The Power of Being Thankful: 365 Devotions for Discovering the Strength of Gratitude (40 page)

It’s important that we don’t think that prayer and fellowship with God is us doing all the talking. We can also spend time with Him listening. Prayer is a two-way street. Not only does God hear us, but thankfully, He speaks to us too.

A great exercise to practice while listening to God is to ask Him if there is anyone He wants you to encourage or bless—then be still and listen. You will be surprised at how quickly He responds. He will fill your heart with godly thoughts and goals. You will more than likely have some people come to mind and some creative ideas on how to bless and encourage them. These “ideas” and “thoughts” are God speaking to you. God speaks in many different ways, but one thing is for sure: We will miss His voice if we don’t learn to listen.

God has ideas to present to you that you haven’t even considered. Listen carefully to Him with a heart that is thankful for His presence. Then follow the advice given in John 2:5—“Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Father, I thank You that You still speak to Your people. I pray that You will show me someone who needs encouragement today. Thank You for speaking to me and allowing me to be a blessing in someone’s life.

The beautiful exchange that takes place when we give our lives to God is something we can always be grateful for. Salvation means that we offer God what we have, and He gives us what He has.

He takes all of our sins, faults, weaknesses, and failures, and gives us His ability, His righteousness, and His strength. He takes our diseases, and sicknesses, and gives us His healing and health. He takes our messed-up, failure-filled past and gives us the hope of a bright future.

In ourselves we are nothing; our own righteousness is like filthy rags or a polluted garment (see Isaiah 64:6). But in Christ, we have a future to be thankful for—one worth looking forward to. The term “in Christ” very simply means that we have placed our faith in Him concerning every aspect of our lives. We are in covenant with Almighty God. What an awesome thought!

Father, when I am feeling inferior or condemned, help me to remember who I am in Christ. Thank You that I’m forgiven, accepted, righteous, strong, and able because I am found in You.

God often chooses those who are the most unlikely candidates for the job. By doing so, He has a wide open door to show how His grace and power can change human lives.

Each of us has a destiny, and there is absolutely no excuse not to fulfill it. We cannot use our weakness as an excuse, because God says that His strength is made perfect in weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). We cannot use the past as an excuse, because God tells us old things have passed away and all things have become new (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

How God sees us is not the problem; often it is how we see ourselves that keeps us from succeeding. If you’ll see yourself as God sees you, grateful for His transforming power, no obstacle can stop you from His purposes. You are recreated in God’s image and resurrected to a brand-new life. Your destiny is just waiting for you to claim it!

I thank You, God, that You choose the weak things of the world to shame the wise. Thank You that there is no excuse that can keep me from fulfilling my destiny in You. My life is Yours; have Your way through me.

Wishing for something does not produce the results we desire. Whatever God leads you to do, aggressively pursue what needs to be done to achieve those results.

I once heard a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

The moral of the story is simple: If you see that something needs to be done and you have the ability to do it, be thankful for the opportunity God has given you and go be the change that everyone else is waiting for.

Father, I am so thankful for the strengths and gifts You have given me. Show me what You want me to do, and help me go after it with all my heart. With Your help, I know that I can make a difference.

If we are going to do anything great for God, and if we are determined never to give up on our dreams, we have to take chances; we have to be courageous. When we face situations that threaten or intimidate us, we need to pray for boldness and a courageous spirit. Feeling fear is never a problem as long as we have more courage than fear!

The spirit of fear will always try to keep us from going forward. For centuries, the enemy has used fear to try to stop people, and he is not going to change his strategy now. But thankfully, we can defeat fear. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us (see Romans 8:37). Courage is not the absence of fear; it is pressing forward while the feeling of fear is present. When you feel afraid, ask God to strengthen you, be thankful that He will, and move forward in His strength!

Thank You, Father, for the gift of boldness. I am grateful for the dreams You have given me and the determination to pursue them. I choose to never give up on the dreams You have placed in my heart.