Bill Johnson - Should I Be Thankful for ALL Things?
I don’t know that anybody’s supposed to give thanks for a bad report from the doctor; it doesn’t make any sense to me. However, it does make sense to remain thankful, to keep my list of blessings stronger than my list of needs. In Nehemiah, particularly at the end of chapter 11 and all of chapter 12, there is a recurring theme: there were people assigned to give thanks to God. What do you do for a living? Oh, I give thanks. Sounds kind of formal and ritualistic, and there appears to be no life in it. Yet, there is a secret in that routine; you bypass the limitation of your own emotional condition and make mature choices that activate your emotional condition to align with your actions. Complaining empowers the inferior to undermine your faith. Complaining only occurs when we are more mindful of a problem than we are of God. It’s impossible to complain when you’re more aware of the goodness of God than of a problem. To complain, you’d have to violate your conscience, your sense of purpose, your sense of being, and your sense of God’s presence. I’m glad I’ve never done that. I says, «Rejoice always.» In the original language, «always» actually means always—just always. No matter what happens, choose joy. Well, I don’t feel like it; that’s why it’s a choice. Do you think He would have to command it if we did it naturally? The only reason it’s a command is that it provides a chance for you to flex a muscle. You said you want to grow; you said you want to carry the weight of God into the Earth. Here’s something you can learn to do.
Well, what is it? No, you’re going to miss your flight. Not that! Here, I’m taking you deep into my personal life: when I miss a flight, I come up to the gate; this has happened. I’ve sat on the tarmac forever because they can’t find a place to park my plane, and I look at my clock—my other flight is boarding right now. Boy, am I thankful! Why am I feeling rejoicing right now? I just sit there for a half-hour while my plane boards, and we’re just sitting there on the tarmac. Then I notice my plane, and then the one I’m on finds a parking space. My first response is not rejoicing, and I’ve got to admit to you it’s not my second either. Rejoicing is way delicious. I have to experience a few other things first. I’ve got to explore the emotional tundra before I end up in rejoicing.
When that happens to me, oh boy! When somebody passes you on the freeway, no problem; you go as fast as you want—it’s not a problem for me. But when they pull in front of you and then slow down, it’s not a big deal; it’s just wrong. Do they have no conscience? Where is the conviction of the Spirit of God when we need it? Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. «Rejoice always» means choosing joy. It wouldn’t be commanded if it wasn’t within reach of a choice. Joy is part of the Kingdom; it is always within reach. I am a powerful person. Say this with me: I am a powerful person. Joy is always within reach; it’s yours, always within reach. «Pray without ceasing» is kind of like «rejoice always.» Without ceasing means just always; just pray and don’t stop. Interestingly, Philippians 4:6 talks about supplications and prayers—that’s the earnest time before the Lord, contending with God for a breakthrough—and he says, «with thanksgiving.» Why? Thanksgiving creates the context to keep prayer focused.
I know this is a dumb question because all of us would say yes, but how many of you want to have effective prayers? Of course we do; we don’t pray just to run on a treadmill, just trying to cover the miles. We want to bring impact. Our hearts are to bring change to our own lives, our families, the world around us; we want to see things take place because we’ve prayed. Thankfulness is what helps to keep prayers on target. There are times when I’m praying for someone, ministering to someone—let’s say they have a certain problem like arthritis throughout their arm—and I’m praying for them and nothing’s happening: zero breakthrough. Then the Lord gives me insight into a more precise way to pray. When I change my prayer from a general one—"God, heal the arthritis in the arm"—to a very specific or precise prayer, then the breakthrough comes. I can’t tell you why, but I can tell you this: for me to stand up here and say, «Oh Jesus, please heal everyone in the room today; amen,» nothing’s going to happen. Why? Because it has to be more precise, and what thankfulness does is it hones the precision of our prayer life because it keeps it about Him. It is a place of dependency, a place of acknowledgment. The strength in prayer is not that you complain or bellyache about a problem; it’s that you’ve joined your heart with His to see His kingdom come and His purposes worked out on Earth. Thankfulness keeps us engaged with precision.
«Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks.» I don’t know that anybody’s supposed to give thanks for a bad report from the doctor; that wouldn’t make sense to me. However, it does make sense to remain thankful, to keep my list of blessings stronger than my list of needs. How many of you have made a prayer list? If you haven’t written one, you certainly have one in your mind. I’ve got them on my iPad—I have lists in there of things I pray for—just stuff I can contend for. I get before the Lord: «God, we’ve got to see breakthrough; we’ve got to see breakthrough there,» and I believe in it. But how many of you have thankfulness lists? Probably not as many. There are a few, and it’s wonderful, but the point remains: we stay more conscious of needs than we are of blessings. When I stay more conscious of needs than blessings, I will tend to pray out of a hole instead of from heavenly places. I will tend to pray more out of a place of desperation, which isn’t bad. I don’t have the best language, so give me a little grace for this, but I will tend to pray out of desperation instead of authority.
1 Timothy 4:1-5 states: «Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.» This is profound. What he says is nothing is to be refused. The point isn’t that it’s something you bought at the store. The implication that Paul had to deal with is that people would be invited to someone else’s home and served food that was either unclean, pork, or food offered to an idol. Here, he’s giving them instruction: don’t refuse anything you would determine is unclean. Why? Because that which was used against you becomes sanctified by your own thankfulness. Your thankfulness takes the sting out of what the enemy attempts to destroy you with; it is now used for your benefit because it is sanctified through prayer and the word of God.
«Sanctified» is an interesting word because it means separate—from sin, from darkness, separated to God. It doesn’t stop there; it implies that when I am made holy, when I separate from my own lifestyle to the Lord, I actually become like the one I am separated to. Husbands and wives married a long time start thinking alike and acting alike. There is a time of just being together, and they change because they’ve been separated from everyone else unto this person, and they pick up some of their characteristics and natures. This is even more profound in our relationship with Christ because we are separated from a dark world system that is self-serving unto the Lord. In the relationship, we become like the one we’re separated to. Now follow this thought: when you are offered something—in this case, it was food—that would contaminate you, thankfulness enables the word of God and prayer to sanctify what was released against you, making it something for you. Thankfulness takes the sting out of something sent your way to harm you. I had a friend and acquaintance in dialogue last summer who was writing a book, at least part of it against me and against us. I wrote him and told him I welcomed the book—not because I think it will add to the health of the body of Christ, but because what I want in life is on the other side of facing difficulty, navigating betrayal or criticism.
You can’t be trusted with praise if you don’t trust Him with criticism. You cannot be trusted with gain if you don’t trust Him in loss; you can’t be trusted with loyal friends if you don’t trust Him in betrayal. While I don’t think any of these things are designed by the Lord, I’m going to embrace them and learn how to navigate life through those challenging situations. Why? Because of the prayers I’ve prayed. I’ve prayed the same scary prayers you have: «God, I want to see everyone we come into contact with healed. I want to see everybody saved in our city. God, we want to see nations discipled.» These are huge prayers, but they are not released upon careless people. Careless people become preoccupied with themselves amidst the glory being manifested and poured out. So, difficulties come our way. What is it? It’s simply an opportunity to learn how to monitor my heart: to give thanks in all things, rejoice in all things, and pray in every situation with absolute dependency on Him. Why? This is what we were born for, and what I want is on the other end of adverse winds. I’ve got to learn how to use my sail and rudder, if you will, to navigate until I can make the advancements necessary to get me where I want to go.
I told him I don’t welcome it because I think it will help us, but I do welcome it. He wrote back very kindly and ended up in a long dialogue; that isn’t the point of today’s discussion. The point is that I was thankful for things that I believe the enemy sent my way. It doesn’t mean I’m thankful for the book; I’m thankful for the opportunity to grow. I’m thankful that if I learn to navigate this correctly, He can trust me with more. I don’t like it; it’s not something I’d volunteer for, but I gave up my rights when I said yes. When I said the big yes, I surrendered my right to bargain for what kind of circumstances I’m willing to face. Thankfulness is like the number one virtue that changes a person’s life, and dare I say, the entire nature of a city. I think thankfulness can change the nature of a family line. Amen! Happy Thanksgiving!