… And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me…After Jesus had said these words, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And the man who had been dead for four days came out of his tomb!
(John 11:41–42)
This is one of the greatest miracles that Jesus performed. Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus raised him to life. Wouldn’t you agree that death is indeed an extreme problem? Having no money in the bank, being sick and losing your job, bad as they are, are not as bad as being dead!
But what I want you to see is this: If Jesus, in the most extreme of problems, shows us that the solution is still, “Father, I thank You,” then how much more should we thank God in the midst of the less serious problems we face. If thanksgiving can raise the dead, then let us give thanks in spite of the negative circumstances and we will see victory.
Unfortunately, we tend to do the opposite — murmur and complain. But murmuring and complaining only magnify the problem. Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is the language of faith which pleases God. I am not saying that we give thanks for the problems we have. No, we thank God that He is our answer and that He has already given every blessing to us. (Eph. 1:3)
“But Pastor Prince, what I have is so little.”
My friend, thank God for the little you have and it will multiply. Jesus thanked His Father for the five barley loaves and two small fish, a little boy’s lunch, and they were multiplied to feed more than 5,000 people with 12 baskets full of leftovers! (John 6:8–13) And notice that when the Holy Spirit talked about this event again, He specifically mentioned the Lord giving thanks — “the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks”. (John 6:23) The Holy Spirit seemed to be more pleased with the act of giving thanks than the miracle of multiplication or the 12 baskets full of leftovers.
Beloved, the more you thank God, the more you please Him. What little you have will be multiplied and whatever is dead in your life will be raised to life!
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A founding member of New Creation Church, Joseph initially served as an elder and associate pastor. However, his unanimous appointment as senior pastor in 1990 marked a turning point in the history of the church, which started experiencing phenomenal growth. Under Joseph's leadership, the church congregation has grown by more than a hundredfold—from about 150 to more than 31,000 attendees.
