POWER OF THANKSGIVING

You know, when the Lord tells you to do something, you should just do it. Faith is expressed in obedience. Faith is not mental agreement; it is expressed in action through obedience. There are kairos moments, which means there’s a special, unique timing that God has for certain things

September 8, 2024

You know, when the Lord tells you to do something, you should just do it. Faith is expressed in obedience. Faith is not mental agreement; it is expressed in action through obedience. There are kairos moments, which means there’s a special, unique timing that God has for certain things. When God tells you in that moment to do something, don’t think, “What will people think? What will my neighbors think? This sounds illogical.” I’m telling you, you should just do it when the Lord speaks.

Nothing in the Bible is logical according to the world’s standards of practicality. It’s not practical. So, if you wait to think, “Let me wait until it becomes practical enough for me to do it, then I’ll do it,” I’m telling you, it will never happen.

Just imagine with me: Moses is bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt—2 million people following him. These 2 million people are not spiritual people. They are murmuring, they’re complaining. At any moment, they could flip to the other side. He’s leading a stubborn crowd. Now, the army of Egypt is coming to kill everyone. They can only move forward because they can’t go back—the army of Egypt is behind them. But in front of them is the Red Sea, a vast, impossible barrier. They are caught between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army, with nowhere to go.

But God tells Moses, “Stretch out your hand.” Do you know how ridiculous it must have seemed for Moses to stretch out his hand in front of the Red Sea, with the Egyptian army coming behind him? This wasn’t just a canal or a stream; it was a sea. And yet, God told Moses to stretch out his hand. Imagine if Moses had thought, “What will people think of me doing this?” If he had been paralyzed by that thought, the Red Sea wouldn’t have parted.

When a prophetic word is released, and it calls you to act, you should do it. Don’t overthink it. Overthinking can steal the destiny that God has for you. Do you know how the people of Israel conquered the city of Jericho? It wasn’t through military training or by mastering martial arts. They were instructed to march around the city. Doesn’t make sense, right? For six days, they were to walk around the city. Then on the seventh day, they had to march around it seven times. After all that marching, they didn’t get to fight—they had to shout!
Why didn’t Joshua just tell them to attack? Why the “circus” of walking and shouting? Because it was a prophetic word from the Lord. You don’t try to apply logic to God’s prophetic instructions. 

The problem with us is that we are always trying to pursue understanding. We want to figure everything out. But understanding alone won’t bring your breakthrough. When someone goes through a heartbreak or breakup, they often seek “closure” because they think understanding will bring them peace. But that’s not how it works. In any situation, we want to know why things happened, how they happened, and what caused them. We ask all these questions because we crave understanding. But here’s the truth: if you focus solely on understanding, you’ll never receive the peace of God.

Pursue peace over understanding. Do you want peace or do you want understanding? You might think understanding a situation will bring you peace, but I’m telling you, if you pursue God’s peace, understanding will follow. You don’t need to understand everything.

Philippians 4:7 – “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” 

Notice it’s not understanding that surpasses peace—it’s peace that surpasses understanding. The key to entering God’s peace is being willing to give up your right to understand. If you insist on always understanding why things happen, you’ll miss out on the peace God offers. But if you humble yourself and say, “I don’t need to understand, all I want is God’s peace,” then that peace, which surpasses all understanding, will fill your heart.

Don’t chase after understanding; chase after peace. Ask yourself, “Why isn’t my promotion happening?” or “Why am I not getting married?” Maybe you’re the most eligible person in your church or community, yet things aren’t falling into place. Don’t waste your energy pursuing understanding—pursue peace instead.

The peace that God gives isn’t just about feeling calm; it’s deeper than that. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, which means “nothing missing, nothing broken.” When people of God greet each other with “peace be unto you,” it’s not just a casual greeting. They’re declaring restoration. If anything is missing in your life, let it be restored. If something has been broken or stolen from you, let it be made whole again. That’s the power of God’s peace.

So when you’re facing struggles, losing things, or dealing with brokenness, pursue peace. Why? Because God’s peace will bring everything back into order. Are you hearing me? Pursue God’s peace. Pursuing peace doesn’t mean discarding your understanding, but it means prioritizing God’s peace over understanding. Only when you are at peace with God will true spiritual understanding come. 

