Focal passage: Psalm 138:1-8
In these sessions, we’ve sought to follow the lifestyle of Jesus by studying His prayer life.
Like the disciples, we still today ask Jesus to “teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).
Clearly from the gospel accounts, Jesus’ patterns of prayer were simply part of the warp and woof of His life. The example of the “model” prayer can be an encouragement as we seek communion with our heavenly Father who loves us.
One result of this intimate communion with God is praise and thanksgiving. As we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we cannot help but become a thankful person. An excellent example of thankfulness in God is found in Psalm 138.
The psalmist starts by praising God for His covenant loyalty and faithfulness (vv. 1-2). The psalmist’s response is to give praise and thanks for who God is and what He has done. A thankful heart looks at the works of God in his or her life and turns that thankfulness into praise.
Next, the psalmist praises God for His provision. God meets with the lowly and with kings alike (vv. 3-6) and our response must be humility and thankful praise.
Lastly, God protects His people (vv. 7-8). In these verses, God is the one acting on behalf of His people – we get the help and God gets the glory and praise. That’s a pretty good deal!
One can easily see how these requests, petitions and praises are echoed in our Lord’s model prayer.
The Christian life is marked by thanksgiving. In the hard knocks of life, we learn from our Teacher the way of humility and thanksgiving.
Even the model prayer was a petition for God’s will, Kingdom and provision to work on behalf of His people.
This joyful thanksgiving is the fruit of vibrancy in our prayer lives – something that God wants for us all!