Going to be looking, we've been on this section of the Practical Discipleship Seminar. We've been looking at putting together a prayer notebook. And we looked at adoration, which is the worship of God without reference to man. We looked at confession with a real emphasis that confession is not gaining forgiveness but restoring the relationship that our sins were imputed to Christ two thousand years ago and that when we uh... confess our sins we understand the forgiveness of our sins in terms of our temporal relationship with God not in terms of eternal security so uh... all unconfessed sin when you die You did not take them with you. They were all placed with Christ on the cross and his blood cleansed you of those sins and his body paid for those sins. Now we're going to look at Thanksgiving. Let's go to the Lord in prayer, shall we? O Lord God, this is your holy word. We are your servants. Give us understanding that we might know your testimonies. You have prayed, O Lord, sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. Use your holy, eternal, inerrant written word to set us apart to your service and to your glory. Show us great and mighty things which we do not know. The sower sows the word. Let not your word go out and return empty, but accomplish that purpose for which you are sending it out and for which you have gathered each of us here. Protect us from Satan, Lord, who will snatch your word. Protect us from the world's cares and the delight of wealth and the passion of other interests which enter in and choke your word. Protect us from a wrong reaction to difficulties and discouragements and persecutions which make our hearts hard and unresponsive to your word. Rather, give us good soil, O Lord. Plow now the hard ground of our hearts that your sown word would send roots downward and bear fruit upwards. Unsheath now the sword of your spirit, O LORD. Cut to the dividing point of bone and marrow, soul and spirit. Judge now the thoughts and intentions of each that is gathered here. Spread your word before us as a banquet table, O LORD. grant grace that we might eat of the rich meat and drink of the sweet milk of the great doctrines of your word. Give us the heart of the prophet who cried to you. Thy words were found and I did eat them. And thy words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart. For I'm called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Oh Lord, we live in a dark and a wicked age. Broad is the way and many are on it, which leads to destruction. Make your word a lamp to our feet. Make your word a light to our path. Show us that narrow way that you would have us run. And Lord, as we run in the paths of your commandments, enlarge our hearts, that in loving you, we might be more obedient to your written word. Drop your word against our lives as a plumb line, O Lord. Grant grace that we might see how we deviate from its high and holy purposes. Make your word to us a mirror, O Lord. Grant grace that we might not be as those who look and go away and forget, but make us active doers, not forgetful listeners of your holy word. O Lord, because of our fealty to you, because of our undying love and devotion to your Son, our resurrected Savior. We pledge to you this day our total submission to your holy, eternal, inerrant written word. And we pledge to you this day our unquestioning obedience to all of its commands. in the name of our Lord and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay. With the time change, we've had a lot of people in this study jump to the two o'clock study. But, The smaller study, you get to ask questions. So anytime you have a question, feel free to unmute. If it's quiet in your background, you can just go ahead and unmute now. And so we are going to look, this section of my prayer notebook is called Psalms, Hymns and Prayers of Thanksgiving. of thanksgiving is the praise of God with reference to man. Remember adoration is the praise of God without reference to man. As a young Christian, I would read passages that, for instance, in Philippians, that we are to praise God in all things and to be thankful in everything. And I would think, boy, my day is so terrible. How can I be praising God when I feel bad? I came to realize how selfish that was. Is God still holy? Is God still omnipotent? Is God still transcendent? Is God still just? Is He still God of love and mercy? Is God gracious? Is He those things when I'm feeling good? Yes. But is He still those things when I'm feeling bad? Yes. So when we praise God, we praise Him without reference to us. He is simply worthy of that praise. It would be as if you were asked to come to a benefit for your father. It's his retirement party, and some people have been asked to give testimonials. And your testimonial was entitled, In Praise to My Father. And you got up there and began talking about what a bad day you had. And you're just not feeling well. And you just can't say anything good about your dad today. You just don't feel good. In fact, what you'd like to do is take the opportunity to ask your dad for money for your doctor bills. If you could borrow some things from him and if he would come over and mow your lawn, I mean, that's ridiculous, isn't it? But so often we do the same thing in our relationship with God. You just come to God, I just don't feel like praising you