Giving Thanks Before Asking

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;”

Colossians 4:2

Today I want to teach you an order that changes everything about your prayer: give thanks before you ask. Have you ever noticed that your prayers usually start straight with the request, with the list of needs, with the urgency of the moment? I understand the hurry, but I want to show you a better way.

When you give thanks before asking, your heart takes a different posture before me. You stop coming like someone demanding and start coming like someone who already recognizes that I have been caring for you. That doesn't change who I am, but it profoundly changes what happens inside you during prayer.

Try this today: before you tell me what you need, tell me what you've already received. Name, in detail, three good things from the last few days. Only then bring your new request. You'll notice that your faith to ask grows so much more when it's first fed by gratitude for what has already been given.