Mensa Otabil - The Voice of Thanksgiving
- Watch
- Donate
We thank God for taking us through the 40 days of power, which we ended yesterday. We’re still in the greater works season and conference, and we trust God to do great things in your life.
Jonah chapter 2, verse 9: «But I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.» These are the last words that Jonah spoke in the belly of the fish. If you know the story of Jonah, he disobeyed God, and a fish swallowed him up; he was there for three days. In the belly of the fish, he prayed, and these are the last words of his prayer. He says, «I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will pay what I vow. Salvation is of the Lord.»
After he had prayed that prayer, God commanded the fish to vomit him out. Jonah committed to thanksgiving because thanksgiving is an expression of faith. At that time, when Jonah says he’s offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, he had not experienced deliverance; he was still in the belly of the fish. But when he committed to the sacrifice of thanksgiving, God then said to the fish, «Release him.» He committed to it before he experienced the release.
Now, what would you do if you were called by your boss, which I believe will happen to a lot of you? Your boss just speaks to you and says, «Listen, you’ve had a promotion, a salary increase, or a bonus coming your way.» Your boss says, «I’ve recommended to the board, to the director, or to the MD or whoever he has to recommend to, and you’re going to get this salary increase or promotion, and this package, or you’re going to go on a course.» When your boss tells you that, what do you do? You don’t wait to say, «I need to see it before I thank him.» The moment he says that, you say, «Thank you, sir. Thank you, madam. Thank you for this recommendation. Thank you for helping me.» And probably you go and buy a thank you card and say, «Thank you, sir, so much. Thank you, ma’am, so much for recommending me, for the bonus, and all of that.»
Now, you will do all of that before you receive what he promised. If you would do that for your boss, don’t you think that we should also offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving before we even see the things that God has promised us? That’s what Jonah said he would do: «I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.» I like how the Bible puts it; it’s a sacrifice of thanksgiving. That means that it was hard to do it-to thank God when you haven’t yet physically received what you’re expecting. Many of you are in that place where you’ve prayed for 40 days and 40 nights and seen the face of the Lord. Start offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Don’t wait to see it before you thank God. Thank God and then you will see it. That’s the formula of the Bible.
Then Jonah says something else apart from thanksgiving; he says, «I will pay what I have vowed. " Jonah committed to paying his vows. You know, many times when people are expecting God to do something for them, they make vows to God. " Oh Lord, if you do this, I will do that for you. Oh Lord, if you answer my prayer, I’ll serve you with all my heart.» We make all kinds of commitments to the Lord, but many times, we don’t pay our vows to the Lord.
If you’ve made vows to God, if you’ve made commitments to the Lord, if you said, «Lord, if you do this for me, I will do that,» it’s about time you follow the steps of Jonah and pay your vows. Commit to paying your vows. Commit to redeeming the promises you’ve made to God. After Jonah did that, God said to the fish, «Release him.» So, his commitment to thanksgiving and paying his vows brought the release. We serve a God of our past, present, and future. He’s a constant God; He never changes, and His principles and methods are the same. Commit to the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Commit to honoring the vows you’ve made to God, and watch what God will do in your life.
Let us pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, you are the God of my past, present, and future. I offer my sacrifice of thanksgiving to you and honor my vows in Jesus' name. Amen.» And amen.