A Prayer about Giving Thanks to Our God

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 118:28

Loving Lord,

May we address you as this psalmist does:

Firmly, emphatically, declaring:

“You are my God,” 

not my children, my work, 

my dating life, my sports, my home, 

or any other thing on this earth 

that we sometimes serve and worship.

And oh, how thankful we are, 

with the psalmist, 

that you are our God, 

because you have rescued us 

“out of [our] distress and set [us] free” (Psalm 118:5). 

[Name some of the distress he rescued you out of.]

Because you sent your Son to us, we “extol” you—

we praise you, 

we talk about how great you are and how much we love you.

[Name some things you love about God.]

And then, like the psalmist, 

we turn to others and invite them into our praise:

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good…” 

because we know your praise 

was always intended to be sung in a chorus, not as a solo.

In Jesus’ steadfast name. Amen.

Read Psalm 118:1-29.