Part 8: Thanks and Praise

Self-Paced Retreats

This is Part 8 of our Let the Thirsty Come retreat series, which highlights different aspects of spending extended quality time with God.

Do we treat praise as a religious obligation, or like paying our taxes — giving what we are obligated to? In Psalm 145, we find a different picture! This month’s devotional encourages us to a life saturated with praise, flowing from the reality of our great, good, and glorious Savior.

Retreat Activities

In this retreat, we soak in the rich glory of our heavenly Father, a God who promises that just as waters fill the deep oceans — so the earth will overflow with the rich awareness of his magnificent, incomparable beauty.

The retreat consists of 4 sections: Praise, Resting with Your Good God, Continued Praise, and Closing. Each section may take you around 30 to 45 minutes to complete. Perhaps more than in any other retreat, set a restful pace. The goal is to rest and rejoice in the goodness of God. Do not be concerned if you don’t finish all the sections in your allotted time. Spend your time setting your eyes on Jesus and rejoicing in him.

Praise

In this first section, you will use a psalm of praise as a template for expressing your own thanks, love, and worship to God.

Transition Activities (choose one)

Psalm 131 – Calming and quieting our souls before the Lord

The Lord’s Prayer – Slowly praying through and personalizing the Lord’s Prayer in order to commit ourselves to God and look to him for all that we need today

Liturgy of the Month – Satisfied by Christ’s Riches

Main Activity (choose one)

Written Praise – In this activity, multiple possibilities are given for how to pray and personalize a psalm in order to express your own praise and thanks. This can look like a written prayer, poem, song, or liturgy.
Color-Coded Thanks – Use this activity to record your specific prayers to the Lord and how you have seen God answer. This is a very helpful tool not only for a time of retreat, but also for daily or weekly journaling rhythms.

Resting with Your Good God

Take an extended break to rest, rejoice in the Lord, and enjoy his good gifts.

Main Activities (choose any)

Listen and Sing – Listen to a few favorite songs of praise and sing along. You can do this sitting or while on a walk.

Have a Snack – Slow down and enjoy a small snack, thanking God for the good and simple daily gifts he gives his people.

Read a Devotional Chapter – If you are someone who feels rested or energized by reading, read a devotional chapter that sets your eyes on the beauty and greatness of God. Feel free to choose a chapter from one of your own books, or from the following suggestions (the English of each has been updated to make them more readable). Possible chapters:
“The Joyful Duty of Daily Praise” – a sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon
On Loving God by Bernard of Clairvaux – Chapter 5, “The Christian’s Debt Of Love”
Humility by Andrew Murray – Chapter 1, “Humility: the Glory of the Creature”

Present Tense Praise – Do the Being Present activity with the following modification: as you notice the things that are around you, verbally give thanks to the Lord for some of the good or beautiful gifts you see, hear, smell, touch, or taste. Even as you add giving thanks, maintain a restful heart and pace. After you offer a sentence of thanks, pause and linger in stillness so that you can be fully present and aware of your surroundings.

Resting with the Lord – Find a comfortable place to rest for several minutes. This could be sitting in a comfortable chair or on a bench, laying on a picnic blanket, relaxing in a hammock, etc. Thank the Lord that he gives rest to his children, and enjoy several unhurried restful minutes with him. If you are tired, take a nap for 20 minutes, setting a gentle alarm so that you can return to your time of retreat afterward.

Sing and Read – Grab a hymnal or songbook and sing some songs. If you come to a song you don’t know, consider reading it out loud as poetry. I have recently been doing this with some older hymns and have really enjoyed using the hymnal “Hymns of the Christian Life” published in 1936 (available online: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/HoCL1936)

Continued Praise

In this section, you will again use the Psalms to express praise and thanks to God, but this time with more active or creative means. Consider using Imagining with a Text as your means of meditating on a psalm.

Main Activity (choose one)

Creative Praise – Using artistic means (painting, drawing, collage, poetry, etc.) can help us engage our hearts and express our praise in very different ways than just writing or verbal prayer. Don’t worry, those with any (or no) level of artistic ability are able to engage fruitfully in creative praise.

Active Praise – It is often helpful to physically involve our bodies in our time of prayer and praise. There is good precedent for this in God’s Word (dancing, clapping hands, lying prostrate, etc).

Closing

If any time remains, wrap up your time with the Lord and rest in him. You may want to use one of the closing activities that helps you think through your key themes or takeaways from your time with God.

Main Activities (choose one)

Closing Liturgy – Write a short liturgy that allows you in the coming days to revisit what has been meaningful from your time of retreat.

Closing Reflection and Prayer – This activity includes a few reflection questions to help you prayerfully journal about your time spent with God.

Continue Resting – If time permits, do one of the previous activities from the section “Resting with Your Good God.”

Example Retreats

These activities can be done in two short, 1-hour retreats, or as a single 2- to 3-hour retreat. All of the following are just suggestions – change them and customize them with activities you find most helpful.

Short Retreat, Part 1

Short Retreat, Part 2

Two- to Three-Hour Retreat

Tips and Reminders

Foster a Heart of Praise

Praise is much more than outward practice. Because of this, during this retreat seek to intentionally foster a heart of praise and thanks.
As we desire to grow in a heart of authentic love for God, David’s testimony in the Psalms gives helpful guidance. In Psalm 145 he says: “on the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.” A heart of praise comes from intentionally fixing our eyes on Jesus. So in this retreat, dwell on the reality of who your God and Savior is and all he has done. Set your mind on things above.
Parallel to this is intentionally fostering thankfulness. The truth is that every good thing that we experience day to day is a gift from God. Do we recognize them as gifts? Are we intentionally looking for the gifts that we are receiving today – even small gifts of daily provision, kindness, and grace? Intentionally look for them today, recognize what they are, and give thanks to your good Father for each one.

Foster Daily Praise

Remember, we desire to foster praise every day – as David says, “every day I will bless you.” The structure of this retreat works well to do it in 2 separate sittings. Consider if doing the retreat as 2 mini retreats might help you set a tone of praise day by day. Between retreats, and following them, how can you intentionally seek daily thankfulness, set your heart on Christ throughout the day, stop and take moments to praise him, and record your thanks to him?

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