Crying out to God comes when we reach the end of our strength.  The word David uses in verse 8 translated “call” comes closer to our concept of crying out loud.  Visualize the difference between these two concepts.  “Calling” paints the idea of a calm discussion with God.  “Crying out to God” represents a deep emotional moment when you know you have reached a point where you are powerless.  Where only God can act.

This moment takes faith and thanksgiving requires faith.  You cry out to God trusting Him to intervene on your behalf.  But it is the faith of limited choices.  Look at one group of people in the bible who cried out to Jesus for help, for healing.

 Luke 17

12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

 

I don’t know why, but I don’t think these 10 men spoke in a calm voice. Nope, I think they cried out to the miracle worker, knowing no leper had been healed since Elijah hundreds of years before, but hoping and with a germ of faith.  Their disease costed them everything.  They were forced to live in exile away from family and friends.  Jobs and property were out of the question.  Rules forced lepers to cry out unclean whenever people came near.  These 10 knew they could not heal themselves.

Thanksgiving grows from people who reach the point of crying out in the name of the Lord because it is at that moment faith can grow.   You reach a point where if an answer comes you do not doubt God answered.  You know God acted on your behalf.

There are people who cry out to the Lord and when the prayer is answered they create all kinds of explanations regarding why it might have happened.  But for a moment when you cry out to the Lord, you trust God, even if it is just a little bit, to respond to you.

Crying out in the name of the Lord is a starting point for learning to live a life of gratitude.

Exercise

List times you have cried out in the name of the Lord.  Not times when you have calmly prayed for God to help, but those times when you knew you were completely relying on Him for an answer.  Keep this list for later.

 

Playlist Song:

 

Cry Of My Heart Invitation Music            The World’s Most Loved Classic Worship

Know only a few things about the bible and you probably have heard of David.  David, the scrawny young teen, fought the giant while mighty soldiers coward in their tents.  We talk about current underdogs as being a David going against Goliath.

Those who know a little more about David might know God called David a man after His own heart.  How do you get to be someone after God’s own heart?   According to Acts 13:22: He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David[c] the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.

David was not perfect, far from it in fact.  He had an affair with another man’s wife, he then set the husband up to be killed because David impregnated the man’s wife.  But when confronted with his sin, David’s heart broke.

The majority of David’s life is spent seeking to be in the will of God.  We know more about the feelings of David then we do of most of the people in our day to day lives.  David the shepherd boy and David the King spent his whole life writing songs about his relationship to God.  We call them Psalms, but they were songs.  Early on, David played his songs to calm down King Saul later he gave the songs to those who sang in the worship of the Lord.  Each of these songs gives us a window into how David lived and thought.

A major thread through all of David’s songs was Thanksgiving and Praise.  David lived a life of recalling the acts of God.  He lived gratitude and that gratitude fueled his faith in God.

Come join me as I explore the outline David composed in 1 Chronicles 16 regarding Thanksgiving. I am starting this study on November 1, 2012.