Psalms 100:4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”
It’s bedtime for our daughter. And she’s very precise about it.
Turn on the nightlight, and THEN turn off the light. Next, gather her bedtime stuffed animals (I believe the count is up to five now) followed by her night-night [blanket] and then wait for her get “comfortable.” After that, Mommy or Daddy (we take turns) prays with her, followed by her prayer. We end with a couple of songs, after which she reminds us to check on her before we go to bed. Whew!
Everything has to happen just so. (It’s quite amusing, at least to me.) Bedtime prayers have been part of her nightly routine probably since we began a nighttime routine. She is very regimented in her nocturnal practices.
Mom was the one who noticed, though: her prayers had become routine, too. The way many five-year-olds pray (and many adults, for that matter), it was, “Help me with this,” or “Please give me that.” We could almost recite it with her.
Praying was a good habit, but it was habit that could be improved.
So Mommy made a new rule, “Make sure you thank God for at least five things every time you pray.”
Now when she prays, she always takes time to thank Him. (And you can generally count them as she does it: 1-2-3-4-5.) Routine or not, she’s learning that thanking Him is as beneficial as asking Him.
Bring your requests to God, but “enter his gates with thanksgiving.”
And you don’t HAVE to stop at five.
Devotionally Speaking 