The Power of Thanksgiving - Part 1 - By Pat Stanton
Our thoughts turn to the word "thanksgiving" as we approach our national holiday of Thanksgiving. I hope we see this day not just as a calendar event, but as an opportunity to saturate ourselves with praise and thanksgiving. As we form habits to enter into thanksgiving and prayer, we tend to become people who worship God from within.
RESULTS OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING:
1. Praise Opens the Door to Effective Prayer which Results in Deliverance:
"Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me" (Psalm 50:14,15).
2. Blessing, Praising, and Seeking the Lord Brings an End to Lack:
"I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing" (Psalm 34:1-3,10).
3. Praise to God Brings Increase:
"Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him" (Psalm 67:5-7).
4. Praise with a Pure Heart Brings God's Salvation:
"Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God." In the Hebrew translation, the word "salvation" means: liberty, deliverance, prosperity, safety (to be safe), to preserve, to get victory.