GRATITUDE AND EXPECTATION FOR THE FUTURE
¨So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side according to all He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies were able to stand against them, for the Lord handed over all their enemies to them. None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.¨
Joshua 21:43-45
Is it weird to start the year with a verse that has an end-of-cycle tone to it? It was only after many years of fighting against the enemy and conquering their land that they were able to say, ¨Everything God promised was fulfilled¨.
Maybe the verses above were your anthem ending 2021. Or maybe you´ve come to realize that what happened the last two years was actually preparing you for what God has in store for 2022. Either way, I want to submit to you the following idea. What if we didn´t wait till the top of the mountain to give praise? What if we didn´t reserve our gratitude for an event, but rather released gratitude to pave the way?
I am choosing to start 2022 with a heart that says: ¨God, thank You for a year full of laughter, accomplished dreams, lots of travel, the reward to my faith, and celebration¨.
Prophetic gratitude is our topic for today. In previous posts, we learned about staying present in the moment and the power gratitude has to change our perspective. Then, we discussed receiving peace for our past and choosing to give thanks for what was and what wasn´t. We took those awkward moments of the past and gave them the freedom to be launching pads to our great future instead of dead-ends. Before going into the practicality of prophetic gratitude (which is way simpler than it sounds, but SO powerful), I want to share the following thoughts:
A study was conducted by neurologists years ago that proves that anxiety and gratitude cannot coexist in the brain at the same time. In other words, gratitude has a physical effect on your brain.
My dad says that gratitude connects us to the heart of God. If you want to be closer to heaven, be more grateful.
I´ve said this before and I want to share it again: gratitude is the seed that bears the fruit of joy.
Gratitude keeps our hearts from getting bored. It keeps our hearts tender to God and far from pride and selfishness. A person that gives thanks lives in awe of God´s goodness, even when things aren´t good.
Position yourself in places/spaces that will produce praise in your heart. Do things that make you happy and that will make praise spring up from your heart. (Get coffee with friends; plan a trip; go for a drive, windows down, and blast your favorite songs.)
Friend, I want to challenge you to give thanks before you get ¨there¨. Prophetic gratitude is simply giving thanks in advance. It´s adding faith to our gratitude… talk about a powerful duo! But what really makes this powerful, like many things in life, is actually putting it into practice. You can practice prophetic gratitude while you´re getting ready in the morning, after praying, or while you´re driving to school/work. I like to do it at the beginning of the day to speak life and grace into the following hours. I think the best way to explain this is to give you a few examples:
¨I am thankful for the ways God will express His love for me today!¨
¨I am thankful for the promotion that is coming my way at work!¨
¨I am so grateful for the amazing friendships I am going to build this year!¨
¨I am grateful I no longer have that backache.¨
¨Today, I am thankful that God´s goodness is actively pursuing me.¨
¨I am grateful for God´s intervention in my family.¨
Take a look at your dreams and goals for this year. Who do you want to be? What places do you want to visit? Where do you want to take your business? Now, turn those goals into declarations of gratitude.
*I feel obligated to give the following disclaimer: simply giving thanks for getting out of debt without putting in the effort won´t make it happen. Prophetic gratitude, or faith for that matter, is not magic, attraction, or anything of the sort.
Faith is active, it´s resting in God and moving forward. It´s working while we wait. Prophetic gratitude won´t magically make these things happen but it will renew our minds. It will help us work towards our goals and dreams with conviction and strength. There´s a difference between wanting something and being the person who has it. Prophetic gratitude helps us be the person before we have/do the thing. Last year, I did a whole series on being to therefore do and have. You check those out here:
5 Things To Do When Motivation Runs Low 💪
I believe that not one of the promises God has made to you will be left unfulfilled. He is faithful to His Word and His character is infallible. He is good and trustworthy. Kind and patient. Add faith to your gratitude and watch yourself grow into the person God designed you to be: joyful, creative, and brave. Start the year, not just giving thanks for the one that just ended, but for the 365 days (or so) that lie ahead. Days full of new mercies, renewed hope, and opportunities. God has conquest, rest, protection, and provision for you. Go get it!
