My Thanksgiving Eve tradition is to a) cook as much as possible beforehand and b) spend 30 minutes going before the Lord with my unanswered prayers.

This year that includes a prayer for decent weather for a seven-hour one-way drive. The prayers also include well-worn requests for healing for people I love. The Lord knows best, but He has also encouraged us to be as relentless as the old widow in asking for things.

This period of prayer sets us up for mindful and joyful Thanksgiving. In her book, “Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough,” Kay Warren wrote, “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to pray God in all things.”

This experience is one of the unanswered prayers I will offer as I ask for the grace to make it become a daily experience.