One More Thing Before the Miracle

Thankful sums up how we have felt on our journey to become parents. We thank Jesus every day for our babies that we will one day get to hold. We thank Him for the trials we have endured. We thank Him for the joy, strength, and peace He gives us daily. The list goes on and on. I love the topic of Tim Dilena’s recent sermon: gratitude. He makes the point that when we are praying for something and waiting, we should always be thankful, even before it’s answered. We shouldn’t wait until after.

Luke 17:11-17 tells the story of Jesus healing 10 men with Leprosy. Out of those 10 men, only one thanked God. In verse 16, the man threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. In verse 19, Jesus asks what happened to the other 9 men and why didn’t they respond in thankfulness? Jesus then declares, “Your faith has made you well”.

What a powerful story and what a great reminder of what thankfulness does. While the other 9 had just got up and left, the one samaritan stayed to thank God and then received more than he had asked for. All 9 men received the gift with an ungrateful spirit. Because of the one man’s grateful spirit, he grew in the understanding of God’s grace and learned that his faith played a role in His healing. This story gives us a picture that the other 9 missed out on additional blessings from God. I don’t know why they left after they were healed, but maybe they felt entitled or like they deserved the miracle.

The thankful man got something deeper that everyone else missed out. God goes deeper when we are thankful. Thankfulness takes us from where we are to where we need to be.

There are so many other examples of God multiplying gratitude.

• In Matthew 15:36, when Jesus gave thanks and broke the bread, they had so much, that there were leftovers. Thankfulness multiples what you have and leaves you with leftovers.
• In John 11:41, Jesus thanks God. The next verse, Lazarus was raised from the dead. Thankfulness here brings dead stuff to life.

Stop being angry for what God hasn’t done and start thanking Him. Instead of praying out of desperation and telling God what you want from Him, show gratitude.

Psalm 100:4 in the message says, Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. So much of our days are driven by passwords. Passwords to check your your bank account, your email, your airline miles, your applications at work, your alarm at home, etc….

Let’s start thinking of thankfulness as a password. It unlocks the key to what we are believing for. It brings answered prayer and it brings breakthrough. But, it’s so much more important than that. Even if the Lord never once did one more thing for us, we still have SO much to be thankful for. He sent His son to die on the cross, shouldn’t that be enough?

Transition from saying “I need” to “I thank”. Stop withholding your thanks you while waiting for something to happen. Thank you should happen before the miracle, not after the miracle.

Let 2014 be a year to thank Him for what He has done, what He is doing, and what He is going to do. He is doing 10,000 while you are waiting, praying, and believing for one. All He wants while you wait is gratitude. Remember the password, thank you!