Thanksgiving – The Provoker of Timely/Miracle Delivery, by Pastor Sam Adekoya
Bible Text: Psalm 67:5-7
Thanksgiving is a combination of 2 words. Thanks and giving. Psalm 67: 5-7 states – “5, Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. 6, then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. 7, God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him”.
In this verse, we discover there is a precondition for the earth to yield its increase. Thanksgiving is the mother of getting blessed– it is a giver to God that gets. I have discovered in few years of ministry that a thanksgiving that is properly done is equivalent to 7 days mountain climbing of prayers. Praise is the catalyst of God’s anointing; anointing increases with praise.
Giving Praise to God should not be a day thing but a lifestyle because thanksgiving is a door –opener. It is a provoker of the invisible presence of God. You don’t need anything in life more than the presence of God, which was what Moses requested for in Exodus 33:15 -16
“Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight, except you go with us? So we shall be separate, your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
It is necessary that we praise God always and thank him every day of and then God will do wonders in our lives. This is evident in Acts 16: 25 -26
“25; But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26; suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed”.
When you release praise and thanksgiving God comes by himself to manifest in your life. The Bible says that Paul and Silas prayed in the night. Time elements is not a barrier to praising God, you can praise him at night and during the day. You may be in your midnight but still, Praise God and let the heavens move and break you free from all form of bondage.
Let God hear your Praise. Gentility is not stupidity; thanksgiving is not something you do quietly but audibly. When you thank God, something happens suddenly. The “Yorubas” (a tribe in Nigeria- West Africa) have a way by which they praise God. They eulogize Him. They call him names such “ALAGBADAINA “(i.e. the one whose clothes is an emblem of fire) “ABETILUKARA BI AJERE” ( i.e the one who hears everything and has ears all over Him like that of a basket). When you eulogize God, the earth shakes because the earth is His footstool; thus; He stands and moves in all His glory.
Note that; every problem in life has a foundation. By praising God, you shake the foundation of your problems and give a leeway to uprooting these problems from their roots. I pray for you today, whatever foundation that is fuelling your problems; it breaks and destroys from the roots in Jesus name. Whatever is holding you down; you break free in Jesus name.
A yoke is broken any time you praise God; praising him every day, therefore, breaks you free from every form of yoke.
Psalm 67: 6-7 emphasizes God’s blessing upon His people when they praise Him. Let your mouth be full of thanksgiving. With thanksgiving, even nature will bow to you. Joshua and the Children of Israel praised God to attain victory (Joshua 6). If they were supposed to invest in machine guns, which will cost so much but they employed kingdom principles which saved them time and cost.
When you praise God, you don’t waste bullets, learn to praise him always.
Joshua 6: 14-20, states how Joshua and the people marched around the city for 7 days and shouted for Victory on the seventh day. While they were marching round for the wall of Jericho to fall down flat, some people were laughing but never knew what they were up to. I pray for you today, your critics will become your cheerleader in Jesus name. Your critics will watch your victory manifest and hear your victory song in Jesus name.
Kingdom principles are not necessarily logical when you key off with men, you key unto God. Acts 16:25 emphasizes our need to open our mouths in praises. As long as you can open your mouth in praise to God, you can break free.
Judges 7:19 “ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands”.
Blow your trumpet. Many at times we are our own enemy, enemies can be ignorance, the weakness you permit. As children of God, look unto God and do not rely on yourself.
2Chronicles 20:21-23- “21, and when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:
“Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”22, Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. 23, For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another”.
The Scenario in 2 Chronicles 20 can be imagines when 5 countries such as Germany, UK, Russia, France and America decide to fight against Togo ( i.e. a country in Africa).
Judah is a small nation amongst all the countries ready to wage war against them but God told Jehoshaphat to raise a choir. All Jehoshaphat had to do was raise a choir in praise to God and it was a done deal of Victory.If you are here and you can sing, join the choir start practising now, there is no evangelism unit in Heaven, there is neither fellowship group nor a prayer team but there is a choir.
Isaiah 43:21- “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise”.
A lifted you pays God more than a frustrated you.
However, you need two wings to fly; for your breakthrough you need to be able to thank God and at the same time give to God. I pray for you that you will begin to fly in life in Jesus name. Thanks plus giving sums up the word “Thanksgiving”. There are various things you can give; the first thing to give is yourself. Give God you; appreciate him in your world. Who is God to you? Understanding who God is to you would help you praise Him more.
He is your saviour, He is your provider, and He is your protector.
Some people go the gym to get fit to be able to fight battles and agile but when they are sleeping what can they do? There are people who face problems during sleep but God is a “Protector”; He watches over us always. Please release yourself in praise to Him. Also, learn to give financially to the work of the kingdom.
Matthew 6:21 – “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”
Let your mouth praise Him, Let your pocket praise him. Appreciate him for what he has done from January till now. God is ever faithful, gracious and merciful. Give Him thanks always and get the breakthrough you have been waiting for.
Your Praise is a prerequisite to your timely delivery; give it wholeheartedly and without delay.
Praise God, Halleluyah.
The sermon, Thanksgiving – The Provoker of Timely Delivery/Miracle Delivery, by Pastor Sam Adekoya, the Rector, PTSD, Nigeria, was delivered on December 3, 2017.