Thank God for what he has done - 90 Days of Prayer & Fasting

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters Church Planters, Greetings. I am Pastor  Douti  Claude, VCP director. I am sending you this message as part of “Multiply,” our podcast that gives a word of encouragement to church planters.

Dear brothers, I would like to invite you this morning to thank God for which he has done. In our 90 days of fasting and prayer that we had begun, for almost three months, God has done many things: winning souls, delivering people… miraculous things have happened. There is reason to recognize the benefits of God, to say a big thank you to God. I exhort you to prayers of gratitude. Here, in 1 Timothy 2, verse 1 and 2, the apostle Paul says “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” There you have it, the apostle Paul speaks of all kinds of prayers and supplications or giving of thanks. I will insist on giving thanks. We must be grateful to God and give thanks to Him for all that He has done.

God has done many things among us. There have been testimonies. Today, I would like to bring you to thanksgiving, not to always ask, but to take the time to also thank God. The great King David recognized this. In Psalm 103, he spoke to his soul, to his interior, his innermost being, saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” “Let all that is within me bless his holy name!” “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” He cited all that God does in his life. It is a form of recognition that God loves, that God appreciates.

In the Bible, there were lepers that Jesus sent out, he asked them to go and throw themselves into the water and they were healed. And there was only one who came back to Jesus out of 10 lepers. Jesus appreciated his gratitude, he asked him "Oh really, and the others, weren't they healed?" He said "of course", but where are they? And there, Jesus spoke another word over him, a word of special blessing because of his gratitude. The Bible no longer speaks of 9 lepers who left. Was their healing perfect? Did the leprosy come back harder than before? We don't know that. But without gratitude, it's not good before God. God needs our gratitude, thanksgiving for everything he does for us. I myself sometimes snatch money out of my children's hands when they don't know how to say thank you. "Thank you" is important.

I want to encourage you, dear church planter brothers, dear church planter sisters, you know what we experience in church planting: Going from place to place, we work among the robbers, among the criminals, among the fetishists, among the sorcerers, people who bewitch us, who do everything. But God heals us, he delivers us from all these things. And God touches the hearts of people so that they give themselves to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Oh, it's wonderful. Let us recognize the goodness of the Lord, the benefits of God. And let us say thank you to Him. So, let us learn again to say thank you with thanksgiving for all that God has done for us during these 90 days of prayer, fasting and church planting that are still ongoing. Dear church planters, it is within the framework of "Multiply".

May the Lord bless you wherever you are.

Shalom, shalom. Do everything to share this word of recognition, of thanks with someone else around you. Amen.