Pray Network Forum

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

It is not always easy to give thanks, but this is the very thing we must do in order to see God’s will accomplished in our lives. This is how we move into higher realms of faith for ourselves, for our city, and for our nation. When we give thanks in the midst of difficulty, we bring pleasure to God's heart and breakthrough begins. He is looking for people who live in a realm of praise and thanksgiving where the enemy no longer has an ability to hold or manipulate. Satan is defeated when we have a thankful heart because thankfulness during difficulty is a sacrifice pleasing to God. Are you thankful?

• Are you thankful for your present circumstances?
• Are you thankful for your salvation, your friendships, and your job?
• Are you thankful for the way God made you?

Thankfulness is a key to your life. It is the key that turns your situation around because it changes you, your outlook, and your attitude. There is power in a thankful heart. Thanksgiving brings contentment. An attitude of thanksgiving accepts and embraces God’s will. Begin to thank God for all the blessings he has given instead of dwelling on the negative. Discontent dries up the soul. Look at what Elisabeth Elliott, who lost her husband on the mission field and faced multitudes of hardships, says about loving God's will and being content:

“To love God is to love His will. It is to wait quietly for life to be measured by one who knows us through and through. It is to be content with His timing and His wise apportionment. It is to follow in the steps of the Master, as did Paul, who was able to say that he had learned contentment no matter what the circumstances. His circumstances when he wrote that? Prison. No easy lesson, but great gain, which is the sum of godliness plus contentment (1 Timothy 6:6).”

Look at the example of Jesus. He followed the will of His Father to the very end. He obeyed without complaint. In Philippians 2:5-8, Paul says that we should have that same attitude. Jesus made Himself nothing and took on the very nature of a servant. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death. We also are to have this same attitude with a humble and thankful acceptance of God’s will for our lives. Jesus embraced hardship without a complaint.

The Duke of Wellington was a British military leader who regretted that he had not learned the secret of praise during his lifetime. He had many great accomplishments and even defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. He was a brilliant and demanding man and when he was older, he realized that there were areas in his life that needed to change. In his old age a woman asked him this question, “What would you do differently if you had your life to live over again?”

He thought carefully and said, “I would give more praise.”

This is a lesson for all of us. To learn to be people of praise and thanksgiving to God all the days of our lives would be a great accomplishment. There is greatness and happiness in thanksgiving.

“Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world?... It is he who is always thankful to God, who wills everything that God wills, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it… Could you therefore work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit, for it turns all that it touches into happiness.”
William Law

David writes in Psalm 116:17, "I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD." Did you know that thanking God for a difficulty is actually an offering that He highly values? You are bringing a gift of thanks to Him. It is so easy to complain. It is so easy to point the finger and find fault. But to come with the opposite attitude and give thanks brings breakthrough and joyful contentment.

How to Practice Thankfulness

Let each of us seek to have an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving, and rise to a new level of holiness. Here are some ways to practice this attitude in everyday life:

• Thank and praise God for everything in your life - Thank Him for even the difficulties. It is a sacrifice to do this but He can turn troubles into triumph.

  “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

• Don’t allow yourself to complain about anything - During the difficult times, be very careful to watch your tongue. Instead of complaining, think of ways you can verbally offer God the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

  “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14-15).

• Don’t compare yourself with others - Don’t wish your life were different. God knows what is best. The Bible says that having a thankful heart is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. When we begin to thank God for what we have, rather than comparing ourselves with others, it opens the door for God’s blessings.

  “Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else” (Galatians 6:4).

Most of us are in need of breakthroughs in prayer. The enemy is fighting hard with fiery darts of discouragement and lies. The way we will begin to deal with the lies and the vicious ways he tries to destroy our joy is through the power of a thankful heart. As we cultivate a lifestyle of worship and praise in the magnificent splendor of God, we will be able to break through the strategies of the enemy. A worshipful and thankful life permeates the atmosphere with the presence of God, because worship is the atmosphere where God’s truth dwells.

These new web sites on prayer will help you grow in your walk with God with an attitude of thanksgiving - Intercessors Arise International and Nations House of Prayer Equipping Center.

