (and our days) with praise and Thanksgiving before anything else.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at APM!