Thanksgiving Prayer - Earning Jesus Points

Thanksgiving is rolling right around the corner and we're all so very excited! But before festivities of any sort can begin, perhaps we could take a moment to reflect on a day where we give thanks. From a Christian perspective, this is a rather simple thing to pray about. We have to pray about everything that we're thankful for, let God know that he's the Man and go on ahead with our fantastic turkey dinners, right?

Perhaps.

I'm sure it's going to get a little bit more extended than a simple prayer. Honestly, giving thanks is something we should be doing daily - to recognize that God has provided us with countless blessings in our lives. Even if it may not seem like there are a lot of things to pray for this year, you can always find something to pray for. To begin with, we can all thank God for giving His one and only Son.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to guilt you into praying everyday or having an extended time of prayer on Thanksgiving. I just want to make sure that as we pray to give thanks to God, put our hearts into it and do our best. So as ironic as it may be to provide 'guidelines' on how you can pray on Thanksgiving this year, here it goes!

1) Pray for everyone.

Johnny, Bobby, Michelle, Kwami, Hyun, David, Alejandro, Jesus - don't you dare forget anyone! The greatest thing we can do in our lives is to love our brothers and sisters as God has loved us. Need I cite 1 John? Extra Jesus Points (JPs) for finding something to be thankful for about the cousin that farted in your pillow last year.

2) Time time and time.

For every 3 minutes you can spend praying, you earn 40 Jesus points. Although we should be praying on a constant basis, let Thanksgiving serve you as a great reminder! This is your chance to make up lost time during the year. Okay, I'm totally kidding. However, the truth is that I think if we searched deep within hearts to thank God for all the blessings in our lives, we would probably spend hours praying.

3) Family participation.

Go around the table and let everyone have a chance to pray. Yes, even the little one that would go "thank you for the food, amen". And even the super holy relatives that will spend hours in beginning a prayer by starting with "Almighty Father in heaven whose powers shall strike down the world for You gave Your one and Only Son the Holy Anointed One to this forsaken wasteland of sin and misery... etc". (Aren't random sprinkles of capital letters so very pretty?)

4) Pour your heart into it.

Of course, this is the core of any prayer. If God wanted to, He could create an army of billion English speaking leprechauns to continuously shout out "We love you God!". Why, it could be a billion Martian leprechauns. But that's not what God seeks in us. He provides us with guidance and freedom so that we may come to love him truly. This is a great gift from God and we are able to live in His love through praising him with a pure heart.

5) Bonus JPs! - Singing

Bust out that guitar! As cliche as it may sound, there's always a guy who "sort of" knows how to play guitar. Give him his time in the spotlight! Encouraging others while praising God - if Jesus was eating with you, He'd give you a big hug (or if you like manly things, a very painful chest bump).

Well, it's a pretty short list but that's about it! A great family activity to be incorporated is a game involving various Jesus Points that can be awarded through individual prayers!

Thanksgiving, oh what a wonderful time of the year. I mean alright, maybe it's not as great as Christmas but it would put up a very good against other holidays. It's a holy day, and its origins are in giving thanks to God. So let us do exactly that and pray!

Dear God, thank you for the food. Amen!