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Welcome to the IPC Hope Temple Podcast. Where hope lives, faith grows, and lives are transformed. We're so glad you've joined us today. Get ready to be inspired, encouraged, and strengthened in your walk with God as we dive into the uncompromising word of truth.

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Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. We thank you that Lord when we call you here, you answer. Thank you for always coming to our defense. We thank you that you are our God. We worship, we exalt, we adore you. Thank you that your presence is here to speak to us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, to build us up, to lift us up, oh God. We thank you. Your presence is here to also heal us and free us from all the struggles and all the things that have held us down. We thank you for your great love, and we thank you for your word. And I commit myself also into your hands. I pray that you will fill me and you will speak your word through me. I give you praise, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Oh, amen. It's good to see all of you. Greetings from Reverend Nathan, our pastor, the resident pastor of this church. Amen. Alright, we just finished our month of rest. And I believe, how many of you enjoyed last month? Our month of rest. Yeah. The fasting and the prayers. Yeah, it was a lovely time. And I believe God has brought us to a place of rest. And we are going to experience His rest in our lives practically. Amen. This month, the theme for the month is great is your faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness. And you know, God has been faithful to us. We have gone through the first half of the of the year already. And we are starting the second half of the year. And I believe God has been faithful. I believe God has been faithful to somebody. I believe you have seen the faithfulness of the Lord. Yes, can someone say with me that God is faithful? Yes, God is faithful, and we've we've experienced his faithfulness. And so this month we are looking at great is your faithfulness, and it is actually our month of thanksgiving, and we'll focus on the fact that God has seen us through the first half of the year, and we'll continue to thank him that he will see us through the second half of the year. Amen. And so we are we are looking at the scripture, the scripture we all know, Lamentations chapter 3, verses 22 and 23, lamentations chapter 3, verses 22 and 23. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning, including this morning. Amen. Great is thy faithfulness, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. See, we have to believe and trust that our God is faithful. God is faithful, he is faithful to us, he is a faithful God, and he's faithful to his promises. He says, Great is the faithfulness of the Lord. Now, God is faithful means he does not go back on his promises. He's faithful to his promises, he is faithful to his word. Whatever word the Lord has given to you, he is faithful to it. Whatever promise that God has given unto us, he is faithful in us to see is to see it to ensure that it comes to pass in our lives. You see, Adam gave us this scripture, Joshua 21, verse 45. Joshua chapter 21, verse 45. When Adam was leading the prayers, he gave us this scripture. Let's take it in the NLT. He says, Not a single one of all the good promises of the Lord, not sorry, not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled. Everything he had spoken came true. When Adam was leading the prayers, then he gave this scripture and I said, Wow, it's exactly it is in line with the sermon. It says, Not a single one of all the good promises of the Lord, or all the good promises the Lord has given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled. Everything he had spoken came true, and I'm here to assure you that whatever promise it is that God has made unto you, he is going to make good his word because he is faithful. Everything he has said or spoken came true, and that shall be your story because God is faithful. God does exactly what he says he will do. This is why we can be confident in his promises and trust his word. Numbers chapter 23, verses 19 and 20. We can be confident in God's promises and we can trust his word. Numbers 23, 19. God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and shall he not do it, or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless, and he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. You see, this the second part of this scripture, this is Balaam, right? Some call him Balaam, Balaam, Balaam, depend on which it's all okay. When he was asked to curse the people of the Lord, and God said, These people, you cannot curse them because I am in covenant with them, I have blessed them, and so they cannot be cursed. Look, I am so faithful to my promises and my blessings I have put upon them such that it cannot be reversed, it cannot be reversed. He has blessed, I cannot reverse it. That's why you see you should the other day somebody called me and then she was crying, and she said, No, she and the mother, I know the mother was going through some ill health issues, and then the daughter called me, and then the mother was with her, and I said, Okay, I'll pray with them. And I was assuring them that everything will be fine. I said, Your mother will be fine. This condition it came