“Thank you, mommy.”
Oh my goodness, my friends, every time my kids say these three simple words, it blesses me wildly. Usually in a case like this, I find myself in the middle of a parking lot, holding a load of grocery bags, but everything in me wants to drop everything to hug the living daylights out of them.
Always, my heart cries out something like:
God, thank you!!! My kids see my heart for them. They know my love. They recognize how much I want to give them the very best. They appreciate my heart to provide them simple pleasures. They have moved my heart.
And, I can’t help but think, today… just as their thanks moved my heart, my thanks moves God’s heart.
Just as I want to do a little happy-dance due to my kids’ thankful heart, I wonder if God feels the same way? Just as my children appreciate sacrifice and it moves me to embrace them in love, does my thanks move God to want to embrace me, too? Just as I overflow with the desire to give my kids even more after they give thanks, does God want to pour out more on me, also?
This could be! Scripture says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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)
We pray away harm, while we thank God for who He is and guess what happens? He gives peace. We petition for God’s protection and we end up with a God-embrace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Friends, “thanks” is not only a nice thing we do and say, but it is a weapon of spiritual warfare. Thanks is not only a spiritual weapon, but it is protection. It mounts guard over our heart and mind. Thanks is not only something God asks us to do, but it is an important component of prayer that works. Thanks gives us power to move forward with peace that causes us to think straight, that empowers wise decisions, and that yields wise reactions.
This Thanksgiving, don’t let thanks end after Thursday. Let it reign in your heart. Thank God for who He is, what He has done and what He will do, thanks to His faithfulness. Thank Him for all He has saved you from. Thank Him for His son. Thank Him for the ways He has helped your families.
Thank Him for saving your life.
Prayer: Father, you have given me so many good gifts in my life. I thank you always take care of me. I thank you that you know every detail of what you are doing with my life. I see a string that doesn’t always make sense, but you know exactly how you are weaving that tapestry into something beautiful. I trust you. I thank you, Father, that who you are is worthy of all my trust. I give that to you today. I thank you for saving me and for loving me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
P.S. It’s not too late to get a copy of the “Faith Workshop” recording. If you need faith now or you want to trust God more, sign up to get the recorded version. Those who attended found it “inspiring”, “freeing” and “encouraging.” Stand firm in faith and peace. Discover why we go through hard times. Receive encouragement and hope. To watch the recording, click here.
*Subscribe for all Purposeful Faith blog posts by email – click here.