What you’re really seeking only comes when you receive God’s peace. Let me show you something from Psalm 73, written by Asaph, a worship leader in the courts of David:

Psalm 73:1 – “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”

But then, Asaph says in the next verse:

Psalm 73:2 – “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.”

This shows that even though Asaph knew in his heart that God was good, he still struggled. He almost lost his footing. He was fighting internally, despite his knowledge of God’s goodness.

You’re absolutely right—God is good, period. But the reason Asaph writes “but” in Psalm 73 is because he’s wrestling with doubt. He knows that God is good to Israel, but deep down, he’s asking, “Is God good to me?” That’s the personal struggle. He understands God’s goodness on a broad level, but he’s questioning whether that goodness applies to him in his specific situation.

It’s a struggle many of us face. We believe in God’s goodness, but when we see the prosperity of those who live wickedly, it stirs up doubt. That’s why Asaph says : 

Psalm 73:3 – “For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” 

He’s admitting his own jealousy and frustration. He’s looking around and seeing evil people thrive while he, a faithful servant in God’s house, is not experiencing the same kind of success. This is where his doubt stems from. He feels like despite his faithfulness, God’s goodness isn’t showing up in the way he expected.

I’ll tell you something: all of us believe that God is good. There’s no doubt about that. The challenge comes when we try to believe that God is good to us personally. It’s not always easy because we often disqualify ourselves. We think, “I haven’t prayed enough. I haven’t read my Bible enough. I haven’t given enough to charity or gone on enough mission trips.” We start to believe that God’s goodness is something we have to earn, so when we don’t feel worthy, we question if that goodness is meant for us.

But here’s the good news: God’s goodness is not based on your efforts. You don’t have to earn it. God’s goodness flows from His nature, not from our performance. So even if you feel like you haven’t done enough, God’s goodness is still available to you.

Don’t let doubt and disqualification block you from receiving God’s goodness. God is good to you, right now, regardless of what you’ve done or haven’t done. His goodness is a gift, not a reward for your work. Receive it!

God is not good to you because you are good. God is not good to you because you are good. God is good to you because He is good. It should take the pressure off of you, the pressure to perform, the pressure to live a certain kind of life. I am telling you, God does not respond to you based on your response to Him. God is good to you. 

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.“

The good news: you are in the world. Amen. So it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how bad or how good you are, because you cannot disqualify yourself from God’s goodness. Because God’s goodness is not based on your merit. God’s goodness is based on who God is, and He is good, period.

But this is Asaph. He’s a worship leader. He understands theology, so he knows God is good, but he’s struggling in his life to personally apply this. Is God good to me?

Psalm 73:28, the last words. See the first words. At the beginning of this chapter, he’s very negative, he’s complaining. He’s not in faith right now. But look at the last words:

Psalm 73:28 – “But for me, it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”

Something shifted in his mind. He is moving from unbelief to faith. He is moving from confusion to clarity. What changed? What happened? You want to ask Asaph what happened. It was verse 16:

 

Psalm 73:16 – But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,

When you pursue understanding, it seems like stress. Most of us are depressed because we think a lot. You know, the easiest way to get depressed is overthinking.

In our school, we had this cycle stand where cycles were stacked up. But if one cycle fell down, the entire stack would fall over. That’s what happens when we overthink. “Oh, I’m having pain in my body.” “Oh, maybe it’s a headache.” By the end of the day, you have confirmed it’s cancer. That’s overthinking for you.

Psalm 73:16: “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task.”

The problem with Asaph is the problem that we face, which is to understand. We are trying to understand why. Why is this happening? Especially when we are grieving somebody, we wonder why. Why did this happen? Why did God allow this? Until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I discerned their end. Asaph’s struggle is why? Why are the wicked prospering? I’ve been so faithful, but my salary has not increased. But this guy who’s evil and cheats has been promoted three times. He is struggling with this thought, but then until he goes into the sanctuary of God, his mind flips. He says, 

Psalms 73 : 17-19 _  till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground;  you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!

You know, the Bible says the wealth of the righteous is stored up by the wicked. Your wealth is being stored up by the wicked. So don’t be bothered when they are getting promoted and they are holding money and keeping it in their safe houses. It doesn’t matter because it will come to you. Your blessing has your name on it. Amen. Be confident in the Lord.