today. In fact, what I'm going to do is instead of praising you, just ask you for things. Well, God is happy for us to ask him for things, but praise comes first. in our formal or scheduled prayer time. And then Thanksgiving is the praise of God with reference to man. So when we are thanking God, we are thanking him for things he has done for us. Many times when people go to God and praise, well, I just want to praise you because this wonderful day is such a blessing and I want to praise you for my job. Well, that's thanksgiving. We praise God because he is the creator. We praise God because he is the loving father. We center upon him. Then we thank God for what he has done for us. One of the things I always remind people is that we are not thankful that we have these things. We are thankful that God would deem to give them. We are thankful that God would consider us. even that his thoughts would turn to us. That should be enough. I remember after President Ford lost the election to President Carter, the Democrat representative and President Carter was a Baptist. President Ford had served our country under a very difficult situation. He was not Baptist, he was Episcopalian. But, I never heard a clear statement of his doctrine, but I do know he stood for God and country and morality. He faithfully attended the Episcopal church. He did not embarrass our country by any of his behavior. His speech was that of a Christian gentleman. But when president Carter, and he was always the evangelical right, supported him in his presidency. But when president Carter came along, many Baptists began questioning president Ford's salvation because president Carter was a Baptist. And I really felt bad about that. And I wrote him a letter after he was now in his presidential library and said, my name is Reverend John Mann. I'm a Baptist minister. And I felt also ordained in the Presbyterian church. And I felt pretty, I just felt bad the way conservative evangelicals turned on you during the election. And I just wanted you to know that Baptists and Presbyterians and mature Christians everywhere pray for you and continue to pray for you. And I wanted to thank you for serving our country during a very difficult time. So I just forgot about that. Well, about a month later, my secretary said, you have a phone call. I think you should take it. And at first, I'm just glad I held my tongue because the person said, this is, and he said his name, I'm here at President Ford's Presidential Library. He's in the office today reading your letter. And it did touch him. He was very hurt by the Evangelical Christians' response to him. And he wanted to know if there's anything he could do for you. Well, what do you say? I didn't know what to say. I said, well, you know, it's just enough that he would even call and say, thank you. I know how busy a former president is. So, no, I just appreciate just the phone call. And he said, well, I'll tell you what, what if he were to sign a book and send it to you? And I said, you know, that would be great. I know, though, that many authors use rapidographs, automatic signature machines. And so if you're going to send me one of those, I really appreciate the thought, but I wouldn't want my heirs to be embarrassed when they had this personally signed presidential book and find out it was a machine. No, no, he's sitting right here. Just tell him how you want it inscribed. And so so I did. I said, yes, I'll I'll have a copy of his book and I'm getting it down now. So they did. And here's what I received. I don't know if you can see that or not. It says, to Reverend John Mann, with appreciation and best wishes, Gerald R. Ford. Well, that meant a lot to me. But boy, I didn't know what to ask him. It was enough that he would just think of me. Well, how much more the God of the universe? Isn't it enough for us that we can just thank God for all he's done for us? What if supplication and intercession were not open to us? I mean, God doesn't have to allow us to ask him for things, does he? He could say, okay, my son died for you, the just for the unjust. That's enough. That's what I've done for you. I so love the world, I sent my only son, that whosoever should believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. All you like sheep went astray, each of you turned to your own way, but I laid the iniquity of you all on him." Isaiah 53, 6. And my son bore your sins on the cross that you could die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds which I and my heavy hand of judgment which fell upon him you were saved first Peter 2 24 now that's it that's enough don't come to me for anything else and that would be enough, wouldn't it? the God of the universe second member of the trinity became god incarnate man on earth bore our sins was judged for our sins died rose on the third day ascended and god says now he's going to come back for you you're going to live for eternity in heaven. You have the Holy Spirit. You are now the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 3.16. You now have the sanctifying work of the Word of God, John 17.17. That's my will for you, the Word of God. It will be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path, Psalm 119. 