Faith Thanks God - Before Seeing
Faith Thanks God - Before Seeing
One of the most outstanding miracles in the Gospel was the raising Lazarus from the dead. As far as an example of the prayer of faith, it doesn’t get much better.
Notice that Jesus gave thanks - before he saw the answer to His faith command. Jesus was confident of God’s will. He took actions of faith, by asking that the stone covering the entrance to the tomb be removed. Then he thanked His Father, in advance.
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time, there will be an odour, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:38-44. ESV
Being thankful helps position us to receive from God. It recognises that God is our provider and that He hears and answers our prayers. Faith is thankful for the answer before it sees the answer because it already believes it has received what it desires!
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 ESV
In Philippians 4, we are told to combine prayers and supplication with thanksgiving. We’re not told to thank God after we see the answer to our prayers. Rather, to include thanksgiving as part of our praying. We should make a habit of thanking God in advance for the things we believe we have received.