If Only we Could Understand the SUPERNATURAL Power of Praise and Thanksgiving!
With each and every passing day and experience in marriage restoration ministry, I’m just more and more convinced than ever that in addition to the power and promise of God’s Word, one of the most important messages to convey to men and women standing for the restoration of their marriages and families is the SUPERNATURAL power of praise and thanksgiving. And while that seems so SIMPLE, it is still one of the most challenging messages to get across; because as humans in difficult times, we just seem naturally resistant to the idea that God actually expects us to love and trust Him so much that we can and will indeed praise and give thanks to Him in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES AND SITUATIONS! However, that is exactly what God expects from us and it breaks my heart to consider how many awesome miracles, blessings and breakthroughs have literally been tossed aside for lack of understanding the DIVINELY SUPERNATURAL power of praise and thanksgiving.
A favorite passage of scripture for many FAM Fellowship members, and one often quoted is Proverbs 3:5-6, and the part most often referred to is that we shouldn’t lean on our own understanding. And even though that is VITALLY important as we stand for marriage restoration, we seem to forget or fail to realize that the ONLY way to avoid doing that is to DO as also instructed in the rest of the passage; that we have to TRUST God with ALL of our hearts and ACKNOWLEDGE Him in ALL of our ways. And if we truly trust God with ALL OF OUR HEARTS and acknowledge Him in ALL OF OUR WAYS, we would and could NEVER stop praising Him and thanking Him…NO MATTER WHAT! That’s what Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, when he said give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. In other words, NO MATTER WHAT is going on in our lives, it is the ONLY way God’s PERFECT plan for us can be perfected…and thanks to Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28-35 and Genesis 50:20 and many other verses, we know that’s for our GOOD!
One of the unavoidable consequences of the ministry being blessed by the Lord with such growth and so many amazing testimonies as we witness His hand at work in many lives is that I no longer have the time I so love to devote to writing the Seeds Of Faith posts these days. But this is a topic well covered by previous posts, so I hope and pray that the following links to some of them will bless everyone standing for marriage restoration and encourage you to seek a greater understanding of the SUPERNATURAL power of praise and thanksgiving.
As recently shared in Understanding what Happens when we Magnify and Validate the Work of the Devil, the power of our tongues to Speak Life or Death took on a whole new meaning for me when I was writing that post and read Numbers 13-14 again, because somehow I never really caught that God actually DECLARED that as surely as He lives, He would DO the very things He had heard the Israelites SAY when they were in the desert! And that made me even more aware of how important what we say when we are in the deserts of our lives determines where we end up and how soon we get there! Don’t forget that God is the same yesterday, today and forever and that He is NOT a respecter of persons!
Something else I’ve observed is that the men and women with restored marriages and those with marriages the Lord is so obviously working to restore are those who understand the importance of what Melissa shared in a previous SOF post, May the Name of the Lord be Praised. And I have also observed that without exception, none of those continually talking about how much they are struggling and need prayer to keep standing have either restored marriages or real evidence that restoration is taking place in their lives and marriages. And those we see God working so mightily to restore and who have already been blessed with restored marriages are also those who devote their time and energy to praising the Lord and ministering support and encouragement to others…all of which is clearly declared over and over again in the Word of God.
But we will never understand the SUPERNATURAL power of praise and thanksgiving without realizing that we are Created for the Praise of His Glory! And we have to understand that praise is NOT an option; GOD COMMANDS Let Everything that has Breath praise the Lord!
Regular visitors to the site know that for the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to write a post about praise and thanksgiving, and ended up getting sidetracked with something else that seemed more pressing for one reason or another…but I was still determined that I had to share what God has put so strongly on my heart about the power and importance of praise and thanksgiving, which post after post on the private site was confirming! And just as God is ALWAYS so faithful to do, HE had a great reason for delaying MY plans; because HE had something so much better in mind! So as often happens, I just couldn’t believe it when I heard Charles Stanley’s TV broadcast message this weekend! And what a truly powerful message, A Thankful Heart truly is! I can’t possibly stress enough how important it is for every man and woman standing for marriage restoration to listen to this message, and more than once, and take notes. And you can use the Sermon Outline too, which always has links to the scripture references Dr. Stanley uses. One thing Dr. Stanly said that I SO agree with and have literally seen play out over and over again in the lives of the men and women I’ve been blessed to minister to over the past few years is that even though there is NO change in our circumstances or situations AT ALL, EVERYTHING changes when our attitude changes to one of sincere gratitude and we learn to truly have a thankful heart and give the Lord the praise and thanksgiving He so deserves! So please study and consider the above Seeds Of Faith posts, the scripture references they all include and Dr. Stanley’s powerful message, because when you really understand the DIVINELY SUPERNATURAL power of praise and thanksgiving, you will be blessed and encouraged beyond belief!!!