105, and that's going to be enough. You have Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit, you have the Bible. So, get to work. Now that would be more than fair, wouldn't it? But he allows us to ask him for things for ourselves and for others. But first, let's spend some time thanking God before we go to Him with our handout. One of the things that I really work with in my Sunday school class is when we do a prayer time, that it's not just about health and jobs. that we also have, what are we going to thank God for today? What are we going to praise Him for today? Now, I know Eleanor is having knee surgery March 28th. I'm motivated to pray for her knee. Deanna had both eyes worked on, cataract. We were motivated to pray for Deanna. I had COVID-19, I was very sick. My family was motivated to pray for me. So I know that when you're out of a job or when you're under financial strain, or that when you are facing a physical illness or a crisis, that that weighs upon your heart, but that should not be everything. That should not be everything. And there are many marriages that have been damaged because when one spouse or the other goes through a problem, their problem becomes everything. Their work situation becomes everything. Their financial situation becomes everything. Their crisis becomes everything, and they neglect their spouse. Well, we know that's a tendency, so let's not do it to God. So how do I start my prayer notebook? I start it with that phrase. I look at it. Not thankful that you have them, but thankful that God would deem to give them, that he would even think of me. Then I have some verses that I will pray over for thankfulness. Psalm 107.43, who is wise, letting give heed to these things and consider the loving kindness of the Lord. Well, that reminds me that I'm supposed to reflect on my life and be thankful. No matter our present circumstances, We can reflect on the goodness of God in our lives and give thanks. That was January 2014. I was in Russia with Eleanor in a little efficiency apartment about 17 floors up and they were having, at that time, still having financial problems and crises The ministry was very difficult that winter. Staying warm in those old Russian apartments when it's 20 below outside is a challenge. And I had to remember that no matter what my circumstances are, I could always reflect on the goodness of God in our lives and give thanks. Psalm 92.1, it is good to give thanks to the Lord and sing praises to the name of the God Most High. You know, no matter our immediate sacrifices, we can sing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God, can't we? And you'll find in this section I have some hymns for you for Thanksgiving. Psalm 103 to bless the Lord all my soul and forget none of his benefits and that's why as you look at the prayer notebook that I have some lists that I made and that I'll encourage you to make because it's easy to forget the benefits of God. Now The average layman does not have an hour every day to spend in Thanksgiving. I don't have an hour every day in Thanksgiving. So remember the rule of thumb? You put a tick by one of these, and that's the one you key on. Then you go to the next section. You don't have to do every one. In fact, you don't have to do any of these. But I find it warms my heart before getting in to Thanksgiving. Now, what does this say? No whining zone. That's right. My Thanksgiving section, and that's actually in my parental book. My Thanksgiving section is a no whining zone. And I wrote down here, who do you think you are, Billy Graham? Well, I can understand the success and prosperity of a man who has led tens if not hundreds of thousands of people to Christ all over the world, but I'm not him. And so I have this verse that has really meant a lot to me over the years. Deuteronomy 28, 47 and 48, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart for abundance of all things, therefore you will serve your enemies. So I don't want to play comparing contrast with God, do you? No, you don't. You don't want God to say, to be whining, and then God say, oh listen, let me show you how good you have it. It's kind of like it was a little chilly this morning in the house, and then you walk outside and it's really, really cold outside. Then you come back in, that chilly house feels warm, doesn't it? Well, we don't want to do that in the area of Thanksgiving. We're kind of feeling ungrateful. God will show us how bad it could be. Then we go back to the other state, and boy, that feels pretty good. Numbers 14, 27. How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. which they are making against me. And we have to remember that the complaints that we make to our friends in church, to our spouse about the circumstances of our life are prayers to God. Number sixteen nine, is it not enough for you? See how that's bold? And that helps me with my Thanksgiving section. John, isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel to bring you near to himself to the service of the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? What do you want, Mahan? What's your problem? The blood of Christ has cleansed you from all your sins. God has separated you out from all those who are destined to spend eternity in hell and granted you gifts and calling which are irrevocable, Romans 11, 29. You get to teach the Bible. You get to minister. What do you want? I remember I was at the church and two men, the elders, one