Thanksgiving

O my Lord, my Lord, I thank Thee
for that I am,
that I am alive,
that I am rational:
for nurture,
preservation,
governance:
for education,
citizenship,
religion:
for Thy gifts of grace,
nature,
estate:
for redemption,
regeneration,
instruction:
for calling,
recalling,
further calling manifold:
for forbearance,
longsuffering,
long longsuffering towards me,
many times,
many years,
until now:
for all good offices I have received,
good speed I have gotten:
for any good thing done:
for the use of things present,
thy promise
and my hope
touching the fruition of the good things to come:
for my parents honest and good,
teachers gentle,
benefactors always to be had in remembrance,
colleagues likeminded,
hearers attentive,
friends sincere,
retainers faithful:
for all who have stood me in good stead
by their writings,
their sermons,
conversations,
prayers,
examples,
rebukes,
wrongs:
for these things and all other,
which I wot of, which I wot not of,
open and secret,
things I remember, things I have forgotten withal,
things done to me after my will or yet against my will,
I confess to Thee and bless Thee and give thanks unto Thee,
and I will confess and bless and give thanks to Thee
all the days of my life.
What thanks can I render to God again
for all the benefits that He hath done unto me?

 

Lancelot Andrewes

via James Kiefer, The Lectionary

Lancelot Andrewes (State 1) by Wenceslaus Hollar

Lancelot Andrewes (State 1)
by Wenceslaus Hollar University of Toronto Wenceslaus Hollar Digital Collection via Wikimedia Commons

3 comments

  1. Bob says:

    Well done on this special day! Happy birthday dear daughter

  2. Marcia says:

    Beautiful. Thank you for sharing this. I need to pray this everyday.

  3. Steve says:

    Wow. What a wonderful, complete prayer of thanksgiving. Thank you for sharing it.