The first verse I want us to look at is Romans 4:19-20 (KJV), which reads, And being not weak in faith, he (Abraham) considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.
Take a moment for personal reflection here. Abraham is called the father of our faith. BUT, are you following his example? If not, you need to be. Ok, personal reflection time is over. Before we go further into this verse, let's back up and let me tell you what thanksgiving is not. Thanksgiving--it's NOT just something you do when you avoid tragedy. Thanksgiving--it's NOT something you do off the cuff. Thanksgiving--it's NOT just for the dinner table. What IS thanksgiving? Stay with me and you'll find out. Like the title says, it's more powerful than you might think.
Back to Romans 4:19-20. As we all know, Abraham has a son born to him through his wife, Sara when he was 100 years old and she was 90. Here's my question: "How? How did a man and woman that old have a child?" Certainly, God is all powerful and able to do all things. Nothing is impossible for God. But to stop there in response to my question would be a mistake. There is a great lesson here and most of us read right over it and never think twice about it. Read those verses again. ......go ahead, do it right now........
In order to work in a man or woman's life, God needs fundamental ingredients or whatever He is trying to do won't work! If you don't understand that, dear brother and sister, you need to. God cannot do much of anything in your life apart from faith. I did not say God chooses not to, I said He cannot. If you don't believe me, read Mark 6:5-6. It is absolute and complete foolishness to believe that God can or will do something in the life of a believer regardless of whether or not he or she is praying in faith when every bit of lesson in the Bible concerning faith teaches otherwise. If you believe these verses in Mark, you can't believe that!
Now, the end of Romans 4:6 says that Abraham gave glory to God. That is just a fancy way of saying that Abraham gave thanksgiving to God. Why did Abraham do this? Whether knowingly or unknowingly, he was demonstrating to God that he believed the promise God gave him. He believed God would give him a child through Sara. One thing is certain, he was thankful. In Abraham's mind, God's promise of a child was as good as him having the child. And that produced in him a gusher of thanksgiving. Abraham gave thanks for what He didn't yet have! That's wonderful, you might be thinking, but I still don't see why thanksgiving is important. Here's why: I can't prove this through the Bible, but in my mind I am satisfied that if Abraham had not given thanks to God concerning His promise, Abraham would never have had Isaac. I base that on these two verses in James:
- Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself (James 2:17).
- For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:26).
Abraham's thanksgiving was his "work." It was his corresponding action to what he believed. It demonstrated that he was fully convinced that what God promised, He would perform. If Abraham did not add a "work" to his faith, if he had not added a corresponding action, his faith would have been dead. The reason being is that if Abraham truly believed God, his actions would have demonstrated it. If Abraham believed God's promise he would have acted like it was so. Let me say this again because I believe it is so powerful, In Abraham's mind, God's promise of a child was as good as him having the child. I want you to really, really think about that. Because even now that I'm writing it, I'm seeing it in a whole new light and boy it is POWERFUL!
We can do the same thing as Abraham, you know. God says that He is alert and active, watching over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12 AMP). We can be just like faithful Abraham and grab hold of any one of God's promises, claim it as our own and give God thanks for it. We can let our faith grab that promise and say, "The promise of having it is just as good as having it. I have it because God says I have it!" Then, let thanksgiving become your corresponding action. Thanksgiving, when done deliberately and in faith, will actually build up your faith so that your can receive God's promise by faith. Why do you think that Philippians 4:6 says, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God? Is it for your health!? Is it so God can feel good about Himself!? Brothers and sisters, when you realize that everything God has said and everything He has done has been for yours and my benefit in order to get us back to the place where we were supposed to have been before the fall, you will instantly stop complaining about ANYTHING He has said through His word. He has done not one thing that was not intended completely for our benefit. Not one! Get a hold of that and then turn loose with it, Praise God!
Finally, what is true thanksgiving? Thanksgiving IS a means by which we add works to our faith. Thanksgiving IS a way in which we can build up our faith so that we might receive what we are believing for. Thanksgiving IS a demonstration of our conviction that He who promised is able also to perform. Thanksgiving IS a way to receive more from God.
Like God told Creflo Dollar, "Thanksgiving is the ignition." It gets things going. I dare you to try it! Just start praising and thanking God for something that you are believing Him for. Don't just give thanks for what you do have, give thanks like Abraham--for what you don't yet have in manifestation. And the louder the devil gets trying to tell you that you aren't receiving anything, the louder you get! I'm telling you from experience. It doesn't take long, I've done it on car rides and by the time you get to where you are going, you are so unmovable in your stance on God's promise that no devil could shake you. Try it today. Try it NOW!