to pass. Let's pray, let's believe God. It will go, it will disappear. Then the mother was crying, and I said, Mommy, why are you crying? She said, No, last year, somebody spoke some curse words over her that in December she was going to die. The person last year, somewhere last year, the person spoke a curse and said, In December, you will die. And she's talking to me in June this year, crying about a curse that somebody spoke last year that she would die in December. We are in June this year. And I said, Mommy, but December is long past. Are you getting it? December is long past. They said you would die in December of last year. We are in June this year, and you are still crying that somebody said you would die in December last year. I said, God is faithful enough to keep you through December. You didn't die. January, February, March, April, May, June. And you are still crying about what she said. Oh, what the person said is the person is so powerful. The person, when the person speaks certain incantations and she believes what she's going through is a result of what the person has spoken. He said, Behold, I have received commandment to bless. He has blessed, I cannot reverse it. There is no soothsayer in your family who is powerful enough to reverse the blessing of God upon your life. Balaam was intelligent enough to know that when God proclaims a blessing, a man cannot reverse it. So don't stop running around the place. Say somebody has said something, somebody has threatened me. How can you threaten me, a child of God? Unless you don't know who you are. God is faithful. Amen. And because he's faithful, what he has said is that we shall be, unless you don't believe it, and unless you don't have faith in the faithfulness of God. He says, God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Has he said it? Shall he not do it? You see, one of the reasons why we sometimes find it difficult to trust God is because we try to judge God's character with the lens of human behavior. We try to judge God's character with the lens of human behavior. You see, men have given us promises and they have failed in fulfilling those promises. And so sometimes we see we are used to it. So sometimes we think God is like that. You know, one of the things that you you you you happens is that you see, you see children toddless. So the mother is trying to get her to eat, and she doesn't want to eat. So the mother says, Eat this food, eat all of it. I'll buy you toffee, I'll buy you candy, I'll buy you sweets. And then, okay, the mother has given a promise and she eats everything, but the mother doesn't buy the sweets. Then the next time the father says, Do this, do this. You know, we do it all the time. You know, that you have little children in trying to get them to do certain things and to obey us, we throw around promises to them. If you obey, if you do this, I'll do this. And yet, when they obey, we don't do what we said we'll do. And so, you see, they grow up with this mindset that when promises are made, they are easily broken. And so, when it comes to God, when they come to the place where they begin to become conscious of God and God's promises, they begin to treat God like a man, they begin to treat God the father like their earthly parents who they are used to giving promises and not fulfilling. And so it becomes very difficult to trust the word of the Lord. And most of us have grown in that atmosphere and we've gotten to the place where we find it difficult to trust God. When God says something, it's because we are used to people promising us and failing us. But the Bible says God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. God does not behave like men. When God says something, he is faithful. Amen. He is faithful to see to it that his word or his promises come to pass. I don't think I gave you the sub theme of today's sermon. It's actually a God who answers prayer. We are looking at God is faithful, great is thy faithfulness, and today is a God who answers prayer. I didn't, I just noticed I didn't mention it to you. We are conditioned to believe that we cannot trust people's words from infancy, but you see, God abides faithful, God is not a man. 2 Timothy chapter 2, from verse 11, 11 to 13. 2 Timothy chapter 2. God abides faithful, God remains faithful. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 11. It is a faithful saying, for if we shall we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. Next verse, please. If we believe not, yet he abides faithful. He cannot deny himself, he cannot deny his character of faithfulness. If even we don't believe, God still abides faithful, he remains faithful, he is a faithful God, and everything he has said, he will do. And so I want you to be confident in the faithfulness of God and in his promises and in his word unto you. God's faithfulness is seen in the fact that he is a prayer answering God. God's faithfulness is seen in the fact that he is a prayer answering God. God hears us and answers us when we pray. God hears us and answers us. God hears you when you pray. Don't doubt it. What have you been praying about? God hears you when you pray. It should be something you walk with all the time. God hears me when I pray because He's a faithful God. He's a prayer answering God. Sometimes situations push us to the point where we question if God truly hears us when we pray. You've been praying about a