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Breakthrough Word 2008 Issue 54 |
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Thanksgiving！A Key To The Miraculous
By John Gagliardi |
One of the things that fascinates and delights me, as a regular reader of the
Bible, is how you can read the same piece of Scripture countless times, and then！suddenly！
seemingly out of the blue, it lights up like you have never seen it before. It is of course
the Holy Spirit lighting up or "illuminating" that piece of Scripture as what is often called
a "Rhema Word." Sometimes it's just a single word, sometimes a verse or two, new and fresh and
transfused with vibrant meaning and significance.
This happened to me recently as I was reading！probably for the hundredth time！the Book of
Psalms. I was reading in Psalm 50, and this is what I read in verse 23: "He who sacrifices
THANK OFFERINGS honors Me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."
And bang! There it was！that "Rhema Word" experience. As if I had never read that very familiar
verse before, I suddenly understood in a new way a very important principle in God！that
thanking God helps us get our prayers answered.
Too simplistic? Often the deepest things of God are the simplest. And here, through the
Psalmist David, God is telling us that if we are prepared to offer a "sacrifice" of thanks,
then it opens the way for God to show us His miracle-working power, His "salvation"
(deliverance, rescue, restoration, justification and sanctification).
Why a "sacrifice"? Because sometimes it is easy to thank God, when a great blessing has just
landed in your lap, or things are buzzing along just fine in all or most areas of your life.
But what about when things go wrong！when illness or death strikes; when a relationship is
shattered; when a job or big contract is lost; when God seems impossibly distant and your
prayers seem like they hit a brass ceiling and just bounce back?
What about then? How easy is it to thank God, to praise Him in grateful exuberance and worship?
From personal experience, I can answer that question！it is very, very difficult. At times, it
can seem well nigh impossible. When everything seems to have gone wrong, and God seems to have
packed up and gone on leave. Ever been there, or is it just me?
Giving Thanks In All Things
And yet！yet！even then, God tells us to "give thanks in ALL circumstances (1 Thess. 5:18)
and "ALWAYS giving thanks to God the Father for EVERYTHING" (Eph. 5:20). Note the words he
uses！"all", "always" and "everything." Not too many exceptions to words like these. I don't
see any theological "escape clause."
Going back to one of my favourite stories of miraculous "salvation" or "deliverance," when
God fought the battle for King Jehoshaphat and wiped out "a vast army" of his enemies, note
the sequence of events:
"Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendour of His
holiness, as they went out at the head of the army, saying: 'GIVE THANKS to the Lord, for
His love endures forever.'
"As they began to sing and praise (and GIVE THANKS), the Lord set ambushes against the men
of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated" (2 Chr.
20:21-22).
It was as they began to thank God and to praise Him, even BEFORE they saw his great
deliverance, that God moved and miraculously defeated King Jehoshaphat's enemies. And therein
lies the principle I believe is central to the story！we have to have the faith to thank God
before the miracles, before the victory and the "great deliverance," to thank Him in the
midst of our troubles and anxieties and sorrows and disappointments.
God wants us to have enough faith that He will come through for us, because He tells us after
all that "all things work together for good, for those who love Him and are called to His
purpose" (Rom. 8:28). Faith is believing what we do not see with our eyes, being sure of
what we hope for before we see the manifestation in our lives (Heb. 11:1).
So "sacrificing a thank offering" to God, by faith (and without faith, it is impossible to
please God！Heb. 11:6) we open up a channel, a pathway for God to intervene and bring about
the deliverance we are seeking. Thanking God is not an "optional extra"！it is fundamental to
coming into His presence. Psalms 100:4 tells us that the proper order is to "enter into His
gates with THANKSGIVING, and into His courts with praise; be THANKFUL unto Him, and bless
His Name."
Sacrifice Of Thanksgiving
By its nature, a sacrifice is not easy！it is not meant to be. The meaning of sacrifice is
to give something up, to surrender something valuable or meaningful. And to thank God when
that's the last thing we feel like doing, is indeed a sacrifice. It means laying down our
feelings, our emotions, our pride, and surrendering by faith to God and His grace.
Psalms 107:21 and 22 tells us to "give THANKS to the Lord for His unfailing love and His
wonderful deeds for men. Let them SACRIFICE THANK OFFERINGS, and tell of His works with
songs of joy." In an article The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, David Wilkerson puts it this way:
"...God wants something from all of us in our times of overwhelming troubles and testings. He
wants us to offer Him a SACRIFICE OR THANKSGIVING in the midst of it all! I believe James had
discovered this secret when he admonished "...count it all joy when ye fall into diverse
temptations" (James 1:2). He was saying, 'Don't give up! Make an altar in your heart, offering
up joyous THANKSGIVING in the midst of your trials."
David Wilkerson says the question God asks every one of us is: "Will you thank and praise Me
BEFORE I send help！while you're still in the midst of the battle?" David says that it was
during a time of "great personal heaviness" that God really drove home to him the importance
of the subject of thanksgiving.
He says the Spirit whispered to his heart: "Just begin to thank Me right now ... bring to Me
a SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING ... for all the past things I have done for you, and for what I
am going to do in the future.
"Give me an OFFERING OF THANKSGIVING！and suddenly everything will look different! Your
depression will lift. You'll have peace in your battle. I will bless your soul with assurance!"
According to David, we are no longer to bring to God sacrifices of blood or offerings of silver
and gold for atonement (as in Old Testament times). "Instead, we are to bring Him a SACRIFICE
OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING from our lips.
"'By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the
fruit of our lips GIVING THANKS to His Name' (Heb. 13:15). The 'fruit of our lips' is our
gratitude and thanks!"
"Oh that men would GIVE THANKS to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to
the children of men! Let them SACRIFICE THE SACRIFICES OF THANKSGIVING, and declare his works
with rejoicing ..." (Ps. 107:21-22)
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, WITH
THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7, NIV)
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