Latest / Divine515 Podcast / Devotional Week 6: Thankfulness Changes Everything

Transcript

Devotional Week 6: Thankfulness Changes Everything · Divine515 Podcast

• 0:12
  Welcome to the intercessor's corner where life's questions
• 0:15
  and topics are met with biblical truth and
• 0:18
  spirit led wisdom.
• 0:19
  Here's this week's work to fuel and fortify
• 0:22
  your prayer walk.
• 0:28
  Today, I wanna talk about
• 0:30
  Thanksgiving,
• 0:32
  but not in the traditional sense.
• 0:35
  I wanna come from the slant
• 0:37
  where thanks thankfulness
• 0:39
  changes everything.
• 0:40
  And the scripture I want to use to
• 0:44
  ground this conversation today
• 0:46
  comes from Philippians four and six,
• 0:49
  where the scripture tells us do not be
• 0:51
  anxious about anything,
• 0:53
  but in every situation by prayer and petition
• 0:56
  with thanksgiving,
• 0:57
  present your request to God.
• 1:01
  Now I wanna open this conversation up by
• 1:04
  saying that when Paul wrote these words,
• 1:06
  he wasn't actually
• 1:08
  sitting in
• 1:09
  comfort or ease.
• 1:11
  In fact, it was just the opposite. He
• 1:13
  was sitting in a prison cell
• 1:15
  for preaching the gospel,
• 1:18
  and yet he tells us not to be
• 1:20
  anxious,
• 1:21
  but instead to pray with thanksgiving.
• 1:25
  Now the question
• 1:26
  would start to arise, why thanksgiving?
• 1:30
  Why not pray with urgency or with passion
• 1:33
  or with desperation, which
• 1:36
  might be things that depending on the situation,
• 1:38
  we might actually do.
• 1:41
  The answer is because
• 1:43
  thankfulness
• 1:45
  changes the posture of the heart.
• 1:51
  Thankfulness
• 1:52
  rewires the way we see God.
• 1:55
  The scripture tells us that without faith, it's
• 1:57
  impossible to please him,
• 2:00
  and it's easy to get caught up with
• 2:02
  what's going on around us.
• 2:05
  But when we look at the situation
• 2:08
  from a thankful standpoint,
• 2:10
  instead of murmuring and complaining,
• 2:14
  although it could be worse,
• 2:16
  our thankfulness
• 2:17
  shifts our focus from what is missing
• 2:20
  to what has been given.
• 2:24
  It moves us from fear into trust.
• 2:28
  A lot of times when we're going through
• 2:29
  things,
• 2:31
  we panic
• 2:33
  because we can't figure it out, or we
• 2:35
  wanna take care of it ourself, or maybe
• 2:37
  we're used to being in control.
• 2:40
  But maybe consider that God has allowed us
• 2:43
  to be in that situation
• 2:45
  so that we can trust him and be
• 2:47
  reminded that he's our source.
• 2:51
  And when we put our faith in him,
• 2:54
  it casts out
• 2:56
  fear.
• 2:58
  It also reminds us that God has already
• 3:01
  shown himself
• 3:03
  faithful.
• 3:04
  I often say if God heals you, delivers
• 3:07
  you, brings you out
• 3:10
  once, he can do it again.
• 3:12
  And that same God
• 3:14
  who carried us before,
• 3:16
  he'll do it again
• 3:18
  because
• 3:19
  he's not a one and done.
• 3:21
  He understands that we're gonna continuously
• 3:24
  have things that happen in our life,
• 3:26
  and he's gonna continually
• 3:28
  be there to bring us out and deliver
• 3:30
  us.
• 3:33
  Then there's the idea that thankfulness doesn't deny
• 3:36
  the reality of our situation.
• 3:39
  I think sometimes that when we give our
• 3:41
  lives over to God,
• 3:43
  we are under the false notion that everything's
• 3:46
  gonna be perfect and everything is gonna be
• 3:48
  rosy.
• 3:49
  In fact, it's just the opposite.
• 3:51
  You're gonna go through whether you
• 3:54
  have God in your life or not.
• 3:56
  The idea or the challenge would be,
• 4:00
  who are you going to run to when
• 4:01
  your back is up against the wall?
• 4:04
  The world will tell you that you need
• 4:06
  to
• 4:06
  lean to your own understanding,
• 4:08
  but the scripture says in all your ways
• 4:11
  acknowledge God because he will direct and guide
• 4:14
  your path.
• 4:16
  And it's not to say that what you're
• 4:17
  going through
• 4:18
  isn't horrible. It might be absolutely
• 4:23
  absolutely
• 4:24
  terrifying,
• 4:25
  horrible, and
• 4:27
  beyond belief,
• 4:29
  but knowing that God has you is what
• 4:32
  makes all the difference.
• 4:35
  The scripture tells us man is born of
• 4:37
  a woman and full of trouble, so it's
• 4:39
  not that we're gonna get out of it,
• 4:41
  it's just that God is there with us.
• 4:44
  And when we choose to
• 4:47
  be thankful,
• 4:48
  our thankfulness
• 4:51
  aligns us with the reality of God's ability.
• 4:54
  It says, God, I'm gonna put my trust
• 4:56
  in you and not in the situation,
• 4:59
  regardless of what the situation looks like.
• 5:04
  When we come before God with thanksgiving,
• 5:07
  what we're actually saying with our hard posture
• 5:10
  is
• 5:11
  you've been faithful before and I trust you
• 5:14
  now.
• 5:17
  You've made a way before
• 5:18
  and you can do it again.
• 5:22
  And even before you answer this prayer, father,
• 5:26
  I'm going to choose to thank you because
• 5:29
  I know you're good.
• 5:31
  You were good to me before,
• 5:33
  you're gonna be good to me
• 5:36
  now.
• 5:38
  So maybe today you're facing something heavy,
• 5:41
  A decision, a burden,
• 5:43
  uncertainty about the future.
• 5:47
  Let's acknowledge that.
• 5:50
  But instead
• 5:51
  of asking why,
• 5:54
  look at it as an opportunity
• 5:56
  for you to grow closer to God and
• 5:58
  for him to show himself stronger
• 6:01
  in your life.
• 6:03
  And instead of letting anxiety speak louder than
• 6:05
  your faith,
• 6:07
  take a moment
• 6:08
  to pause
• 6:10
  and thank him.
• 6:13
  There's power in your praise and in your
• 6:16
  thanksgiving.
• 6:18
  Take a moment
• 6:20
  to thank him for what he's already done.
• 6:23
  Take a moment to thank him for what
• 6:25
  he's doing in ways you cannot see,
• 6:30
  and take a moment
• 6:31
  and know that he listens, he cares, and
• 6:34
  he answers.
• 6:36
  You don't get to choose
• 6:38
  what you go through.
• 6:40
  You choose how you go through it,
• 6:42
  and you don't get to choose how long
• 6:44
  it takes, but you can lighten the load
• 6:47
  of the weight by giving him the thanksgiving
• 6:51
  and praise
• 6:52
  that's due him for bringing you out ahead
• 6:54
  of time.
• 6:56
  And remember,
• 6:58
  Thanksgiving isn't something that you sprinkle on top
• 7:01
  of prayer.
• 7:02
  Thanksgiving is what gives your prayer its strength.
• 7:11
  Thank you for joining me in the intercessor's
• 7:14
  corner. If today's word encouraged you,
• 7:16
  be sure to subscribe to Divine's podcast
• 7:20
  so you'll always be fueled for your weekly
• 7:22
  prayer walk.