On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (06/01/21), Hank returns to discussing his F-A-C-T-S prayer guide in his series on the Gospel of Matthew. The “T” represents thanksgiving, for “Prayer without thanksgiving is like a bird without wings.” Scripture exhorts us to “enter his gates with thanksgiving.” Failure to do so is the stuff of pagan babblings and carnal Christianity. Pagans, said Paul, know about God but “they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.” Every day we experience the grace of God. Yet how many of us daily throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus and thank him? Each new day we ought to approach God “overflowing with thankfulness” as we devote ourselves “to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” The “S” in F-A-C-T-S represents supplication. It is proper and right that our supplications would be toward the end rather than the beginning of our prayers. For it is only in the context of a relationship with God that our requests make any sense at all. Imagine asking a complete stranger to pay for your dinner. Or imagine asking a friend for help despite an obviously neglected relationship. Supplication only makes sense in the context of connection. The purpose of supplication is not to pressure God into providing us with provisions and pleasures, but rather to conform us to his purposes. If we walk according to his will rather than trying to command him according to our own, we will enjoy not a counterfeit panacea, but what he promised: peace in the midst of the storm.