Justin J. Petrick

The greatest and only weapon the kingdom of darkness has to use against you is fear.  This is why your mind is the battlefield (2 Corinthians 10:3).  Being that Satan was stripped of his power and rank (Colossians 2:15), the only weapon he has is lies and deceit such as there is no authority in God’s Word, or lies about the character and nature of our loving God, for example.  If you really get to the root sin, all sin is rooted in fear; specifically, a fear of lacking.  Sin discredits or is unbelieving of the authority of God’s Word and His promises or the finished Works of Jesus, which is that you are saved, healed, delivered, prospered, preserved, protected and made whole.  This is why that anything that is not of faith, is sin (Romans 4:23).

The greatest way to rid fear is through thanksgiving.  When you give thanks unto God for the things in your life, you are making your faith effective.  You are acknowledging that every good and perfect gift is from God (James 1:17)

Philemon 1:6 (KJV): That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

When you give thanks, you are acknowledging God’s goodness in your life which is the key to dissolving a fear of lacking in any area of life.  You acknowledge the authority and goodness of God in your life, and this builds faith and confidence because you are claiming the finished works of Jesus in your life through acknowledging its existence. You cannot entertain a fearful mentality while at the same time thanking God for His goodness and acknowledging His hand on your life.

Not only does giving thanks kill fear and builds confidence and faith, but it results in increase in the areas of life that you are thankful for.  To understand this, we will look at two stories in the Bible, when Christ fed the 5,000, and when He cleansed the ten with leprosy. In our first example, the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle that is recorded in all 4 gospels. This tells me there is something special about this miracle, and it is the power of thanksgiving. If you read the different accounts of this miracle, the Book of John (John 6) says that Jesus gave thanks, then distributed the fish and bread to the disciples who then distributed the food to the people. If you look in the rest of the gospels (Mathew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9), it says that Jesus blessed the fish and bread, than distributed them. Why the difference?

When you speak thanksgiving, you are blessing what you are thankful for. This is why there is power in thanksgiving. Not only do you bless the areas in life that you give thanks for, they will multiply. If you need financial increase, thank God for what you have. When you thank God for your finances you are blessing them and through thanksgiving, God will multiply them just like He multiplied the bread and fish when he thanked God for them. Jesus did not ask God to multiply the bread and fish. He thanked Him for the bread and fish, thereby blessing the bread and fish which resulted in them being multiplied. This not only applies to areas such as finances, but with relationships as well. If you need increase in your marriage, thank God for your wife or husband and you just watch Him bring joy and fulfillment in your marriage. If you need healing, thank God for the health that you do have!  When you thank God, you are acknowledging His hand on your life, His blessings in your life. You are thanking God for His goodness and His love. When you have a thankful heart, you are having God’s will and it will release His favor over your life.

Thanksgiving is also evident in the story when Jesus healed the ten with leprosy in Luke 17. If you read the story, you will see that the ten were cleansed, or healed from leprosy as they were going to show themselves to the priest as directed by Jesus. In Luke 17:15, we see that when one realized he was healed he turned back to Jesus and glorified God. He gave thanks. Jesus then asked Him where the other 9 were that were cleansed. This shows us that God pays attention to how you receive grace. God wants you to be thankful. Why? Thankfulness is humility. People who are not humble are not able to be thankful for that they are given. This is because when you are not thankful, it implies that you believe you deserve what you have been given, or you believe you have achieved it on your own accord. In either way, it is not receiving God’s grace, which is His unmerited favor.

When the one leper returned and gave thanks for His healing, something incredible happened. He was made whole.   He was healed when he believed in Christ for healing, he was made whole when he gave thanks for what God had done.

Luke 17:19 (KJV): And He said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

When you thank God for the things in life, you just watch those areas increase!