So what I’m trying to tell you is pursue peace, pursue God’s presence over understanding. Give up your right to understand. When you do that, when you enter into God’s presence, now spiritual understanding comes.

Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

If you just see the last line, it says God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. You need to say this for yourself: God’s will for my life is good, acceptable, and perfect. His plans for my life are good, acceptable, and perfect. His dreams for my future are good, acceptable, and perfect.

But here’s the thing, it takes a renewed mind to understand that God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. This is what was happening with Asaph. His mind was not renewed, so he was struggling to understand why this was happening. But once he entered the sanctuary of God, his mind was renewed, and now he knows “God’s will for my life is good, acceptable, and perfect.” You see that his circumstances haven’t changed yet. His bank balance is still empty. His boss is torturing him, sending him emails at 2:00 AM. But now he has a spiritual understanding because his mind is renewed. He has confidence in the Lord.

So, even though my earthly bank balance is empty, my spiritual heavenly bank balance is full and overflowing. Put your confidence in the Lord.

Do you know that when Jesus had to pay taxes, He told Peter to catch a fish, and in the first fish that he caught, he would find a coin? You can pay taxes by catching fish. I’m saying think beyond your natural senses. Think beyond. Set your mind on things above. Amen.

You are the wealthiest people on the face of the world. How are you the wealthiest people? Pastor, how am I wealthy? My bank balance is, you know, two days later I have an EMI, and I am waiting for God to fill it. Pastor, you are wealthy because you know Jesus. Okay, how many of you believe that Jesus is the wealthiest man? You don’t believe Jesus is King of Kings? The King of Kings is not just a king. He is King of Kings. Jesus is whom you belong to. He has become your bank balance. Do you need a separate bank account? No, He has become your bank account. Amen. Overflowing resources. With Jesus, you can be in the wilderness and He can multiply five loaves of bread to feed 5,000. You don’t have to be in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, UAE, or Canada for God to provide you. God can provide you wherever you are. Amen.

But it takes a renewed mind to understand God’s will. And you cannot have a renewed mind until you encounter His presence. Without encountering His presence, this will all look intellectual. But when you encounter His presence, this moves from being intellectual to becoming a reality.

You know, I’ve told you the story before that there was a season in my life when I was struggling with my finances. I was meditating on Deuteronomy 28:2.

Deuteronomy 28:2 – “The Lord shall set you high above all nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you.”

And one day, while I was meditating on something else, basically, but I was in the presence of God, God spoke very clearly to me and said, “Sam, you have stepped into overtaking blessings.”

Do you know, there are so many promises in the Bible that are for you? But until you possess the promise in your heart, you cannot enter your promised land. When I heard the Lord say that overtaking blessings had come upon me, I started rejoicing. I got up from my comfortable chair, started walking around, and gave thanks to Jesus. “Thank You, Jesus, that the overtaking blessings have come upon my life.” But do you know something? Nothing changed in the natural. I was still in debt, still had credit card bills to pay, and my bank balance was still empty. But now the word has become a reality for me. Within a week, everything that I owed was paid for, and I have never looked back because I know that God can provide for every need of mine. You know, one word from God can change the entire picture of your life. Just one word. How many words are there in this Bible? The question is, are you willing to pay the price to possess the promise? Are you willing to pay the price to possess the promise? This promise has to become your promise. It has to move from being written in the Bible to being written in your heart. Because once it moves from being written in the Bible to being written in your heart, that promise has become your promise. Now, your name is written in the promise. God did not tell that to Abraham in Genesis 15:1
God told that to me. Nothing—I’m saying nothing—will be impossible for those who possess the promises of God. That’s why I want to give you one key, one practical key that grants you access to God’s promises. 

Matthew 16:19: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

How many of you have seen keys? Do you have keys to your home? They unlock something; they can either lock or unlock. Jesus has given you the keys of the kingdom. It’s not just one key but multiple keys. For example, I have multiple keys in my pocket: one key opens my door, and another starts my car. Each key uniquely opens a specific door. You can’t be satisfied with just one key; you need all the keys of the kingdom. Jesus has given you keys to His kingdom. These keys are not just for when you go to heaven; you need these keys now. On earth, you need these keys so that the reality of heaven will open up for you in your earthly experience. So I’m going to give you one key today, one key that will unlock many doors in your life. Are you excited? No, I don’t hear your excitement. Okay, one key:

Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” 

Thanksgiving is a very important key. When you pray, if your prayer does not have an attitude of thanksgiving, your prayer will be lost.

