Gratitude

Gratitude comes from the Medieval Latin term gratitudinem, meaning "thankfulness".  Further back, in the Greek, gratitudinem derives from eucharistomen (Εὐχαριστοῦμεν), which means "to be grateful, to feel thankful."  Thankfulness requires certain thoughts to process it, and doesn't come over a person who is thinking negative.  Because it requires certain thoughts, it also changes our mood.  A person who normally would get on your nerves all of a sudden becomes a valuable commodity in your life.  Because gratitude changes our thinking, it also has the ability to transform us by renewing our minds.

The Word of God teaches us in Romans 8:12 to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  This means transformation starts with revelation, and revelation starts with changing our thinking.  And part of the enemy's job is to revert our thinking while God wants to renew our thinking.  The enemy wants to push us backwards while God wants to push us forward.

So, there is a warfare in gratitude - a warfare of grit and determination to see the good in spite of the bad, to squint our eyes and see things clearly when the vision gets blurry.  It makes you say, "I can't stand my co-worker, BUT I am thankful to have help with my job."  It makes you say, "I don't always get along with my mother, BUT I am thankful that she is still here."  It doesn't change the situation, but it does change our attitude towards it.  God has been working with me on five ways to fight the enemy with gratitude to share with you.

1. Pray in thanksgiving.  Remind God in your prayers of what are you are thankful for.  While the enemy wants our minds, this fixes our minds on the goodness of God and everything He has done for us.

2. Read Scripture on thanksgiving.  The old phrase is eventually true - "You are what you eat."  What we put into our minds, bodies, and spirits, will start to reflect in our behavior.  When we feed on the Word of God, the Word is what will be activated in our daily habits.  I have listed three particular Scriptures on thanksgiving to which you can refer:

 - Psalm 107:1

 - Colossians 4:2

 - I Thessalonians 5:18

3. Meditate.  Sit alone in a quiet place with your head straight, shoulders relaxed, and eyes closed.  Breathe deeply.  As you inhale, breathe in God's goodness.  Exhale gratitude.  Start with ten seconds.  Increase your sessions over time.  Philippians 4:8 says, "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things" (NKJV).

4. Thank God for someone.  In Paul's letter to his church in Thessalonica, he reminded them how he always thanked God for all of them as he mentions them in his prayers" (1 Thessalonians 1:2).  Tell someone important in your life how you thank God for them.  It'll reposition your mind and reaffirm them of how important they are.

5. Keep a gratitude journal.  A gratitude journal is a journal with ten-minute daily writings about what you are grateful for.  Several people, including therapists, have raved about the mental benefits of keeping a gratitude journal.  The spiritual benefits have been proven to be astounding.  Keeping your mind fixed and focused on the things you are grateful is an agent for exile against the enemy's accusations and thoughts that try to infiltrate our minds.  Try starting a gratitude journal by writing for ten minutes each day.

The enemy wants to block our ability to be grateful.  The good news is that we can decide right now to not let the power of negative thoughts block our thankfulness.  Decide and declare today that you do have a choice to see God's blessings in spite of the world's burdens.  And let the power of gratitude cause you to win against the enemy.

By: Minister Micah