Speaker 1: Life Audio.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to your Daily Prayer, a podcast
Speaker 2: dedicated to helping you find the words you need to
Speaker 2: connect with your Father in Heaven. No matter what is
Speaker 2: going on in your life today, you can trust that
Speaker 2: God wants to hear from you. Right after this short
Speaker 2: word from our sponsor, you will pray that today's prayer
Speaker 2: for gratitude to grow your joy together. A Prayer for
Speaker 2: Gratitude to Grow your Joy written and read by Kerrie Eichberger.
Speaker 2: I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.
Speaker 2: I will recount all of your wonderful deeds saw nine,
Speaker 2: verse one. Far too often I find myself down in
Speaker 2: the dumps for no good reason, and other times I
Speaker 2: wind up discouraged, disappointed, or even depressed, and could rattle
Speaker 2: off a rather long list of justifications. In fact, right now,
Speaker 2: as I reflect on a difficult and drawn out season,
Speaker 2: I'm still dragging my feed through. I struggle to smile
Speaker 2: at all sometimes, but warranted or not. I wish this
Speaker 2: were never the case, as I waste my days away
Speaker 2: without joy to fuel and fill me, not to mention.
Speaker 1: Deep down, I know there is always.
Speaker 2: Something to delight in, because truthfully, God has blessed me
Speaker 2: beyond measure. He abundantly gives good gifts to all his
Speaker 2: beloved children. Do you feel much joy today? Or does
Speaker 2: it seem, for one reason or another, that your smiles
Speaker 2: seem to be hiding below the surface, too, smothered by
Speaker 2: some sort of struggle you're facing within you or around you.
Speaker 1: I think we could all agree, regardless of.
Speaker 2: How much contentment and fulfillment we are feeling at this
Speaker 2: very moment, we could always use a boost of spirit.
Speaker 2: Yet we continually sabotage our own joy by dismissing so
Speaker 2: much of the goodness God has placed in our very midst.
Speaker 2: I know I am certainly guilty. I also know that
Speaker 2: a simple, yet super hard solution exists. The truth is,
Speaker 2: when we want to grow our joy, we simply need
Speaker 2: to grow our gratitude, even when we are struggling or suffering,
Speaker 2: Even and especially when the day is difficult, the moment hurts,
Speaker 2: or this season has caused more disappointment than we ever expected.
Speaker 1: And I get it. It's not easy, not at all.
Speaker 2: We are fighting against an aggressive enemy who wants us
Speaker 2: to wallow in our hurt, who works persistently to keep
Speaker 2: us down, who is relentless in his disruption and distraction
Speaker 2: against our pursuit of God. Because Satan knows that if
Speaker 2: we become locked in with a steadfast gaze on God's goodness,
Speaker 2: we wouldn't want to look away. We would give God
Speaker 2: more glory, we would thank and praise him more and more,
Speaker 2: and we would grow in our joy more and more.
Speaker 2: And so that's what we should do. Turn our eyes
Speaker 2: to God and his goodness. Fight back by fighting forward,
Speaker 2: focusing on God's good promises, proclaiming his praise, and observing
Speaker 2: every small, big, and beautiful blessing he is placed before us.
Speaker 2: Psalm nine, verse one says I will give thanks to
Speaker 2: the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all
Speaker 2: of your wonderful deeds. And God's word reminds us countless
Speaker 2: other times to be thankful, to rejoice and praise, and
Speaker 2: to remember all He has done for us, and to
Speaker 2: do these things with a whole and sincere heart. But
Speaker 2: how quickly we get lost in our own disappointments. How
Speaker 2: often do we take our eyes off the light and
Speaker 2: steer too long at the dark shadows. We need these
Speaker 2: reminders repeatedly. We need to revive our awareness that it's
Speaker 2: in our whole hearted worship that we experience the fullness
Speaker 2: and joy we long for. I feel it every single
Speaker 2: Sunday morning as it pour out my praise and song
Speaker 2: alongside other believers. So right now, for the sake of
Speaker 2: the joy we long for, let's consider the goodness around us.
Speaker 2: Let's reflect on the beauty and blessings on the path
Speaker 2: behind us, and let's ponder the promises on the wh
Speaker 2: rise and before us, name them out loud, write them
Speaker 2: all down whisper, then in worshipful prayer, one by one,
Speaker 2: over and over, and see and feel your spirits rise.
Speaker 2: Make us a habit, and watch your joy grow and
Speaker 2: abundance flow.
Speaker 1: I know that's what you want.
Speaker 2: Every single one of God's children does, and he wants
Speaker 2: to give exactly that and then some to each and
Speaker 2: every single one of us. Let's pray, Lord Jesus, I
Speaker 2: thank you with my whole heart for all the wonderful
Speaker 2: things you have given and done. I know on hard
Speaker 2: days of darkness and in long seasons of struggle, I
Speaker 2: find my mind camped out on hardships and I lose
Speaker 2: sight of your abundant blessings. But I know this is
Speaker 2: when I am depriving myself up the joy I long
Speaker 2: for that you also long for me to have. Lord,
Speaker 2: I have found that when I've picks my eyes and
Speaker 2: whole heart on you and your goodness, and when I
Speaker 2: thank you over and over for your constant flow of blessings, joy.
Speaker 1: Grows and a bound in my life.
Speaker 2: So I ask that you help me stay in a
Speaker 2: state of gratitude, because I know I certainly have so
Speaker 2: much to praise you for every moment, every day, and
Speaker 2: always thank you, Thank you, Thank you Lord.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 2: If you liked what you heard today, I think you
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Speaker 3: I hope it blesses you.
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