See, when a mother is pregnant, the child is in an amniotic sac that holds the baby within the womb. This amniotic sac provides all the nutrients the child needs. When the mother is about to deliver the baby, we know because the amniotic sac breaks and we say the water has broken. Thanksgiving is your amniotic sac that preserves your request until the answer comes to the earth. That’s why the psalmist says in 

Psalm 100:4: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” 

Thanksgiving opens the door to God’s presence. Thanksgiving gives you authorized access into God’s presence. It gives you the legal right to be in God’s presence. Without thanksgiving, you will always feel like you’re not in the right place. Without thanksgiving, the devil will always tell you that you are disqualified from God’s presence. “Why are you here? Do you remember what you did five minutes ago? Do you remember what you told your wife?” The devil will keep disqualifying you. But to rise above those voices of accusation, condemnation, shame, fear, and guilt, the key is thanksgiving.

I’m telling you, the day I learned this key, I have never backslided in my life. Does that mean I haven’t struggled in areas of my weaknesses? I have struggled. But when I say I have not backslid, what I mean is it has never stopped me from entering God’s presence. So when you start your prayer, start with an attitude of thanksgiving. Thank God for anything and everything that you can think of. You’re struggling with sickness, you have challenges in your life, your children are not talking to you—whatever it is, for a moment, leave that all aside and take a moment to thank God. Let it be heartfelt. Let it come from deep within. Amen.

You know, when I sit for prayer, the challenging part is kickstarting my prayer. How many of you relate to that? The problem is kickstarting. Once you kickstart, there’s a flow. I’m telling you, with thanksgiving, you can get into that flow. It won’t be a struggle. When I sit for prayer, the devil will bring so many accusations at me. “You call yourself the son of God? You call yourself a pastor? You call yourself this and that?” He’ll send so many accusations. I take a moment to ignore those voices and say, “Thank You, Jesus, that You’ve saved my life. Thank You, Father, that You’ve called me Your son.”

You know, before Jesus started His ministry, He was in the wilderness for 40 days, praying and fasting. Throughout those 40 days, the devil kept tempting Jesus. If you look at the temptations, they have one common factor: the devil wanted to make Jesus doubt His sonship in God. He kept asking, “If you are the Son of God, do this. If you are the Son of God, do that.” Because if Jesus was somehow moved from His sonship, if Jesus doubted His sonship, He would not be able to fulfill His assignment.

We face the same struggles today. The devil will make you doubt your sonship. “Are you the child of God? Are you sure? Look at all the thoughts you’re struggling with. Look at the conditions of your life.” He will continuously make you doubt your sonship.

Why is the devil so intent on making Jesus doubt His sonship? Because just before Jesus went into the wilderness, He was baptized by John the Baptist. At that moment, heaven opened, and a voice came from heaven saying,

Matthew 3:17 –  “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”

When God releases a word over your life, the devil will come to steal it. If he can steal that word from your life, he can kill and destroy you. That’s why he repeatedly tries to bring confusion into the mind of Jesus: “Are you truly the Son of God?”

But Jesus stays on the Word: “I am His beloved.” He affirms, “I am His Beloved.” So when you start praying, if you can position your heart by believing, “Lord, thank You. I am Your beloved,” thanksgiving will help you overcome all the voices of your enemy’s accusations. 

The first thing thanksgiving does is it gives you authorized access into God’s presence. The second thing thanksgiving does is it gives you insight into the goodness of God. Are you with me?

There’s a story in the Bible in John 11 where Lazarus has died, and Jesus goes to raise him up. In John 11:41-42 it says:

John 11:41-42 – “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that You sent Me.’

Jesus is about to raise a dead person, and there are no gimmicks. His prayer is two lines. The first one is, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.” Thanksgiving will give you the confidence that God is good. In the next verse, Jesus says, “I knew that You always hear Me.” But He said this for the sake of those standing around, so they may believe. After that, He calls out, “Lazarus, come out,” and Lazarus comes out.

See, thanksgiving will change your perspective from focusing on yourself to focusing on God. It will make you God-conscious. It will make you believe that God is good, and it will give you the confidence that He is good to you.


