Thank You, Lord Jesus

It’s been just over a year since I came to Christ. The past year was the most difficult one of my life, and I almost didn’t make it through. My life was falling apart, my sense of self was disintegrating, and I felt powerless to do anything about it. My prayers, to this God whom I’d just met, were all variations on “Please help me.” I did make it through, not by my own merits, but purely by the grace of God. And on the other side of that terrible journey has been not just relief from intolerable pain, but what I am nervously, cautiously identifying as joy. Now there’s something I need to say.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your mercy and forgiveness. You have helped me understand that there is such a thing as sin, and that I cannot resist it without your help. Please help me each day to turn from evil and set my feet on the path that you have laid out for me. When I stray, guide me back; teach me how to obey you, Lord, in all things.

I thank you, Lord Jesus, for giving me the courage to accept you as my Savior before I knew much about you. You convicted me so strongly of your identity as the crucified and risen Son of God that I knew I had accept you as my Lord, even though I was terrified of what that meant for my life. (I knew it would change everything, and it did.)

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Only you truly know just how close I came to losing everything; only you know how much pain I was in. I gave you everything I had, everything I was, and everything I wanted or hoped for – I gave it all up and said “Your will be done, not mine.” And you took it and gave my life back to me, not as my possession, but as Your gift.

For this beautiful world that is your creation, I thank you, Lord Jesus. Every wonderful thing around me, from the bold blue sky over the ocean to the simple pleasure of a good cup of coffee, is something you made, an expression of your divine love. If I may borrow surfer lingo, that’s really rad. Especially I thank you for showing me that I’m part of this creation, a child of God. My old self was shattered to pieces; please help me to find my true identity in and through you, Lord Jesus.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for keeping all your promises. I gave up security and wealth, I gave up my dream of what my life would be like, but in giving them up I trusted to you and you have not let me down. You have been by my side, kept me safe, and provided for me. Please help me to keep my heart fixed on you, so that if it’s ever your will for me to give up any of the material things you’ve given me, I can leave them behind without a second thought.

For my family and friends, thank you, Lord Jesus. Please watch over them and keep them safe and well. And thank you for bringing me into your family, your Church. Please teach me how to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good sister in Christ.

Thank you for your peace, Lord Jesus – just a tiny glimpse of Your peace that passes all understanding has been enough to do so much healing in me. I can rest in You, knowing that You are protecting me from all evil. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for letting me know that you will never forsake me. Please watch over me and keep me safe from all evil thoughts and influences. I’m vulnerable to self-doubt and self-hatred, so please sustain me with your presence and teach me to always turn to you when I need help.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for healing my bruised and broken heart. As I’ve trusted myself to you, I’ve felt life returning to the numbed and deadened parts of my soul. Your work in me has caused its own kind of pain, but it has been a healing pain. I know that you’re also helping me grow in compassion for others, Lord Jesus. I ask you to continue that work in me. Help me to truly forgive those who have hurt me; please heal them as you are healing me.

And thank you, Lord Jesus, for healing my body as well as my soul. Thank you for understanding what it feels like to hurt, even though the pain of my injured elbow and shoulder was nothing compared to what you felt on the cross. You helped me bear my anxiety as well as my pain, and you gave me the will to persist in rehabilitation even when I didn’t see any results. Thank you for all those who have prayed over me and for me; thank you for using this injury as a way to teach me about the reality of your love and compassion. I praise you and your healing work, Lord Jesus.

I am so very grateful, Lord Jesus, for the strength and fitness of my body, and for the passion you’ve given me for the sport of fencing. The joy that I take in this sport is a great gift, and I thank you for it. And thank you so much, Lord Jesus, for using this sport to teach me about what it means to behave in a way that’s pleasing to you, and to show me that my body is a good and important part of your creation too. Please help me to honor you through my fencing just as in all other parts of my life.

I thank you, Lord Jesus, for putting good people in my life who have done your work, in guiding me, listening to me, loving me, and teaching me about you. Thank you for opening my heart so that I could ask them for help and accept it with humility and gratitude. Thank you also for those who have loved me, and loved you, enough to speak up to discipline or chastise me as well as to encourage me; I need that too, more than I tend to realize. Please watch over all of them, Lord Jesus; bless them and take special care of them; keep them close to You.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for beginning to teach me to pray. I have to admit, at first I didn’t expect to actually hear back from you; thank you for teaching me not just to speak to you, but also to listen for your word, in whatever form it may take. I have so much to learn, Lord Jesus; please help me curb my impatience and learn to wait on your will. Help me to develop a personal relationship with you; show what it means to walk with you, speak with you, listen to you.

You have given me gifts of teaching and writing, Lord Jesus, and I thank you for them; please teach me to use your gifts in your service. Guide me as I do the work that you’ve trusted me to do, and help me to be a light to you in the world. Watch over my students, Lord Jesus; be with me, that I can do your work without my own pride and ambition getting in the way. Please guide my writing, Lord Jesus; help me to speak your truth to the world.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your presence and acts in history, and the gift of your death and Resurrection for all of us – for me, and my sins, too. Thank you especially for the evangelists, who wrote about you in such a way that, two thousand years later, I could read the Gospels and be convicted of their truth.

For all those who have written about you, Lord Jesus, I thank you. I’ve learned so much from those who have known you and shared your truth in ways that I could understand. Please guide me in my choice of reading, and in my reflections, that I can learn more about you. Most of all, please encourage and guide me as I read the Bible. Your Word is new to me, so please help me to read not just for knowledge and understanding, but above all to hear your voice and be convicted of your truth. Continue your transformative work in me, Lord Jesus, through my reading of your Word.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for calling me to you. Before I ever knew you, you knew me, and you chose to make yourself known to me. I especially thank you for letting me find you through reason, Lord Jesus; thank you for my intellect and the ability to use it in your service. Please continue to do your work in me, Lord Jesus; “break, blow, burn, and make me new.” Please help me, Lord Jesus, to know Your will for my life. I am yours, Lord Jesus; do your work in me, with me, and through me; teach me what it means to love you and serve you. Amen.

Related posts:

1. Good Pain and Bad Pain: A Lenten Reflection
2. Undeserved Gifts
3. New Year’s Resolution for a Perfectionist
4. Starting Fresh Every Day
5. What It Means to Follow Jesus: The Faithful Fishermen’s Perspective

One Response to “Thank You, Lord Jesus”

1. Steve Lyon says:

   January 22, 2008 at 8:40 am

   Should be required reading at every Thanksgiving Eve service in the country.

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