Leaning into Him through the Power of Thanksgiving

Have you noticed what I end every weekly newsletter with?

Keep leaning into Him….

Have you wondered how to do that? consistently?

Over the next couple of weeks I want to share how I have learned to keep leaning into Him (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit).

This week, in my life, is a good example of how to lean into Him. Every time I turned on the news, updated statistics on numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths are displayed.

My visit to the supermarket for our weekly groceries was chaos with hordes of panicked people emptying the shelves of basic items.

My son’s workplace has mandatory annual leave requirements this month due to the downturn in business due to the virus.

It is extremely easy to become worried and anxious about the future. 

You catch yourself, during the day, looking at the people assessing who looks sick and who doesn’t.

This morning I heard a dose of negativity. During the week I faced some stressful moments. Do we have a way to deal with these times? Is there an action we can take to switch mindsets and enjoy peace?

Yes! I leaned into the Father this morning and asked those very questions.

(by the way….God doesn’t not mind our questions. In fact He loves interacting with us and if that involves questions then good! Learning happens after questioning.)

Here is what God said to my heart…… “start thanksgiving….start thanking me for everything in your life right now”. I took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. Of course! Abba Father was reminding me of the many times in my life when my heart was anxious and I asked the same questions. God’s answer was always “start thanksgiving”. I even wrote a book about it – “21 Prayers of Thanksgiving“. Isn’t it easy to forget your own spiritual lessons!  

In my book I list 10 ways thankfulness transforms us… no.8 is “Thanking God Keeps Us Hopeful”. 

Here is an excerpt from the book: There is a praise – hope cycle that takes place after acts of thanksgiving. The more we praise and thank Him the more we are filled with hope. The more hopeful we are in our God, the more our prayers are filled with thanksgiving. If we want hope and not discouragement – spend time thanking God.

So that’s it.

Stop. Pause. Thanks.

That’s it. We tend to complicate things, don’t we? I know that I do most of the time.

So, what would our week look like if we practiced thanking God in everything?

Shall we give it a try?

Action Step: 

1. Ponder this verse: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6 ESV.
2. Look Phil 4:6 up in different translations. Pick one that resonates with you. Write it out. Stick it somewhere you will see it multiple times a day. (Remember my yellow sticky post it note on my shower screen a couple of weeks ago – do something like that!)
3. Ask God to help you to remember to enter his gates with thanksgiving in the stress moment.

Father God, I thank you for the power of thanksgiving. I thank you for your life in us. I thank you for your Word that is lights our pathways. I thank you for my readers who faithfully open these weekly emails and meet you there. I ask that you fill  Rachel with joy and thankfulness this week so stress, worry and fear will fall away. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Keep leaning into Him….