situation, a particular situation. You've been praying for long weeks, months, but it doesn't look like it's changing. And so you can get to the point where you begin to even think that does God even hear me at all? Maybe you've been through so many things in life. You've cried onto God, you've fasted, you've prayed, and you don't seem to be getting results. The question is, does God hear me when I pray? So and so when somebody comes to give a testimony of how she prayed about something and how she got an answer, and you are like, maybe it happens to certain special people, but some of us probably God doesn't hear us. And so, if Ralph should come and stand here and give a testimony of something that God did in his life, you are like, ask for people like Ralph, they are so prim, proper, righteous, holy, santimone people, so God hears them, but not people like us. And I came to encourage you that God hears you when you pray, and God is a prayer answering God. Maybe you prayed about something and it didn't it looked like God didn't answer, but I still came and you are coming to the conclusion that God doesn't hear you. Maybe you say God hears Ralph, God hears Pastor Michelle, but me, God does not hear me. It is not true. God hears all of us, and God hears you. Amen. Maybe you have been praying about a particular situation I wrote here or a pressing need for some time now, and it just appears as if God is not hearing you because the answer doesn't seem coming. But you must have faith and believe that God hears and answers you when you pray. I'll give you an example, a few examples. Daniel. Daniel was in captivity, and then he read somewhere that the year of the captivity had elapsed, and so they were supposed to be free. And so he said, No, we can't continue in this captivity. So he decided to fast and pray and seek the face of the Lord. And so he fasted and he was praying for 21 days. As he was praying, the first week the answer didn't seem to be coming, the second week, the answer didn't seem to be coming. The third week, but he continued to fast and he prayed and continued to pray, and then suddenly the Bible says an angel was sent to him. Now notice what the angel angel said, Daniel chapter 10, verse 11, Daniel 10, 11. And he said unto me, Oh Daniel, the angel said unto me, Oh Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright. For unto thee am I now sent, am I now sent? And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. The next verse, please. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand and to testing yourself before thy God, thy words were heard. And I am come for thy words. Though I am now appearing on the 21st day, your words were heard. On the first day, you decided to start praying and fasting. The very first day you went on your knees, your words were heard in heaven. And I'm telling you, as soon as you open your mouth and say, Father, your words are heard. God hears your prayers. God sees you when you kneel down and you begin to call on him. He hears your prayers, and because he hears, he is an answer, a prayer answering God. And because he has heard, he will answer you. He says, Daniel, a man greatly beloved, and he didn't answer Daniel because he was the most righteous person. No, before you say that it is Daniel, you see, we know Daniel is a great man. I'm not as great as Daniel. So God will hear Daniel. No, he said, a man greatly loved. Why did God so hear Daniel? It was because Daniel was living under a covenant. The Abrahamic covenant, he was a Jew. And by that covenant, God said, the children of Abraham, anywhere they are, and they cry and they call on him, he will hear them. So Daniel was head based on that covenant, not because he was a righteous man or a holy man or anything, though, yes, righteousness, walking in righteousness and holiness is great. But he was head based on the covenant. He says, You are greatly beloved. Do you know we are his beloved? We are his beloved, and so he hears us when we call. The very first day he said, When you started praying, I heard you. The very first day you knelt down to pray. I am here to assure you that God heard you. And because he heard you, he will answer you. He's a prayer answering God. Look at the example of Jesus. When Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus, you see, look at what he said. John 11, 41. When Lazarus was sick, Jesus said, This sickness is not unto death. They came and told him he had died, and so he went there to go and raise the man from the dead. And so when he got there, he said, then they took away the stone because he told them to take away the stone. They took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, I thank thee. And said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. Father, I thank you that you heard me. He didn't he didn't even say any prayer here. Look, he didn't say a prayer here, but he said, Father, I thank you that you heard me. What did the father hear? He had said something long before that day. When they came and told him that Lazarus was sick, Jesus said, This sickness is not unto death. That's what he said. And then they came and told him that the man is dead. And so when he stood there, he reminded the father that when I said those words, you heard me. I didn't even say, I didn't even pray it. You see, I just said this sickness is not unto death. But I said, My father heard me. He lived in the