of the elders there, Kirill, They and Sonia were bringing their children up with our family discipleship seminar and the discipline and instruction of the Lord. As a result, they were very teachable, really good examples in the church. And they liked ice skating. And it turns out that the youngest son was very gifted in ice skating. And it was a real temptation for them. to miss church so that he could spend skating competitions. And there, the coach had said, you know, he could go to the Olympics. And Kirill and I were talking about that. And I said, now, Kirill, think about this. Sonia, come here. Think about this. You know that if he's chosen for the Russian Olympic team, he will be sent to Moscow. He will live in a boarding house, and that will be his life. Is that really what you want for him? Is it enough that God has given you this wonderful child that you are bringing up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord and that he's a good athlete? Do you really want to send him away and virtually lose touch with him for the next 10 years? And they didn't. So they didn't enroll him in that program. We have to think, what is enough? When are we going to say, you know, that restlessness of my soul I'm going to lay to rest. Some people are that way spiritually. Instead of being thankful, for God the Son, God the Holy Spirit who dwells within them and the Word of God, they begin saying, is this all there is? Is this all there is? And God says, what do you mean, is this all there is? Is it not enough for you? My son, Sam, turned 40, was sharing with me, he said, you know, Dad, just about this time, guys in middle management, are realizing they're not going to be the vice president of a multinational corporation. They're not going to fly around Learjets. They're not, doesn't look like they're going to make any great discoveries and be flown around the world by other corporations giving lectures on all their breakthroughs. They've got a marriage. Their wife's not getting any younger. They've got kids that take a lot of time. They pretty much matched out on their salary. They can see the ceiling, whereas when they were younger, they couldn't. And this is going to be it. And I'm so thankful, dad, that you raised me with my values where Jesus and the word of God were going to be enough. because I'm not restless. I like my job. I love my wife, my children. I love my church and the work that God has given me. But he said, oh, there are so many guys who are even Christians who are so restless and they are getting into trouble because of it. This verse means a lot to me. It's not only in my prayer notebook, but in my scripture memory program that I review. Why should any living mortal or any man offer complaint in view of his sins? And that's a good question, isn't it? How can any of us complain when we think how sinful we are? There was a period when the prisons were open that I was on the preaching rotation at Huntsville. And it was in the chapel that I was on the rotation for was murderers, rapists, gang members, these were lifers. And I remember preaching on the subject in 1 Corinthians 7 of repentance. need to repent and I remember telling them you know to repent you've got to admit that you're guilty I have a lot of trouble when I'm sharing Christ with people on the outside who are successful businessmen and wealthy and doing well in life to come to the conclusion that they are guilty and need Jesus Eleanor's leading a Bible study with a woman that she's just led to Christ last year. And they're doing scripture memory. This week's verse was Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death. And as I walked past, having refilled my coffee, I heard her telling this dear sister now, who's her sister in the Lord, sin always pays its wages. and it's wages death that's why we need jesus and you should be she was exhorting her to be thanking god for eternal life every day so i told these guys you know these guys don't think they're guilty everybody in here is going to be in here for the rest of their life of any group of people who say yeah i'm guilty it would be We who are behind these walls, wouldn't that? And I said, but it's amazing. Some of you are sitting there right now thinking that you are not guilty and don't need Jesus. If the courts of America have put you here, how much more would you fear the divine court of judgment that awaits you? And they were listening. I was very thankful. No one stabbed me. Whenever I, uh, Whenever I preached in the prison, I always went in as a Presbyterian in my clerical collar. The chaplain who was a Baptist said, why do you wear your clerical collar? I said, I don't want anybody thinking I'm that lawyer that boxed their case. I want them to know I'm a minister. So why should any living mortal or any man offer complaint in view of their sins? That's a good question, isn't it? How can we be complaining? This is a book that I read by J.C. Ryle, who is a contemporary of the Wesley brothers. And he tells of this experience he had in terms of John Fletcher of Medley, who was a lay Methodist preacher. One time meeting him when he was very ill with a hectic fever, I said, I am sorry to find you so ill. Mr. Fletcher answered with a sweetness of energy, sorry, sir, why are you sorry? It is the chastisement of my heavenly father and I