Thanksgiving is that it multiplies whatever you have, no matter how little it seems. As long as you have thanksgiving in your heart, it has the ability to multiply. In John 6:11, we see the story where Jesus multiplies the bread and the fish to feed thousands. It says:

John 6:11 – “Jesus then took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.”

When you have resources in your hand that seem small, give thanks to God, because thanksgiving retains the potential for what you have to multiply. What you can do with a little becomes so much more when you give thanks to the Father. Even if you have only a thousand rupees in your hands, if the attitude of your heart is thanksgiving, the potential of that amount starts increasing. You’ll be able to do so much more with it.

That’s why, when we encourage people to tithe, we say, “Give with a cheerful attitude, with a thanksgiving heart.” Because when you give that 10% with thanksgiving, the 90% that remains in your account can do much more than the original 100%.

Thanksgiving is that it brings wholeness into your life. It doesn’t just bring healing; it brings complete restoration.

The story is found in Luke 17 where ten lepers came to Jesus, and He cleansed all of them. He gave them a commandment to go and show themselves to the priest. As these ten lepers were going towards the priest, one of them saw that he was healed. In Luke 17:15-16:

Luke 17:15-16 – “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.”

This man, after giving thanks, didn’t just receive healing but was made whole. Thanksgiving opens the door to not just partial restoration, but complete wholeness. All ten lepers were healed, but only one of them responded differently. This one man, instead of continuing to the priest like the others, turned back to praise God and give thanks.

Now look at Jesus’ response 

Luke 17:17-18 – “Then Jesus answered, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’’

This seems surprising because Jesus Himself told them to go to the priest. Yet now, He’s asking, “Where are the nine?” What’s going on here?

Jesus had cleansed all ten lepers, but only this one came back with a heart of thanksgiving. The others were healed, but this man received something even greater.

Luke 17:19 – “And He said to him, ‘Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.’’

The word “well” here also means whole. Nine were healed, but only one was made whole.

What’s the difference between healing and wholeness?

This one man’s story became unbelievable because he had no proof to show he was ever a leper!

The heart of the Father is not just to heal you but to make you whole. He doesn’t just want to heal you of your sickness—He wants to remove every trace of it from your life. Thanksgiving can do that. Thanksgiving can move you from healing to wholeness.

God’s desire is to renew your strength and youth. 

Psalm 103:5 – “He satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Thanksgiving can renew your life, your strength, and even your youth. No cream or anti-aging product can do what Thanksgiving does. It’ll make your skin glow and renew your spirit from the inside out!

Moses was 120 years old and still strong enough to climb a mountain without any support. That should challenge us! At 120, Moses had incredible strength, his eyes were not dimmed, and he had not lost his vigor.

Why? Because the one who is in the presence of God, who has thanksgiving in their heart, will always move from health to wholeness. This should inspire you—if Moses could do that at 120, how much more should it challenge you ? Moses was able to keep his strength because his heart was filled with thanksgiving, which kept him constantly in God’s presence. When we live in thanksgiving, we too can move from health to wholeness.

Colossians 2:6-7 – “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

When you abound in thanksgiving, you are established in faith. Thanksgiving keeps you rooted and strong in your faith. Just as Colossians 2 says, when you’re constantly giving thanks, you will always be in faith.

Faith is something that can grow, and the Bible talks about different kinds of faith—weak faith, strong faith, much faith, departed faith, denied faith, shipwrecked faith. All these show that faith can either increase or decrease. If you don’t intentionally grow in faith, you can lose it. But when you abound in thanksgiving, your faith is strengthened and deepened.

Psalm 1:3 – “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”

When you’re rooted in thanksgiving, your faith is like that tree planted by rivers of water—always bearing fruit, deeply rooted, and unshaken.

Let’s recap the five points that thanksgiving does in your life:

  1. It gives you authorized access into God’s presence.
  2. It gives you the confidence that God is good.
  3. It multiplies what you have.
  4. It brings wholeness in your life.
  5. It establishes you in faith.

Thanksgiving will establish you in faith.

But this is the principle I want to give you: Anybody can give thanks when things are good. It’s easy to give thanks when you’ve already received the answer to your prayers. For example, if I give you a gift, you can give thanks because you’ve received something tangible.

But the Bible tells us to give thanks before we see the answer.
Before anything good has happened to you, before your situation changes—give thanks. When you move in thanksgiving before the answer arrives, that’s when your faith is activated.