consciousness that when he even speaks, the father hears. And so when you pray, God hears. He says, I thank you that you heard me. And someone says, Oh, but that is Jesus. No, yes, it's Jesus, but you must also know your place. Look at your place. John chapter 16, verse 23. John 16, 23. And in that day, Jesus speaking, you will ask me nothing. Verily, very I say unto you, whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Let's continue. He tells you you've asked nothing in my name, ask, you shall receive that your joy may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs. But the time comes when I shall no more speak unto you in Proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. So Jesus. Saying when you pray, it says the father will answer. That's what Jesus is saying. Let's continue. At that day, you shall ask in my name, and I say not unto you that I will pray the father for you. He says that even me, the Lord Jesus, I will not even pray to the Father on your behalf. At that day, you shall ask in my name. Okay, next verse, please. For the Father Himself loves you. Notice, Daniel, you are greatly beloved. Here Jesus is saying the Father Himself loves you. That is why I don't even have to pray for you. So you don't have to say that the fact that if Jesus is the one praying, he is Jesus, so the father will hear him. But he says, the father himself loves you. And so you have his audience. It's like when you pray, he hears because he loves you. And you have believed that I came from God. The father himself loves you. That is why I said, Daniel, you are greatly loved. So the day you started to pray, you were head. You are head because the father loves you. You are head not because you did something good, you are head not because you are living a good life, you are head because the father loves you from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we sing um Minim say Radi Obabia Koimbiya. It's a good song. I mean, for those who don't speak to you, what how does it? I know the Lord will open a way a door for me, right? Uh-huh. If I live a good life and I do good things, I know the Lord will make a way for me. You see, that has coloured our mind to think that it is God will only hear us because we are doing something good. It's works mentality. God doesn't hear you because you are doing something good. God hears you because of Christ, and because you are in him and you are his beloved, he hears you when you pray. He said, Because the father himself loves you. Now let me shock you. Look at this one, John 17, 22, 22, 23. Now let me shock you. Look at something here. The glory which you have given me, that's Jesus praying to the Father. The glory which you have given me, I have given them. You know, they say, God shall not share his glory with any man, God will not share his glory with any man. That is a scripture they've made is a mistake. He's not referring to his children. He said, The glory which you have given me, I have given them. In Christ Jesus, God has shared his glory with us. That's what he's saying here. When God said, I will share my glory with no man, go and read those scriptures. He was referring to the hidden gods, the hidden idols. God will not share his glory with the hidden idols, not his kids. In Christ Jesus, he has shared his glory with us. That's just by the way, that they may be one, even as we are one. Look at the next verse. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Jesus says, The Father loves you the same way he loves me. That's the scripture. He doesn't love us any less than he loves the Lord Jesus. That's what the Lord said. And so if you hear the Lord Jesus, he will hear you because you are his beloved. The same love that the Father has for Jesus, he has the same love for you. That's why he will hear you. That's why he said, Daniel greatly beloved, and so when you pray, believe that God hears you. Tell yourself, God hears me, and if he hears you, then he will answer your prayer. God is a prayer answering God, and that is a sign of his faithfulness to his people. 1 John chapter 5, verse 13. 1 John 5:13. God hears us. 1 John 5, 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have an eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Next verse, please. And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. God hears us. Next verse. And if he hears us, we know that whatsoever we ask, we have the petitions that we desired of him. He hears us. Be confident that God hears you when you pray. One of the reasons why people don't usually pray is because they think that God doesn't hear them. But God hears you when you pray. Be confident in that, and he's faithful. He says, and if he hears us, we know we know that we have the petitions we desire of him. God hears us. Jesus said, I thank you that you heard me and you hear me, and he said, and you hear me always. Tell yourself, God hears me always. You see, every now and then, then I stand in my room and I say, God hears me always. I said to myself, God hears me always. God hears me always. Every time I ask, He hears. Every time I pray, I know God hears me. Unfortunately, some of us even go into prayer and we don't even know. After we say amen, we don't even know, and we are not sure whether he heard us or he didn't hear us. We pray, yes, we cry, yes, but we don't know. We are not even sure if God heard us or he didn't hear. That's why sometimes when the