“God smiles when we praise and thank Him continually. Few things feel better than receiving heartfelt praise and appreciation from someone else. God loves it, too… An amazing thing happens when we offer praise and thanksgiving to God. When we give God enjoyment, our own hearts are filled with joy." William Law

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOPKC)
deb@intercessorsarise.org

“If those who have passed on before us wore such beautiful crowns in such times of strain and stress, our mouths should always be pouring forth tidal waves of blessing as the Holy Spirit has His way in these human bodies of ours and produces in us an eternal work: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17).” Brenda Poinsett

It is not easy to be thankful in every circumstance. But when we choose to thank God in the midst of difficulty, it defeats the forces of darkness in the spiritual realm. When we thank God for every gift He has given us even when things are hard, the enemy loses the battle against us. He is stopped in his tracks when we come to God with God with a thankful heart. 

There is a way of looking at life from the standpoint of eternity. I am not saying that this is easy or that we ignore the great tragedies of life. The reality of eternal life and eternal glory that far exceeds this life is a priceless treasure. Our afflictions are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.  

Learn to be thankful for every blessing from God in your life. 

It is of great significance to Him if in the midst of great trials, we can be thankful in every circumstance. I wrote this chapter just two miles from Ephesus. The Apostle Paul wrote to this Church and said in Ephesians 1:16, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” 

Paul knew the power of a thankful life. He was thankful in good times and bad. He knew that God was conforming him to His image through every trial he faced, if he handled it correctly. He knew that a heart overflowing with thanksgiving could turn any situation around for good. He wrote in Colossians 2:6-7:

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as LORD, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thanksgiving.”

Paul knew how to be thankful even while in a dark prison!

When traveling throughout Turkey we passed a prison that brought me to thoughts of Paul. His life is a testimony to all of us, showing how a person can be thankful even in the midst of very dark circumstances. Paul was able to use even a prison experience for God’s glory. He wrote several books of the New Testament in the midst of a dark, depressing prison cell. He turned that experience into an eternal weight of glory. As we traveled for hours through the land of Paul’s missionary journeys, I was reminded that perhaps the greatest blessing of his life which has impacted several generations of Christians were his writings written from a dark prison cell. 

Often we fail to view our circumstance through the eyes of thanksgiving. 

While in the Cappadocian region of Turkey, I had the privilege of visiting an underground city. Can you imagine a city underground? This was a place where the first-century Christians had to hide in underground caves to protect themselves from those above ground who were waiting to kill them.

I was deeply impressed concerning their hardship as I went deeper, down into the dark caves of this underground city. It was depressing with gloomy rock tunnels and rooms where at times you would have to stoop and walk through damp and dingy hallways. The early Christians suffered much for their faith. We read in Hebrews 11:37-39a: 

“They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith.”

The early Christians remind me of how we must be thankful for all the blessings we have! We must see our circumstances through the eyes of thanksgiving. God wants us to have thankful hearts even in the midst of difficulty. I love 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 which says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” God knows what He is doing when we face hard situations. He wants us to trust Him and to pray about everything.

Paul said in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” He had every reason to be anxious, but he chose to praise. God was in control. Prayers with thanksgiving expressed in the midst of loss, difficulty, and hardship mean the most to God because He knows that they are especially sacrificial during hard times. 

Choosing to be thankful in everything has remarkable rewards.

Corrie ten Boom in her book The Hiding Place told about how she and her sister, Betsy, were transferred in the German prison camp that was overcrowded and flea-infested. That morning they read the verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 that said,

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Betsy told Corrie to thank God for every detail of their new living conditions. Corrie definitely did not want to thank God for the fleas but Betsy insisted.

She finally did. 

During the following months they were able to openly hold Bible studies and prayer meetings with no guards stopping them. Later they found out that the guards would not enter their barracks because of all the fleas! God had turned even a horrible situation like fleas into a reason for thanksgiving. He loves it when we thank Him in all situations. We touch heaven with our prayers when we learn the secret of praise. He loves it when we choose praise. Let’s learn more about this powerful weapon.

“God smiles when we praise and thank Him continually. Few things feel better than receiving heartfelt praise and appreciation from someone else. God loves it, too… An amazing thing happens when we offer praise and thanksgiving to God. When we give God enjoyment, our own hearts are filled with joy.”  Chuck Pierce, The Worship Warrior 

Debbie Przybylski

Intercessors Arise International

Daily Prayer Encouragement