As you may know, giving thanks isn’t just a good exercise we do to help us be more grateful. It’s not less than that, but it is more.
Giving thanks is also a prophetic declaration.
How so?
We are to thank and praise God in the midst of the storm before deliverance comes. Why? Because we are assured of deliverance. Remember the story where Jesus and the disciples got into a boat and Jesus said, “Let’s cross to the other side.” When a massive storm came upon them, the disciples panicked.
Jesus rested while they were freaking out.
Afterward, He rebuked them for being afraid and having such little faith. They didn’t believe what He had clearly and explicitly told them, “Let’s cross to the other side.”
God’s words can be trusted. In the midst of a storm, we can place our full weight upon them, giving thanks and praise before we see the outcome. In doing so, it becomes a prophetic declaration.
Thanksgiving can be offered before prayer is answered. Mark 11:24 clearly states that “You can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve receivED it, it will be yours.” Of course the word anything has a caveat, “If we ask anything according to His will, he hears us” (1 John 5:4). Notice the word “received” is past tense. In other words, the moment after we ask Him for something, according to His will, the prayer has already been answered.
What am I getting at? If we pray according to His will, He hears us. If we know He heard us and answered us, it’s no longer necessary to keep asking, but we do need to do something.
We thank Him for hearing and answering until we receive what we’ve asked for.
So, giving thanks is two-fold. First, we are thankful for what we have been given, and second, we are thankful for what we have not yet received but know is coming.
This Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks for both – what we have, and that which is on the way!
And if you haven’t done any asking lately, start by giving thanks for what you have been given already (we enter His courts with thanksgiving and His gates with praise, Psalm 100), then ask Him, according to His will, for what you need or want.
And give Him thanks, before it comes.
If we really believe he hears us when we pray, the most natural thing in the world is to thank Him for it!
If you don’t know His will (also means His desire), take a step back and ask Him to make it clear. The surest way to know His will is through the written word of God.
“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us!” (see 1 Corinthians 1:20)
A Word to Leaders
Giving thanks and vision go hand in hand. Vision is the art of being thankful for the past and looking with insight into the future while living fully in the present.
Taking time to celebrate the good things God has done gives us a foundation to stand upon as we gaze into the future.
When it comes to future vision, giving thanks is what helps make the dream a reality and pulls it into the present. We thank God for doing what He has shown us.
God gives us vision, and we offering thanksgiving because in His eyes it’s already a done deal.
It’s our responsibility to model this for people. We must show them how to celebrate God’s faithfulness and be content in the present all while thanking God for what is yet to come.
