House of Hope Online

November 30, 2025

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I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.  The Thanksgiving holiday is one of the most important celebrations we have, as we will see in today’s scriptures.  Now that the holiday is behind us, the word of the Lord for us today is that we should always have an attitude of thanksgiving toward the Lord.  Everyday, we should be thankful, and our gratitude toward Him should be evident in our prayer life.

Colossians 4:

 2 ¶ Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with [an attitude of] thanksgiving; (NASB)

When we pray, we should always have an attitude of thanksgiving.  In fact, verse 2 says keep alert in prayer for the opportunity to give thanks.  The word “attitude” is defined as the particular way a person thinks or feels about something.  Our attitude can be positive or negative, depending on our experiences or circumstances.  Often, difficult circumstances can cause a negative attitude toward our faith, and toward our Father in Heaven. 

Unfortunately, our fleshly nature and even our prayer list tend to focus on the negative, rather than thanksgiving.  That is why Colossians 4:2 teaches us to keep alert in prayer to make sure we instead have an attitude of thanksgiving.  The scriptures teach that our petitions should be preceded by prayers of thanksgiving for God’s goodness toward us and His grace to save us from the coming wrath.

Thankful for Grace

There are so many reasons to be thankful, but topping the list must be our salvation, which comes to us by the grace of Jesus Christ, who died as a blood sacrifice for our sin, and was raised from the dead by our loving Father so that we too can overcome death and be able to fellowship with Him forever.

Ephesians 2:

 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God;

 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

1^st Thessalonians 5:

 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Book of Revelation describes the wrath to come during the Tribulation period, as the Seal Judgments, the Trumpet Judgments, and the Bowl Judgments are poured out.  We are not destined for that wrath because Jesus will come at the Rapture to rescue those of us who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior.

As we await the Rapture, let us be thankful for this gift and let us walk in the good works that God has prepared for us.

Thankful for His Presence

The Book of Psalms teaches us that our thankfulness will lead us into His Presence.

Psalms 95:

 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

 3 For the LORD is a great God, And a great King above all gods,

Psalms 100:

 1 ¶ (A Psalm for Thanksgiving.) Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.

 3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; [We are] His people and the sheep of His pasture.

 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, [And] His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.

 5 For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, And His faithfulness to all generations.

In verse 4, thanksgiving allows us to enter the gates into God’s property, into His courtyard, so to speak.  It is in His courtyard where we begin to feel His peace, and we begin to praise Him and bless His name with even more thanksgiving.  Praise with thanksgiving, in turn, allows us access into the inner courts of His presence, that deep place in the Spirit where He speaks into our spirits words of knowledge, prophecy, healing, discernment, and all the other gifts of the Spirit.  As a result, thanksgiving is one of the most important aspects of our Christian walk and the practice of our faith because it is the gateway to His presence and His gifting.

Thanksgiving Cures Anxiety

An attitude of gratitude will heal us of the anxiety we feel over the uncertainty of our circumstances.

Philippians 4:

 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The Apostle Paul is telling us to add thanksgiving to our prayers instead of being anxious over our prayer list.  If we trust the Lord with an attitude of gratitude, He will lift the anxiety because our focus goes to His goodness, instead of our weakness. 

In verse 6, the Greek word for “thanksgiving” is “eucharistia,” (pronounced “yoo-khar-is-tee’-ah”) which means gratitude, actively grateful language to God, as an act of worship and thankfulness.  This word comes from the root word “Eucharist,” which means communion.  When we take communion, we worship Jesus and thank Him for His body which heals us and His blood which cleanses and saves us.  Eucharistia is more than saying “thanks a bunch.”  It is an act of worship unto the Lord.

In verse 7, the Greek word for “peace” is “eirene,” (pronounced “i-ray’-nay”), and its meaning includes prosperity, peace, quietness, and rest.  And so, when we pray and worship our God with thanksgiving, His peace, prosperity, quietness, and rest will surpass our comprehension of our circumstances, and will therefore guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  This is the power of His presence entering our spirit man or woman.  We pray giving thanks and this peace comes over us.

So, when Paul tells us to be anxious for nothing in verse 6, he is not suggesting that we have to toughen up and not worry.  It is not up to us to cure the anxiety.  We are not able to.  Instead, he is saying we should pray with thanksgiving, and the peace of God will do its thing and remove all anxiety by surpassing our comprehension (our anxious thoughts about the matter).  In the place of these anxious thoughts, the Lord brings a quiet rest to guard our hearts and minds and to prosper us in all things.

If we find ourselves in persistent or recuring anxiety, we need to persist in thanksgiving, and He will be faithful in bringing us peace to surpass our comprehension.  Paul promises that the peace of God will do the work.

