If there was one American tradition I wish Australia had adopted instead of Halloween, it would be Thanksgiving. Yet, for the Christian, every day is Thanksgiving Day!

Jesus, we thank You that in Your humanity, You never sinned. You were the spotless and blameless lamb. If You had sinned even just once, all humanity would be under God’s wrath in a never-ending living hell. We thank You for not giving in to temptation and for standing on God’s word. We thank You for exampling this for us. Thank You for obeying Your earthly parents as You grew up as a man and for Your labour as a carpenter. Thank You for learning obedience through suffering so that we can relate to You.

Jesus, we thank You for depending on Your Father, for rising early in the mornings and going to a secluded place where You could be alone with Him and pray. Thank You for demonstrating Your relationship with Him and sharing it with us so that we, too, could learn dependency on Him and grow to know and love Him as You do. Thank You for only ever doing what You saw Him do and saying what You heard Him say and for being such a faithful and beloved Son.

“And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” (John 8:29)

We thank You, Jesus, for putting Your will aside to do Your Heavenly Father’s will.  For denying Yourself, Your own wishes and preferences, for His. By this, You taught us His nature and what is possible when we obey God at all costs.

Thank You for speaking words of life and truth and for setting us free by them, for not reviling when reviled, for not defending Yourself, or for being concerned with opinions and judgements of men. Your humility and confidence strengthen us when we face these things. Thank You for Your compassion and forgiveness, even of the vilest deeds. Because of this, we, too, can forgive others.

Loving Lord, we thank You for bearing the shame of our sins and unworthiness and for bearing such a weight on our behalf. We say thank You for wearing that thorny crown upon Your head that pierced Your brow as You bled for us all. We thank You for bearing the mockery from Your opposers and for not coming down from Your cross when they jeered at You. Your long-suffering and surrender to Your Father’s purpose saved the world.

We thank You, Lord, for bearing the weight of God’s holy wrath, for entering Hades and taking the keys, for overcoming death–the sentence that was upon every man, woman, and child. Thank You for redeeming us from the ruler of this world and for clothing us who were naked with Your righteousness. We wholeheartedly thank You for taking us to that cross and the grave and raising us with You so that we no longer live this life on our own but so that You can go on living through us. This is a miracle of love and our greatest privilege.

We thank You, Jesus, for ascending to the Father, risen again, alive forevermore and for taking Your place at His side upon His throne. There, You remain and have seated us with You. This is too magnificent for us to comprehend. Thank You for giving us the gift of faith to believe in You and trust You and for the baptism of the dear and wonderful Holy Spirit. Thank You for our full and complete salvation, our victory in You, now and forever.

Jesus, thank You for sacrificing Your whole self on the altar of that cross. You are a living sacrifice, and we, too, are living sacrifices as we walk in Your likeness and relinquish our self-life, love of self, and everything to do with the self–even our physical selves. Thank You for Your sacrificial life living in us today. Thank You for Your love for the Father that lives in us. Thank You for Your aligned will to His, that lives in us. Thank You for Your hope, Your joy and Your peace that lives in us who belong to You. Amen.

Sisters and brothers, here’s the extraordinary thing…Eternal Life is living inside us! The resurrection life of Christ is His life that never ended, but lives on! It is the life of God in this Christ that indwells us. It is from eternity and without end. King Solomon said God has placed eternity in the hearts of men. Well, those who belong to Jesus have more than eternity, but eternal LIFE. Jesus said, ‘And this is eternal life, that they might know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent’ (Jn 17:3). Our ‘knowing’ them in the deepest sense of the word, that is, in spirit, is eternal life.

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His son. (1 Jn. 5:11)

We are all fallen, broken, and faulty, but the life that is in us is perfect! We see our lack and need and ask for help; this causes our prayers to be self-focused and faithless, hopeless, despairing prayers. When we recognise our failings and areas of our lives that need transformation, we can include ourselves in our prayers yet keep our eyes fixed on the Lord. We do this by thanking Jesus for everything that He is inside of us.

We thank You, Jesus, for Your patience that lives in us, for Your righteousness, for Your perfection that lives in us. We praise You, Lord, for Your overcoming nature that lives in us. Thank You for Your wisdom, compassion and Your gentle spirit that lives in us…

These are prayers that fill our hearts with faith, hope, and love. Christ is exalted in such prayers; we see Him instead of us and our burdens are lifted as we gaze into the wonder of Him. Thoughts of self grow increasingly dim and fade in the light of His increasing glory.