You might open your eyes and see no change, but when you close your eyes and thank God, you start seeing abundance, you start seeing the answer already given. Thanksgiving transforms your outlook and aligns your heart with God’s promises. Your life after Jesus should be a daily celebration!

Some of what you call suffering isn’t even biblical suffering—it’s self-imposed suffering. The only suffering the Bible permits is the suffering of stretching your faith. Just like when you stretch physically, you get stretch marks—your faith has stretch marks too.

Faith stretch marks are the only suffering the Bible talks about, and they come when you’re stepping out and growing in your faith. But every other form of suffering? That’s often self-imposed or comes from a place of self-righteousness. True biblical faith leaves no room for unnecessary suffering.

Psalm 103:1-5 – “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Where is the suffering here?

He forgives all your iniquities, He heals all your diseases, He redeems your life from the pit, He crowns you with steadfast love, and He satisfies you with good, renewing your youth.

He forgives all your iniquities and redeems your life from the pit—meaning the worldly suffering we often cling to isn’t biblically authorized. We need to rise out of it today! Be like Joshua and Caleb, declaring, “This is not my portion!” Sickness is not your portion, oppression is not your portion, because when Jesus declared on the cross, “It is finished,” He meant it. So why are we still carrying what’s already been finished in our bodies and minds?

Sometimes the reason why a few demons haven’t left our lives is because we’ve grown too comfortable with them. We’re petting them like pets, letting things like envy, bitterness, or fear stick around because it gives us temporary comfort. But we need to get uncomfortable! Be uncomfortable enough to rebuke everything that doesn’t align with the reality of Jesus.

1 John 4:17 – This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

Just as He is, so are we in this world .
Is Jesus sick? Does Jesus have leg pain, back pain? Is Jesus struggling in His finances? Is He unable to love His bride, the church? Absolutely not! So, any reality in our lives that doesn’t align with Jesus’ reality needs to be rebuked.

Jesus gave us the keys of the Kingdom—and with those keys, we are empowered to lock and unlock.

Lock your sickness, unlock your healing. Lock the chaos, unlock the peace of God. You have the authority to bind and loose, but you need to know what you’re locking and unlocking!

Especially when nothing seems to be going right, take a moment and start giving thanks. Declare:

Remember, the answer to your prayer is in your mouth. It’s not in God’s mouth, because He’s already finished it. So stop complaining, stop whining, and stop belittling yourself. Get up and give thanks!

Look at Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25. They were in jail, in chains, but they didn’t sit around complaining. They started giving thanks and praising God in the midnight hour, and what happened? Chains broke. God can turn things around in 24 hours! Remember when Peter was in prison? The angel of the Lord came and set him free. That’s what thanksgiving can do—it unlocks miracles, breakthroughs, and freedom!

There’s no prison—whether physical, mental, or emotional—that can hold a child of God unless we allow it. God has already set us free through Jesus’ death and resurrection 2000 years ago. So, it’s no longer about God deciding; it’s about us deciding to walk out of those prisons. You choose whether to stay in or step into freedom.

Start by changing your language from complaint to praise. Just like the doctor who lived to be 120 years old, who started each day by giving thanks for every part of his body. Imagine the shift in your life when you begin to thank God for everything—for every breath, for every step, for every challenge!

Many of the issues in our lives come from a spirit of complaint. But what if, instead of complaining, we gave thanks? Even when someone bumps your expensive car or when something valuable breaks—give thanks. When the unexpected happens, turn your heart to God with gratitude. It’s a shift in posture from complaint to praise, and it changes everything!

Every challenge is an opportunity for God to bless you and upgrade you. So instead of frustration, let thanksgiving flow. When things go wrong, thank God for the opportunity for something greater. If it’s broken, you’ll be restored. If you’ve lost, you’ll get it back. As believers, we’re called to be grateful, not entitled. We’ve all seen entitled children who are never satisfied, always asking for more. We should never be like that in our relationship with God. Instead, let us be children who are genuinely thankful, even for the smallest of blessings.

About the author

Samuel Thomas

Samuel is a second-generation pastor with a rich heritage in the Holy Spirit. He has been the pastor of Lighthouse Church since 2017 with a two-word mission statement: transforming lives. Samuel's priority in life has been to know Christ and to grow deeper in His love.

Recent Sermons