Thanksgiving

And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. John 6:11

Thanksgiving is an extremely powerful key to spiritual breakthrough. There are four reasons why we give thanks:

• Firstly, thanksgiving is a command from God. It is neither a suggestion nor an option, it is a command. The Bible says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17).

• Secondly, thanksgiving is a sure indication that the Holy Spirit is in you. We are told to “be filled with the Spirit … giving thanks always for all things to God” (Eph. 5:18-20). The measure of the Holy Spirit within you can partly be gauged by seeing how often and sincerely you give thanks to God each day. When you cease to give Him thanks, it is an indication that you are probably “leaking” the presence of the Spirit.

• Thirdly, thanksgiving is the will of God for you. Paul says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).

• Finally, thanksgiving is part of bringing your prayer requests before the Lord. The Bible says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). God does everything by prayer and nothing without it. Remember, never bring a prayer request to Him without first giving Him thanks. When we do that, two wonderful miracles begin to happen:

(1) Thanksgiving opens the pathway for you to come into God’s presence. Without thanksgiving, there can be no access to God. We enter the gates of His presence through thanksgiving (Ps. 100:4). Many people pray for a long time and still feel so distant from Him. The reason is because they are not praying His way. You can stand outside and shout loudly to God. But you are still not going to have access to His presence unless you come through the gate of thanksgiving.

(2) Thanksgiving is a key that unlocks God’s supernatural power. In John 6, Jesus wanted to feed 5,000 men. He didn’t pray a verbose prayer. All He did was to give thanks for the five loaves and two fish. Immediately, the power of God came to multiply the food for the multitude. Many times, we miss out on the power of God simply because we do not release it through thanksgiving!