Miracles happen when we give thanks

 

We tend to ask more instead of thank more. 

We tend to need more instead of being content with what we have.

We tend to forget what God has done for us, but remember the things He hasn't done.

We tend to complain, instead of being grateful and praise Him.

There is power in praise and thanksgiving. 

In psalms 22:3 says,  "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel".

God inhabits the praises of His people. To inhabit means to dwell in, to live in. 

Where God is, there is favour and liberty. When He dwells in our praises, He favours them(supports our praises, gives His approval). 

1Thessolonians 5:16-18 says, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus".

Hebrews 13:15-16 says, "Through Jesus therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruits of lips that openly profess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased".

In the scriptures above, we can see that it is God's will that we give thanks in all circumstances and praise always.

These scriptures take me back to the story where Jesus fed a crowd and He had only 5 loaves and 2 fish.  What He did next is something we Christians tend to overlook when we read this story.  

He did not ask God to multiply the food, He simply gave thanks and the food was multiplied. And even after the crowd had been fed, there were leftovers.

You see, God sees our heart! He knows what we need! The minute Jesus gave thanks, a miracle occurred.   

This led me to two things after getting this revelation.

1) Thanksgiving and praise are the transportation we need to bring answered prayers that have materialised in the spiritual realm into manifestation in the physical realm. 

In the second scripture, it says that the sacrifice of praise pleases God!

This took me to the scriptures Hebrews 11:6 which states that without faith, it's impossible to please God and Hebrews 11:1 which states that faith is the substance of this hoped for. Substance in this sense means root. Faith is the root of things hoped for and without it, it is impossible to please God and sacrifices of praise pleases God.

2) Thanksgiving and sacrifices of praises are the evidence of our faith and they are pleasing to God.

Miracles happen when we give thanks and sacrifice our praises.  And like Abel who was honoured by God for the sacrifice he offered, the quality of our praises and thanks is determined by the condition of our hearts.

God is not man, He cannot be mocked!!!!

You'll find that one can only enter God's presence through Thanksgiving and praise. Thanksgiving opens the gates and praise permits us into His courts(Psalm 100:4-5).

 I'm not saying we should stop asking God for things, but that we should spend more time giving Him praises instead of complaining and just asking for things without acknowledging His goodness and who He is. 

Start with praise and thanksgiving and the rest will take care of itself.