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FAITH TALK
Stephen Roser is the pastor of Howard Beach Assembly of God Church
“Would you do me a favor? Change the ‘please’ to ‘thank you,’” the pastor requested of the woman who had been repeatedly saying “please Jesus” while kneeling at the front of the church.
Unless we say “thank you” when we pray, we limit prayer to petition when gratitude is actually one of its most important components. The Thanksgiving season gives us a much-needed reminder to tell God that we are grateful for all He has provided.
Thank you also expresses faith for what we expect God to do in the future because faith makes us certain of the things that we hope for. Our Lord Jesus Christ, for example, just before performing the miracle of raising his friend Lazarus from the dead, looked heavenward and prayed, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me,” and with that assurance ordered the deceased