rejoice in it. I love the rod of my God and rejoice therein. It is an expression of his love and affection towards me. Well, on the Baptist end of things, Frances Jane Crosby, or Fannie Crosby, who wrote over 8,000 hymns, she lived in a pre-Civil War and Civil War period when there was a great wave of mysticism. sweeping the churches in America with healing services and visions and apparitions. And she was encouraged to go and have her eyesight restored. This is a quote from her autobiography. She said when anybody encouraged her to go to a healing service, she said, it seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life. And I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things around me." Why should any living mortal or man offer complaint in view of his sins? Well, as I told you before, not all Psalms are of one type or another. Most psalms are compilation psalms. There are adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication psalms. There are very few intercessory psalms. Intercession is more emphasized in the New Covenant than in the Old. There are, however, and there are also instructional psalms that aren't prayers at all like Psalm 1 and Psalm 139. These are psalms that are hymns rather than prayers and they are instructional. I really think that's one of the things that has been lost in the modern praise movement of the church are instructional hymns such as holy, holy, holy, blessed assurance, to God be the glory, oh teach me what it meaneth. where we are instructed in the great doctrines and in piety as we sing. Well, but these are songs which do emphasize thanksgiving and these are some prayers of thanksgiving in the scripture. And so what I do is I, as with the adoration section, when my heart is feeling brittle, I will pray over these Psalms or these prayers of Thanksgiving. So, I just go through, I put a tick mark by this one, and the next time by this one, this one, I get down to here, I come through these, then I go back to the beginning. Now, you wouldn't pray through all of these. You just choose as needed. And then, these are some verses on Thanksgiving and I will pray over one verse and when I get to the bottom I'll start again and put a tick mark at the beginning. Then periodically I have to reprint this. I hope this is helpful to you. Can you see the, let's see here, see the tick marks that I put on there? It's very messy. Sorry, I'm using the British. Bishan knows what I mean when I say tick marks. And if you're in Texas, they think they're little scars left by ticks who've been on you. So Bishan speaks that good British English. We would call them check marks in America. So I put a slash or a check, and then when it gets too messy, I reprint the page. This is a key passage that influences me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. John Crawford, missionary to New Zealand, he's with the Lord now. When John came into my life, he was about 25 years older than me. but still very zealous and committed to the Lord, still memorizing and reviewing scriptures, still having a daily quiet time, still witnessing many men in their senior years become too sophisticated for those disciplines. And when I met John, one of the applications I made is I said, I'm going to determine never to become too sophisticated and too spiritual to set aside the disciplines of discipleship. and john gillis sent me this verse on a verse card to memorize when i was going through some difficult times in my career and i i think that to my desk and uh... and then added it to my prayer notebook to return to your rest of my soul for the lord has dealt out to flee with you notice also uh... Psalm 140, 13, the Lord will give thanks, surely the righteous will give thanks to thy name. So thanksgiving is an act of righteousness. And the parable of the 10 lepers always spoke to me when Jesus said, we're not 10 cleansed, but the nine, where are they? I just want to make sure Jesus never has to say that about me. Where's John? Is only this one guy giving thanks to me? Where's John in this mix? So if he's going to say, where is somebody? who is not giving thanks, I don't want it to be my name. Because Jesus did notice this, didn't he? We have to remember, Jesus was God incarnate. But when he ascended to heaven, he didn't become somebody else, did he? So if he thought this while he was on earth, he will think this in heaven. He doesn't become someone else. And when we go through our lives and the discipline of prayer of thanksgiving is just an afterthought, and it's in the morning and people in your time zone are offering up prayers of thanks, he appreciates that. But you know, Jesus notices people who give him thanks. But who else does he notice? the unthankful doesn't he? he notices both now he's not going to judge us for not giving thanks but it grieves him, doesn't it? Jesus has enough grief without my unthankfulness adding to it don't make God so so much in your conceived attitude of him or your conception that he stops being the God of Revelation and we know Jesus grieves. He grieved over Jerusalem, he grieved over the unbelief before he raised Lazarus from the dead. We know the Holy Spirit grieves over sin and we know that Jesus notices when people are not thankful. We write thank you cards regularly. At Christmas, birthdays, when people give us gifts, we write