BE DELIBERATE ABOUT BEING THANKFUL AND GOD WILL LUBRICATE YOUR DESTINY
-Pastor Faith Oyedepo at CHoP
Please lift up your hands unto the Almighty God. Let’s give Him thanks and praise and glory. Magnify His name for this amazing testimonies. He is the doer. Thank Him some more, let Him hear your voice clearly. Express your gratitude to Him.
Also thank Him for answered prayers both corporately and personally. Bless Him and then ask the Lord to speak to you personally this morning by his Word. That You will not return the same way you have come. Ask Him to send you His Word and to change your story again.
Father we thank You in Jesus mighty name we have given thanks.
Father we have come into Your presence this morning to say thank You for all of these amazing testimonies. You are the doer. You deserve the praise. Accept it in Jesus name. Thank You also for answered prayers, corporately, personally, take all the glory. Right now as we go into Your Word our hearts shall be opened. Change our story again. Give us understanding and let Your name be glorified in Jesus mighty name we pray.
All through this week in our Covenant Hour of Prayer our subject of discussion has been
TURN YOUR CONCERNS TO THANKSGIVING AND GOD WILL TURN THEM TO TESTIMONIES
Ephesians 5:19-20
Very important for us to understand, as we consider this subject especially this week.
1- Thankfulness is a spirit and it lubricates destinies. Your destiny shall continue to be lubricated. In the same vain ingratitude is a spirit and it hardens destiny.
– Your destiny shall not be hardened.
However sadly, if you look around the world today you discover that ingratitude is more common than thankfulness. Ingratitude to God is an aspect and also ingratitude to men is another aspect and it is more common than thankfulness.
The Scripture makes it very clear, it’s one of the plagues this end time.
2nd Timothy 3:2
Let’s take the example of Paul and Silas.
Acts 16:25-26
Remember Paul and Silas didn’t do anything wrong. These men were unjustly accused. They were brutally treated. They had every reason to complain but they did not. They had every reason to be bitter but they refused. They chose to lubricate their destiny, their situation, their circumstance with thanksgiving. No wonder God turned it into testimony.
I don’t know what you might be going through right now, probably looking around you, you might be tempted to say well things have not really been just unto me. Remember Paul and Silas. Lubricate your life, your destiny. As you have been given that prophetic alert with thanksgiving and as we do so the God of miracles will step in like He did in the case of Paul and Silas and turn that situation into a testimony.
– Someone’s story is about to change.
Therefore no more complains, no more grumblings, no more murmuring. Everything that complains in the life of anyone under the sound of my voice right now today is cursed to the root.
Remember in the prison, they were in chains. Which means they were in pains but even when they were in pains, they did not complain. Rather they gave thanks unto God and as they did the Bible tells us that their chains were loosed.
– Someone’s chain is about to be loosed.
There was an earthquake and all the doors were opened.
– The door of your marital destiny shall be opened.
Remember that testimony we heard just a while ago. 13 years of family tension, 13 years of separation and this individual engaged in midnight prayers. I hope someone will take a cue from that and do the same thing. Engage in midnight praise as instructed and by the morning the story changed.
– Someone’s destiny is about to be lubricated.
So all the doors were opened.
– Your marital and financial doors shall be opened.
– The doors over your health shall be opened.
It doesn’t matter how that situation has been and for how long it has been there. As you engage in this prophetic alert of turning your concerns into thanksgiving, making time to dance and praise God and magnify His name, engaging not only in day time praise but also in midnight praise, as you’re led by God you will discover that all the doors of your destiny shall be opened.
From this moment forward for you, it shall be testimony galore.
But how will it happen? God turns out trials to testimonies through thanksgiving.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
Say with me, yet I will rejoice.
– Grace to be joyful in every situation receive it in Jesus name.
To be thankful as a lifestyle
1- See thanksgiving as a commandment.
1st John 5:3
Make up your mind, decide to obey it.
2- Learn to look outwards. Learn to look away from yourself. Change your perspective. Look around you, you’ll find out that there are several people around very close to you whose situations are worse than your own. Do I have a witness? You’ll discover that there are several reasons. Thank God in every situation. You’ve heard this over and again that no present condition is permanent. People are praying to be where you are so no complain.
– From this day onward everything that complains and grumbles and murmurs dies in every life.
3- This is very very crucial. Be intentional, be deliberate. Tell yourself I will do it. Tell yourself I can do it. I will begin to thank God deliberately not based on situations or circumstances around me but as a lifestyle because I choose to be intentional.
Thankfulness will not drop in anyone who is not deliberate about it. Make up your mind that I can be thankful.
For you to be deliberate and intentional you need to practice thankfulness. Begin to practice it on a daily basis. You know there’s this saying that practice makes perfect. This is one thing that helps me in my own journey in life. I wake up in the morning, my eyes opened, “Father I thank You” because there are many people who slept last night and didn’t wake up this morning.
Psalms 150:6
– Grace to be thankful receive it in Jesus name.
So learn to say it out. Don’t just say I’m thankful to God in my heart and God knows it. Say it every day, say it out loud, as many times as possible. Father I thank You, Father I thank You.
– Grace to be thankful as a lifestyle receive it in Jesus name.
As you begin to do it, don’t mind your feelings. Do it anyway because you walk by faith and not by sight. You’re traveling, keep saying it. Father I thank You. You’re in a vehicle as often as you can say Father I thank You. You’re about to go to bed in the night, Father I thank You. Every opportunity at your disposal begin to express gratitude to God.
As you continue to do that you will discover that your destiny will be continually lubricated and God will turn every concern of your life into testimony.
– May that become the experience of your life from this day forward.
– Grace for thankfulness receive it in Jesus name.
Again from the depth of your soul say Father I thank You. Begin to say it in your understanding, begin to say it in the Holy Ghost. Father I thank You. Say it and let Heaven hear you. He that giveth thanks in the spirit doeth it well. Give Him praise and glory.
