Christian Living II - Lecture 15 - Thanksgiving and Singing

Chapters 9-10 (Pages 87-101)

Thanksgiving in Prayer:87-92

Thanksgiving is the act of expressing specific gratitude to God for blessings he has bestowed upon us.

Colossians 2:6-7 6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

Eastman – “In looking at the life of Christ it is evident that a spirit of thanksgiving was important to Him. In the Gospels we frequently see our Lord expressing gratitude.”

John 11:41 …Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

Mark 8:6 …and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks…

Eastman – “Thanksgiving is the act of expressing specific gratitude to God for blessings he has bestowed upon us.” Page 87-88

Eastman – “Thanksgiving begins when you mentally catalog the specific things God has done for you so you can put these blessings into words.” Page 90

1. Confess Spiritual Blessings.

a. What specific spiritual blessings has God given you recently?

b. Take time during prayer to offer these blessings back to God in the form of vocal thanksgiving.

2. Confess Material Blessings.

a. Be very specific!

i. A missions service is a good reminder for us isn’t it?

1. Bro. Traywick telling us about how expensive electric is on the island and not being able to afford air conditioning should tell us we need to thank God for His material blessings on us.

3. Confess Physical Blessings.

a. I thank God that I was blessed to have the eye condition I have in this modern time. If I would have had this in the 1970s or before I would be unable to drive, or work most jobs.

4. Confess external blessings.

a. God’s goodness to your friends and family.

i. Thank you for giving Coy such a nice car.

ii. Thank you for giving Jena a chance to go to PFYC.

Eastman – Especially strive to escape the tendency of generalized thanksgiving. Rather than declaring, “God, I thank you for blessing our church service last Sunday,” magnify your thanksgiving. Let it include specific reasons why you are thankful. Page 91

Singing in Prayer: Page 91-101

Amy Carmichael “I believe truly that satan cannot endure it and so slips out of the room…” Page 94

Paul spoke of “making melody” in our hearts unto the Lord with “spiritual songs.” (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16) The word “spiritual,” as used in these verses, means “inspired by the Spirit.”

The Weapon of Song: (Page 95)

The Best Way to Begin a Battle:

2 Chronicles 20:20-22 20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. 22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

This chapter starts out with Bad News…Fear…Questioning…

i. Prayer. (v. 3)

a. He Prepared/Began with Prayer.

1. He was fearful but he took that straight to God in prayer!

A. That is a proof of his faith!

B. Faith doesn’t mean an absence of human emotion.

b. John Piper said, “A lot of Christians treat prayer like a domestic intercom, when it is more like a wartime walkie-talkie.”

c. During the time of COVID shut downs Andy Stanley stated the following in an interview as to why they shut down their services for the rest of 2020 (in July of 2020). “…we surveyed our folks, because we wanted to know what they’re thinking. So this isn’t me in my prayer closet saying, ‘God has shown me. Here we go.’” He went on to say, “I do not lead that way. I don’t recommend anybody leading that way.”

1. I feel the exact opposite! In times of crisis, the best place you can go, is to your prayer closet!

v. 13 – Before God’s Spirit moved, they gathered their families together!

ii. Prophesy. (v. 14-17)

a. Jahaziel heard from God!

1. OH HOW WE NEED TO HEAR FROM GOD!

b. They did not Proceed until they had heard from God!

1. He spoke peace directly to their fear.

2. He spoke plainly to their confusion.

3. He spoke power to their frailty!

c. Notice one thing that was missing in the rest of that chapter.

1. They did not question, they did not hesitate, they h

d. Their plan was given by God.

1. We know if was given by God by how it ended up.

iii. Proving. (v. 20)

a. Believe so you shall be established…

b. Believe so you shall prosper…

c. God didn’t ask them to FIGHT! (v. 17 – Ye need not fight in this battle…)

d. But he did ask for their FAITH! (v. 17 – “Set yourselves, Stand still…)

iv. Praise. (v. 18-19+21)

a. They prevailed with praise!

b. They praised God before they ever received the answer!

c. As they praise God Moved!

1. (V. 22) And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments…

So in your prayer time worship God in singing!

Pray unto God in singing!

Sing known songs.

Sing unknown songs as they come to you…

Songs of Praise:

Songs of Power and Mercy:

Verse:

I'm living proof, Of what the mercy of God can do

If You knew me then, You'd believe me now

He turned my whole life upside down, Took the old and He made it new

That's just what the mercy of God can do

Chorus:

Now I'm alive to tell the story, How I've overcome

It's His goodness and mercy, And the power of His blood

I'm so glad that my freedom, Wasn't based on what I've done

The goodness and mercy, And the power of the blood

Verse: I thought I deserved, To be six feet beneath the earth

For all the things I've done, The things I've said

The choices made that I regret, Oh, I would still be lost

Oh, but for the mercy of God.

Songs of Thanksgiving:

Thanks, Thanks, I give you Thanks, For all you’ve done…

Songs of God’s Name:

Jehovah-Jireh, My provider. Jehovah-Nissi, Lord you reign in victory. Jehovah Shalom, my Prince of Peace, and I worship you because of who you are…

Songs of God’s Word:

As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee…

The Lord gave me a song while I was praying during a difficult season in life –

From Job 23:10 – “He knows the way I take…when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold… (3x) Gold tried in the fire, as the flames are reaching higher, still He knows…”

Songs of My Heart:

I just can’t give up now, I’ve come to far from where I started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy and I don’t believe, He’s brought me this far to leave me.