“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.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
There’s a way you approach God when you are completely confident that He loves and cares for you. Although you may make supplications and talk to God about our needs, you will do it with thanksgiving. It shows that you know who He is and trust Him completely.
You have to understand that more than your needs, He is interested in you. You have a God who gave His Son for you, will He not freely give you all things? (Romans 8:32).
Therefore, thanksgiving is not something we do at the end when we have seen all our needs met. Rather, we give thanks always because we serve a God who knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). Imagine watching a football match when you already know the scores and you know your team won. You can’t be anxious, right?
Jesus showed us a perfect example of this in John 6:5-13. The people who had come to listen to Jesus were so much that feeding them looked overwhelming to Philip. He told Jesus that it would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough food for each of them to even have a bite. Feeding them looked like an impossible task for him.
Some of us can relate with Philip. The God-sized visions we have are so big that they look insurmountable. The resources we have, just like the five loaves and two small fishes, are seemingly inadequate.
What do we do when we don’t know how to move forward? Let’s take some lessons from Jesus. In verse 11, He took what was available and He gave thanks. He didn’t wait until the miracle had happened.
From this story, we can infer that thanksgiving is a step of faith. It’s how we go from what looks like an impossible mission to having 12 baskets leftover. Multiplication happens when we give thanks.
Dear friends, even as we make supplications, prophesy and watch for all that God is set to do in us and through us this season, let us do so with thanksgiving, fully trusting and resting in the integrity and power of God.
Bible Reading Plan:
Luke 22:39-46, Hebrews 6:13–20, Proverbs 23:1-18, Isaiah 27-28