answer comes, you are even surprised. You know that the story in the book of Acts when Peter was arrested, I've said that here before. And the church was praying for his deliverance, and yet God sent an angel and delivered Peter. When Peter came to the door when they were gathering and they were praying, and wrote that the little girl went and said, Peter is at the door, they didn't believe. And yet, when God worked the miracle and the answer came to the door, they didn't believe. And they found out that indeed God had worked a miracle. And so sometimes you can be praying and not expecting an answer. You can pray and pray and not even expect or not even think that God heard you. That is another reason why people usually don't get answers to prayers. Because when you pray and you don't believe that you've been heard, when the answer comes, you may not even notice that the answer is standing there. And you may miss the answer. So it's not that God didn't answer you, He answered you, but because you prayed without expectation, when the answer came, you couldn't recognize the answer. And so, if God hears us when we pray and he answers us, what attitude must we have? An attitude of thanksgiving. Our an attitude of thanksgiving. And so this month we must walk and go through the month with an attitude of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving that God is faithful. Great is his faithfulness, and he hears us when we pray, he hears us when we call, and he answers us when we bring petitions before him. The Bible says in Colossians chapter 4, verse 2, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. And so, because you have this understanding that God hears you and he answers you, you must always have an attitude of thanksgiving when you pray. Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving because I know that God has heard me. Thanksgiving because I know if He's heard me, then He's answered me. Thanksgiving is a great key to answered prayer. It is our way of saying, Father, I thank you that my prayer is heard and answered even before I see the result. An attitude of thanksgiving. A few importance of an attitude of thanksgiving. Number one, an attitude of thanksgiving in prayer brings the assurance and peace of God into your situation. The at an attitude of thanksgiving in prayer brings the assurance and peace of God into your situation. Philippians chapter 4, verse 6. Philippians 4, 6, 6 and 7. It says quickly, be careful for nothing. NIV says, be anxious for nothing. Don't be anxious. Don't be don't be anxious. Be anxious about don't be do not be anxious about anything. But in everything by prayer and petition, with notice, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Be anxious about do not be anxious about anything. Anxiety is often a major major challenge. And so you are faced with a situation. The first thing you do is to sink into anxiety. No, don't be anxious. Don't be anxious about your bills. God is saying to you. Don't be anxious about the children and the situation. Don't be anxious about the financial situation in the business. Don't let it bring you to a place of anxiety. He said, But in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. With thanksgiving. He said, then let your request be made known unto the Lord. And then he said, and the peace of God, which passes or transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. God will give you peace in the midst of the storm. God will give you peace in the midst of every challenge when you have an attitude of thanksgiving. You can so thank God that people who know the problem you are facing, they'll ask you, is something wrong with you? Because how they expected you to behave or react to the situation, you are not reacting that way because you have the peace of God. Others go through that same situation, they crumble, they fall flat, they cry. It's like they are in a state of hopelessness. But you go through it and you have peace. Why? An attitude of thanksgiving. Father, I thank you for this financial situation. I know you are in control. Father, I thank you for this storm in my marriage. I know you are in control. It shall pass. Father, I thank you for this seemingly impossible situation. I thank you for this diagnosis because I know it doesn't have the last word. I thank you. He's saying, in all things, give thanks unto God. Instead of being anxious, instead of being fearful and living in doubt and saying things you shouldn't be saying, it says, pray and add thanksgiving to your prayer. Have an attitude of thanksgiving in the midst of the storm. Because God hears and God answers. Number two, an attitude of thanksgiving in prayer is your access into God's presence. An access into God's presence means access into his promises. Psalm 100 is a psalm we all know. Make a joyful noise, verse 1. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Okay, shout for joy. Please, let's go back to King James, please. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands. Next verse. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with sing. Come before his presence with singing. Don't come before his presence with uh you know how it is. And some people when they even come to church and you look into their faces. No, it says, Come with singing. You think God doesn't know you have the problems you have? He knows. But he says, when you are coming, come with singing. Don't come with a sad face. Don't come with a sad who was there. It was Nehemiah when he was in the presence of the king, and he had a sad face, and it was it was it was no, let me not use the word taboo. Is it the word taboo? You are not allowed to stand in the presence of the king with a sad face. And so he was worried that he had a sad face in front of the king. You can't approach the presence of an important person with a sad face, a dropped face. No, he says, Come before his presence with singing. Uh-huh. Next verse, please. Know ye that the Lord He is God, it is He that has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with what? Thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name. Come with Thanksgiving. Verse says, Come with singing, come with Thanksgiving. And as I'm coming into the church and I'm entering, I'm coming with singing, dancing, rejoicing before the Lord, irrespective of what the world has said or what how the world is treating me. I come with thanksgiving, I come with praise. See, don't be sitting down when we are praising the Lord though. You are missing out on so much. You are missing, you are missing out too much. Sometimes when you see me jump in here, look, when I first joined this church, I was suffering a condition, it was a heart condition. Most of you don't know. Yes. And there were times I had pain, serious pain in my heart. And there were times that it felt that if I jump or run, I'll fall down, and that'll be the end. But I said, Hey, you who made the heart of a man? Is it not God? So I'll come, even with the pain, I'll be jumping and singing and running around here with the pain. I've not said it before, you see, but I'm saying it. So when you see me jumping around, you will think that as for me, everything is fine. There was there were times I was in pain, but I was jumping. Because I'll not let it steal my joy, and I'll come with singing and praising. Hallelujah. An attitude of thanksgiving is my assess. It's my assess, it's your assess. The next one, time is almost up. Thanksgiving is proof of your faith in God's ability to make good his promise. Romans chapter 4, from verse 18, talking about Abraham. When God made a promise to Abraham, God said, You will be father of many nations. It means you will have a child. Then the Bible says, Okay, so who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which God had promised him. So shall thy seed be. Okay, next verse. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body, which is now dead when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He didn't consider the situation that was before him. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in faith, doing what? Giving glory to God. That's thanksgiving. Even though his body was dead, and the wife's womb was dead, and she was barren, but then he did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief. He did not look at his physical condition. Why? He exalted the promise and the word and the faithfulness of God over the situation, and so he kept on giving glory to God because he knew that what God has promised, God will make good his promise. And so he kept on giving glory to God, even long before God brought to pass the promises. That is why, like two weeks ago, when I was talking about um Jehoshaphat and the people, the Bible says it was when they began to praise and give glory to God that God worked out a miracle in their life and in their situation. He gave glory to God, an attitude of thanksgiving. So this month and the rest of the year, have an attitude of thanksgiving. It will change many things. The next one, an attitude of thanksgiving positions you for more of God's blessings. An attitude of thanksgiving positions you for more of God's blessings. Jeremiah chapter 30, verses 19 and 20. Jeremiah 30, 19 and 20. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving, and the voice of them that make merry, out of them will proceed what? Thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry. And I will multiply them, they shall not be few. I will also glorify them, they shall not be small. I will multiply them because they have an attitude of thanksgiving and rejoicing before me. When you have this attitude, God brings about multiplication. When Jesus took the few loaves of bread and the fish, he didn't complain, he didn't say, Oh, this is too small. What would this achieve? No, he lifted it, and the Bible says he gave thanks unto the Father. And when he gave thanks to the Father, the thing began to multiply. You want to see multiplication in your life, you want to see multiplication in your finances, you want to see multiplication in that which you are doing. Learn to give thanks. He said, Out of them will proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry. Look, you should always have a face of okay, we'll come there. See, people think that when you have a morose face, you see, then people will pity you. No, no, no, no, no, no. So you see, every time they have to have a sad face to make people pity them. People will not pity you. You should have a rejoicing kind of attitude. Thanksgiving. God will multiply, God multiplied the little that was there because He gave thanks. The next one, an attitude of thanksgiving activates great supernatural power for mighty miracles in your life. Attitude of thanksgiving activate great supernatural power for mighty miracles in your life. And