thank you cards to them. Well, then I have some hymns that I will often sing. Jesus, a blessed assurance. Jesus, I'm resting. Come you thankful people, come. We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing. Thanks to my Redeemer. Just as the Spirit moves me, I don't sing a hymn every time I pray through this section. As I said, these are things which help me. This is the meat and potato of the Thanksgiving section of my prayer notebook. Psalm 103 to bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits. Up until now, I was primarily thinking of those first eight pages. I skim over them and let them focus me as needed, but this is where I get down to business. First thing I thank God for is Eleanor, all that she is and all that you made her. I thank God for his answers to my prayers for Eleanor. House and wealth are inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. When I got engaged, Wyman Mitchell, who's a music education minister at Nassau Bay Baptist Church down in South Houston, told me that a pastor's wife will either double his ministry or half it. There was no in between. And that I really needed to pray that God would, he shared this verse with me, that God would grant me a prudent wife. Don't make that decision quickly. And he did our marriage counseling. And after the first session, he took me aside and said, John, this young lady is going to double your ministry, which she has. One of the standards of pastors in first Timothy three is that they practice hospitality. Many pastors and ministers are unable to practice hospitality because of their wives and children. That's just a fact. So I thank God that our home is always open. because my wife does not have the gift or a ministry of hospitality. What she has is a love for me and a desire to be my helpmate and make my ministry successful. She knows that one of the qualifications of a minister in 1 Timothy 3 is that he practices hospitality, and so she has worked all her life to make that possible. I thank God For my children and my grandchildren, and I name them every day and thank God for them. I thank God for my family, both the nuclear and extended family, name them and thank God for them. For my home and my house, I thank God for my friends. And I have special friends who've stood by me through thick and thin over the years. I want to know, the Lord to know, how thankful I am that he would give me friends. Some men have no friends. Jesus, the man, one of his most faithful disciples deserted him. I'm thankful that I have friends who've never deserted me. My health. 70 years old but God has sustained me and granted me health so I can do have the mental and physical Energy to do these studies. I thank God for that my finances my ministry I Thank God for the Blessings and I have I keep having to move you all around so I can read this Can y'all tell when I move your? When I move your pictures around, can you all tell that you're being moved around? You get dizzy? No? Okay. Oh, good. Okay. All right, great. I'll just keep doing it. Notice what this says. Blessings and fruitful times that God in his sovereignty has taken me through. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness and his wonders to the sons of men. Psalm 107.31. Psalm 107.43. Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things and consider the loving kindness of the Lord. And I want to make sure I'm doing that. My highest expectation for myself was to be a high school teacher and a deacon in the church and to give my summers to the Lord because of that, having those summers free. And then I look back on a call to the ministry and the 29 countries that the Lord has allowed Eleanor and I to minister in and I need to give thanks for his wonders to the sons of men. But you know what else I give thanks for? Painful and harsh men, circumstances, and times in the wilderness that you, God, have brought into my life to help train, rebuke, and redirect me to new and greater way. I resent this even though I know in my heart of hearts that the only way I would have listened and having listened mature enough to take this new ministry was from you. To have used such painful and sorrowful events in bringing about was the sovereignty of God. I would never have left the Navigators to become a pastor of our church. I would never have left the pastorate to direct Grace Community International without God's intervention. Hebrews 12, 10, They disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good. And I have to remember that. The discipline of God is not vengeance. and it's not expiation or acts of contrition to gain forgiveness of sin, it's the discipline of spiritual medicine. So I have these verses and I remember that whom the Lord loves he disciplines. So one of the things I got to thank God for is people. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring this present result to preserve many people alive. Enemies, rebukes, corrections, humility, self-perceived lack of recognition. It's important for me to thank God for that every day because that keeps me focused when I'm going through it. I got tired of going through things, difficulties, uh, both physical and spiritual and being resentful and whiny and popping out on the other side. And then in retrospect, seeing that God meant it for good and then thanking God, I thought, how am I going to keep my brain focused? So in the middle of these things, I'm thankful. And I said, well, I'll just stick it in my prayer notebook. If I pray over it every day, when I plow into those difficult times, there I'll be thanking God for it. Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me the kindness of mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Joseph did not become better. How about being used for other people's success? And he restored the chief cup-bearer to the office and put the cup into the Pharaoh's hand, but he hanged the baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to him. Yet the cup-bearer did not remember Joseph. So not only did the cup-bearer forget him, he stepped on Joseph's back to gain success. Can you be thankful for that? I know in the college ministry, graduate students have their work published by professors without giving them any credit. They do research for professors without doing any credit. Men in the business world come up with inventions which the company for which them works assumes and they get no credit. It happens all the time. Pastors plagiarize sermons all the time. Can you be used for other's success? without becoming bitter. By God's grace, I will. Injustices. Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs on my head. What I did not steal, I then have to restore. Or being forgotten or abandoned. You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me. Why are we surprised when everybody turned away from Jesus and everybody turned away from Paul? Who do we think we are, Billy Graham? Sure it's going to happen to us. Can you be thankful for that? Circumstances, Psalm 119, 71. It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn nice things. statutes. I have down here, and I just run through these failures, hardships, pain, sorrow, sickness, poverty, refining fires, self-perceived unmet needs. Now what I do not do is I do not think back on the past and wallow in these things that have happened to me in the past. These things are here, are a wake-up words, that if that's going on in my life now in the present, that I thank God for them. David said in Psalm 73, 15, if I had said, I will speak thus behold, I should have betrayed the generation of thy children. And if we allow failures, hardships, pain, sorrow, sickness, poverty, refining, farce, self-perceived, unmet needs to make us bitter. We do betray all those who are looking to us for spiritual guidance and direction. So we don't do that. I have down here that I would not compare my circumstances with that of the ease and the prosperity of the wicked for the prosperity of the wicked is judgment of God. While mine be a prosperity or want ease or trial is the loving care of my heavenly father and ministered from my good. My circumstances, even when painful, are always grace. Theirs, even though prosperous, are always judgment." And then I have some verses here to remind me of that. Lastly, I focus on Hebrew Habakkuk 3, 17 and 18. Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olives should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exalt in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." I need to be looking at that every day because things can change very quickly, can't they? A month ago, the children of the churches of Russia and the children of the churches of the Ukraine were going to school, going to work, enjoying their lives and the prosperity of their countries. And then all of a sudden, overnight, they're on the front, killing and being killed, buildings being burned, buildings being destroyed, walking 20, 30 miles to escape overnight. My father would tell me, you know, he came home from school one day and there was no money. It's called the Great Depression. Just overnight. Banks were closed. Stores were empty. There was no money. He woke up one morning in his dorm room at Vanderbilt University And Moore had broken out and in his little cubby hole, there was a letter, greetings from the United States government. And instead of taking an exam that Friday, he was in an induction line heading to Europe for the next five years. Things can change very, very quickly and we need to have our hearts prepared. And we do this by thanking God for whatever circumstances we are in that day. And when that day is good or that day is bad, we are still doing the same thing. Now, time's up here. So we will pick up next week on the more positive aspects of the prayer notebook. And we, by way of introduction, the next thing I pray over is I thank God for Jesus. Consider Him, Hebrews 12, 3, for consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself. Irrespective of our current circumstances and how we feel about them, we can always be thankful for the sacrifice of Christ in our meditations and thanksgivings. Our own circumstances seem inconsequential by comparison. And what I realized, there were two times when I was thanking Jesus. I was thanking Him for His birth at Christmas. I was thanking Him for His death, burial, and resurrection. at Easter. But you know, I realize I should be considering him and thanking him every day, not just twice a year. So I have these disciplines and these passages which I'll share with you and that we will go over. So may God add his blessing to his holy word. In Christ's name I pray. Amen.