The Miracles of Thanksgiving

Gratitude is the gateway to the miraculous. We can learn to give thanks before our miracle by applying the lessons in thanksgiving modeled by Jesus.

Thank God for Providing

“He took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (Matthew 15:36, ESV).

Jesus and the disciples were confronted with an overwhelming need. Both Matthew and Mark describe two different feedings of the multitude who had followed them for an extended length of time with no access to food. Jesus was conscious of the need and already had a supernatural solution in mind, but He called his disciples to action. Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.”

Needs reveal the true object of our trust. Where do we turn for help in a crisis? Do we cry out to the Lord, or do we look for our own solutions? Jesus was testing His disciples to see where they would go when confronted with a need so great that no human plan would work.

Acknowledging The Provider is a seed for a miracle. When we realize “What I can do is insufficient and inadequate” and “What I have is insufficient and inadequate,” we yield control to our wonder-working God!

Jesus called for the loaves and fish, and on both occasions, Jesus did the same thing: He gave thanks for the little, and the supernatural happened. The key is to remain thankful as God continues to supply our needs.

Thank God for Hearing

“They took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me’” (John 11:41–42, ESV).

At Lazarus’ grave is the only place in any of the Gospels where Jesus prayed before He healed someone. But this is not an intercessory prayer. This is a prayer of thanksgiving. Jesus declared that this prayer before the miracle is for the benefit of the unbelieving crowd:

“Father.” With one word, Jesus set the record straight: I am the Son of God. He reveals the source of His power and He reveals the identity of His sender. Behind the words and works of Jesus is the authority of the Great I AM.

“I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me.” God heard Jesus at this one moment in time because God is listening in every moment in time. It is a relationship that stirs our hearts to pursue the same.

Gratitude before the solution appears is a powerful prayer.

“That they may believe that you sent me.” The purpose behind His prayer and this miracle is to produce belief in the hearts of the witnesses. Jesus was on a divine mission. And what was the mission? Jesus commanded, “Lazarus, come out!” and a dead man walked out of a grave. Jesus came to bring life to all who will believe.

Jesus’ prayer and Lazarus’ resurrection were about more than two sisters having their brother restored to them. And so it is with the miracle we seek. The motivation for the miracle is to exalt Jesus, and the mission is to call the spiritually dead to eternal life!

TODAY’S REFLECTION:

• Are you ready to transition from saying “I need” to “I thank”?
• For the next few mornings, read Psalm 136. How will you show God gratitude today

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL WAS WRITTEN BY JULIE LONG.