Our attitude of thanksgiving brings us into the Lord’s presence, and His peace heals our hearts and minds of anxiety.  Praise be to our Lord and Savior, Jesus!

Thanksgiving Brings Increase

Among the blessings we receive in return for giving thanks is the miracle of increase.  Jesus gave us the most straightforward illustration of this when He fed the multitude despite having only seven loaves and a few small fish.

Matthew 15:

 30 And great multitudes came to Him, bringing with them [those who were] lame, crippled, blind, dumb, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them,

 31 so that the multitude marveled as they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

 32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the multitude, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not wish to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

 33 And the disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in a desolate place to satisfy such a great multitude?”

 34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

 35 And He directed the multitude to sit down on the ground;

 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples [in turn,] to the multitudes.

 37 And they all ate, and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.

 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

In verse 32, Jesus shows us that He cares that we have enough to eat, so we will not faint.  In verse 33, the disciples were focused on lack – they did not have an abundance for the good deed Jesus wanted to do.  But notice in verse 34 that Jesus changed their focus to what they did have.  This is what we must do when we pray: do not focus on what you lack.  Instead look at what you have and give thanks for it.

And notice that God did not multiply the provision until Jesus gave thanks.  Once He gave thanks in verse 36, then the multiplication came.  We give thanks after the blessing, but Jesus is teaching us to give thanks before the miracle happens.  Give thanks for the little that you have, knowing that the Lord will feed you and provide all your needs.  That is the concept behind the first fruits tithe.  You give the Lord the first of your produce (10% of your compensation) because you trust Him to bring in the remainder of the harvest.

Thanksgiving brings increase.  Verse 37 says they all ate until they were satisfied, and they still had an abundance of seven large baskets full.  There were four thousand men, plus their women and children, but only seven loaves and a few small fish before God multiplied.  “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2^nd Corinthians 9:8).

This is such an important lesson for us when we pray.  Before God can multiply us, we must thank Him for the little bit we have in our hands.  Just as prayer with thanksgiving brings the miracle of peace to cure anxiety, the prayer of thanks also brings a miracle to increase what we have and bring us into abundance.

Thankful for the Promise

We talked last time about Genesis 26 and how God told Isaac that He would prosper him and his descendants because of the Abrahamic Covenant.  Isaac was the child of that promise that God made to Abraham that he and Sarah would give birth to a son in their old age.  In Genesis 26, God extended the promise to Isaac and his descendants because of Abraham’s obedience.  Here is God’s word to Isaac in Gerar.

Genesis 26:

 3 “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

 4 “And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

 5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

The good news for us, and yet another reason for us to have eucharistia worship in our prayer time, is the fact that we are grafted into the Abrahamic Covenant as well.

Romans 11:

 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,

 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, [remember that] it is not you who supports the root, but the root [supports] you.

We are grafted into and partake of the rich root of the olive tree, Jesus.  Jesus even said in John 4:22 that our very “…salvation is from the Jews.”  If you ever wonder why we as Christians should stand with Israel today as she battles her enemies, it is because our salvation is from the Jews and we are grafted into the people of God (Israel) and therefore we take part in the root of the olive tree.

Paul re-emphasizes the point to the Galatians and calls us heirs to the Abrahamic promise.

Galatians 3:

 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

We belong to Christ, and we are therefore Abraham’s offspring, and therefore heirs to the promise made to Abraham and Isaac and their descendants.  The promise is for prosperity when we sow into the fertile ground of the Lord.  Get that into your spirit and give thanks for it always, despite your circumstances.

Genesis 26:

 12 ¶ Now Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,

 13 and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy;

 14 for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.

Be thankful for the promise.

Closing

In closing then, let us acknowledge that thanksgiving is not a once-a-year thing, or a once in a while thing when things are going well.  Thanksgiving is eucharistia worship of our Lord and it must be a regular and recurring part of our prayer life and our relationship with Jesus.

Let us pray a prayer of eucharistia worship unto the Lord.

Father God, thank You for the gift of grace, leading to salvation and sparing us from the wrath to come.  Draw us to enter Your gates with thanksgiving and Your inner courts with praise.  Thank You for speaking into our spirits words of knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, healing, and discernment.  We thank You for what is in our hand, and we trust You to multiply it into abundance.  We thank You that Your word heals us of all anxiety by instructing us to pray with  eucharistia worship that brings peace that surpasses our comprehension.  And, finally Lord, we are thankful that we belong to Christ and are therefore Abraham’s offspring, and heirs to the promise.  Salvation is from the Jews.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.