Gratitude as a weapon of spiritual warfare

CALL TO PRAYER

Title: Gratitude as a weapon of spiritual warfare

By: Njuacha Hubert

Date: 01.04.2022

“Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.”  (Luke 9:16 NIV)

^“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” (Acts 16:25-30 NIV)

Today we are going to be emphasizing on gratitude as a spiritual weapon. We should all know by now that the moment we accepted Jesus as lord and savior we declared our open rivalry with the devil. (Although no one is exempted. However there is no need to fight one who is already defeated).  “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV). One of the oldest tactics of the devil is suggesting lack to us; building up anxiety or impatience in us and ingratitude. We see this in the way He deceived Eve in the garden of Eden. God had given Adam and Eve access to everything in the garden except this one thing. But the devil brought their attention to this one lack and they fell for it. Don’t you agree that gratitude was missing.  The question is this; did they even need this? Was God’s provision not enough. If one is not content they can never be satisfied.

To better appreciate the lesson of ingratitude from Adam and Eve that resulted from their falling let us look at another person’s example. Because sometimes we can not appreciate how bad something is until we see one that is good. That example is from Joseph. Let us read carefully Genesis 39:8-10 to see the response of Joseph after Potiphar’s wife tried to tempt him to sleep with her.

 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. ⁹ No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 

From the above you see the heart of Joseph was one of gratitude. He was thankful and focused on what he had, not what he did not have. Through out scriptures God keeps saying give thanks; be grateful even when you are lacking in an area, don’t forget to thank God for what He has done and what He is doing. Now coming back to the Adam and Eve incident just imagine where we would have being if Eve could say back to the Devil like Joseph did “the lord has given me everything in this garden except this tree. No one is greater in this garden than I am” . Was that not enough? .  Jesus Christ of course exemplified this lifestyle of gratitude by always giving thanks. As we see in our opening verse in Luke 9:16, He started by thanking God for the little that was available then He proceeded to break the bread. Paul and Silas in prison were thanking God. You could ask what were they thanking God for. Is salvation not enough. What is the price of eternal life and happiness? and this they were already assured of in Christ. They knew that God works everything for the good of those He loves.

In our lives the devil will from time to time whisper to you that you lack this or that. If you dwell on that you fall into the temptation to lose your joy of the present next you could fall easily into Jealousy and then how can you love your neighbor in this state, how can you wait patiently on God in this state. So cheer up and worship and remind yourself of the blessings; the air,  the salvation and so on. God is good !. We serve a living God and He is faithful.

Prayer Point:

Let’s us thank God for His word today. And let us pray for the grace not to lose guard in gratitude of what God has done and His promises.