Title: Gratitude and joy are powerful weapons
Contents
Gratitude and joy are powerful weapons Philippians 1:3-5
Prayer is the power to accomplish the will of heaven on earth. So prayer is important, and there are weapons that make it stronger. There are two catalysts for answered prayers.
First thanks.
It is God's favorite fragrance. Women love perfume, and among them there is a perfume that they like the most. Similarly, we can say that God's favorite perfume is gratitude.
Because in the Bible, prayers to God are described as fragrances. All the scents are prayer, but it seems that God is most pleased with the prayer of thanksgiving.
Philippians 1:3 <I give thanks to my God whenever I think of you>
The Apostle Paul always begins with thanksgiving when he begins the Bible. There are 13 books of the Bible written by the Apostle Paul, of which, except for one, Galatians, the remaining 12 books begin with thanksgiving. When I was writing Galatians, I seem to have missed out on gratitude because of the urgent situation of heretics running rampant. As a successful Christian, there are many habits of prayer, and that prayer should start with thanksgiving. There should be overflowing gratitude. Gratitude has great power. In particular, absolute thanksgiving, regardless of all circumstances, has the ability to shut the mouths of lions.
Daniel 6:10 “Even though Daniel knew that this decree had been signed, he went back to his house and went to Jerusalem in the room and from the open window he got on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks to God, just as he had done before.”
Despite praying, it was confirmed that they would enter the lions' den. We pray that our orbit will change so that we do not enter the lions' den. But Daniel was absolutely grateful even in difficult circumstances. Then, when they entered the lions' den, God's power blocks the lion's mouth. No matter how many lions there are, they cannot bite. If we go forward with thanksgiving in God's grace, it will not happen that the lions who attack us suddenly die in droves. There are lions, but they become lions who cannot attack. Surely it can knock us down, but it becomes a lion that cannot attack. Therefore, the best weapon to defeat our enemies is the prayer of thanksgiving. If you give thanks before God, you have the power to neutralize the enemy's attacks. Are there people who are being threatened in various ways today? Are there people with evil forces trying to attack you? May we become servants of the power to shut their mouths with thanksgiving.
If we look at the entire Bible and analyze the lives of the saints, the secret to not drying out our gratitude is of course we need to be thankful for ourselves, but those who give thanks for others do not easily dry out.
A person who is self-centered is grateful because God has given him a lot. When you analyze yourself, the problem is that you know yourself too well, so you get gratitude but also resentment. because? He knows all the hardships and knows the limits of his life. But when you start to be grateful for others, the source of gratitude never dries up.
Philippians 1:3 <I give thanks to my God whenever I think of you>
When I think of the Philippians, I am thankful. ‘My God’ that I deeply felt and experienced is a very subjective God, but the object of gratitude is for others. When I look at people overflowing with gratitude, I have never seen a person overflowing with gratitude, most of whom sit and stare at themselves. Most of the time, gratitude doesn't stop when you look at others. I am grateful to see other people in worship, and I am thankful that others are happy. If you start to give thanks while looking at other people and seeing God's work, you will not cease to give thanks and that gratitude will change your mind. I hope that we will become servants of faith who can come before God as thanks for others.
Gratitude is remembering To be grateful, you need a good memory. In English, Think and Thank have the same etymology. Don't you think you should be grateful?
Aren't we grateful for the grace God has given us? After crossing the Jordan River, what the Israelites did was that the 12 tribes took a stone one at a time, placed it, set up a sign, and erected a monument. Gratitude always requires remembering what God has done. The fact that there is a sign means that we are thankful that the same grace, miracles, and works will happen to the people who remember God just as we crossed the Jordan River by the power of God. For those who have gratitude, miracles and victories happen over and over again.
A prayer of thanksgiving is important. Even today, it is important to ask when praying before God, but you should pray in a way that overflows with the fragrance of thanksgiving as if you sprinkle perfume.
The second is joy.
Another thing that makes prayer so powerful is joy.
Joy has the power to open prison doors.
Philippians 1:4 <Whenever I make a request, I always pray for you all with joy>
Whenever I prayed for the Philippians, I prayed with joy. Praying with joy can make that prayer powerful. We can do this with joy because we prayed while looking forward to what God will give us.
The hallmark of saints is joy. He told me to always rejoice. People who have lost the power of God have no joy because they only look at bad things and only think about things that are disappointing. Those who live in the Holy Spirit always live with joy and pray in joy.
In the case of Acts 16 of the Acts of the Apostles, when we were imprisoned in the Philippian prison, did we not open the gates of the prison as we prayed and sang with joy? If you pray with joy, the blocked door will open. You can't do it because you're plotting it and you're suffering.
What the evil devil hates the most is joy. Trying to take away the joy in any way. If you are happy, you win. Whatever you do, you can win if you do it with joy.
Why do you hate legalism and hate the Pharisees?
There is no joy in it. I do, but don't you hate it because you do it in a formal way? When the church becomes evil, it takes away joy. It forces you to do it and makes others look at you. Shouldn't there be joy and excitement?
Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, as to the Lord, and not to men."
What you do to the Lord is to do it voluntarily and with joy. Why is ownership so important? If you work with a sense of ownership, you can do it with joy. What pleasure does a slave have? Whatever you do, you have power only when you do it with joy.
If you think about changing the situation you are in, you can turn it into joy. Do not think of difficult situations as difficult, but think of them as joy, and you can easily do anything. If someone doesn't reward me, I can reward myself and encourage myself.
When the Spirit of God is with us, even doing nothing in itself can become joy.
Because you love, you can work with emotion.
The same goes for prayer. When you come before God with that kind of heart, you can win. The devil keeps getting annoyed, making us feel sad, resentful, and keeps holding on to things that are nothing in our minds and makes us unable to solve them. You are being deceived by the devil. Anything that does not work with joy is from the devil.
I hope that we will make our prayers powerful with joy and thanksgiving before God and become faithful servants of the faith who overcome with the power of prayer. I pray that you will lead the Lord's people to overflowing thanksgiving and overflowing joy.