we saw that in John 11 41. When Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus, the Bible says he gave thanks. He didn't complain. He said, But Father, you when I said last time that the man will not die, you see, you have watched and the man has died. No, God, you said, God, I was praying the other day that you healed the man, you didn't heal him any other. No. God, I was praying about this situation that the worst will not happen. Have you seen you didn't mind me? The worst has happened. No, he said, Thank you. That you had me and you hear me always. And then he said, Lazarus, come forth. And supernatural power was released because of an attitude of thanksgiving. Do you know what the raising of Lazarus from the dead means? Okay. The Bible says the man died of a sickness. Right? And he had been dead for four days. Mary herself said, By this time, he's thinking, the body is decomposing, decomposing, so he's thinking. So, first of all, to cause a Lazarus, come. The man's spirit is in the region of the dead. First, the spirit had to travel back and come into the body. That's the first miracle. But you see, the body didn't come out decomposed, thinking. The body came out with the man, the body recomposed. So miracle number two. The same word, Lazarus came forth. The body had to be recomposed. Then number three, the guy died of a sickness. So it means the sickness had to be healed. Because if the sickness is not healed, as soon as he comes alive, the sickness will kill him again. So that is like three miracles in one. Why he gave thanks. When you have an attitude of thanksgiving, you will experience God's supernatural power all the time, working on your behalf. And that's what we saw. We we see here. Then the next one: an attitude of thanksgiving in prayer brings about God's deliverance. Psalm 50, verse 14. Psalm 50. Are you with me? Offer unto God thanksgiving. Notice offer unto God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the most high. And call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and thou shalt glorify me. Offer thanksgiving, pay your vows, and then call unto Me in the day of trouble, I'll deliver you. Offer thanksgiving. Finally, an attitude of thanksgiving in prayer produces the joy of the Lord, which results in supernatural strength. The joy of the Lord, which results in supernatural strength. Psalm 28 verses 7 and 8. NLT. Psalm 28, 7 and 8. The Lord is my strength and shield. I shall trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out into songs of thanksgiving. Verse 8. The Lord gives his people strength. He is a safe fortress for his anointed king. Joy and strength comes to those who have an attitude of thanksgiving. Joy. The Bible says, The joy of the Lord is our strength. Thanksgiving will cause you to have joy. These things, depression, or the sin. Depression, oppression, suppression. Oh, the sin, shin, shin. What is that? Apprehension. Is it also? They will disappear. When you have an attitude of thanksgiving, a thanksgiving person will not know depression. And oppression. And what? Apprehension. Yes. And the strength of the Lord will always be yours. You will be strong. The joy of the Lord is our strength. The joy, the joy of the Lord. Joy is from your spirit. You see, joy, there's a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is from your surroundings, the things that happen around you. That one can be taken away. Uh-huh. But joy cannot be taken away. Because joy is from within, it's from your spirit. It cannot be taken away. That is why when they were persecuting the church, the Christians of old, they were throwing them to lions and burning them at the stake. The people who were persecuting them noticed something. They were filled with joy. They were filled with such joy that they began to wonder what is wrong with these people. Situations can take happiness away from you, but it cannot steal your joy. Joy is of the Lord, and that is your strength. The strength to endure affliction, the strength to go through all the adverse conditions of life, adversity and all. That joy which produces strength, it comes from the Lord and it is given to those who are thankful. People who are grateful. And so this month and the rest of the year, have an attitude of thanksgiving. And believe that God hears you when you pray. And God is faithful to his promises. And anytime you go before God, have an attitude of always, every now and then, say, Father, I thank you. Father, I thank you. One man of God, I was listening to him over the week, and he was saying that he has he noticed that he hardly lacks anything good. How? He said, Every time he keeps saying, Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And in rather, every time he takes thank you, Lord, in every situation, God just adds. God keeps multiplying. Even when the time's about, thank you, Lord. Thank you. Father, I give you praise. Father, I thank you. Every time, thank you. My mouth, my mouth is full filled with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving proceeds from me all the time. Instead of memoring and complaining, I rather thank God. And as we live in this atmosphere of thanksgiving this month and the rest of the months, may we see the hand of the Lord moving things on our behalf. May the promises of God in His Word be made manifest in our lives. God bless you so much.

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