Prayer Of Thanksgiving To God: Language Of Faith
When Jesus prayed, He never said if it is Your will. At Lazarus’ tomb, He did not say “If it is thy will.” What He did say was a prayer of thanksgiving to God: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
The Prayer Of Thanksgiving To God Can Raise The Dead
When Jesus, in the most extreme circumstance, showed us the solution is “Father, I thank You.” How much more should we thank God in the middle of any problem we face. If the prayer of thanksgiving can raise the dead, then we need to give thanks despite any negative circumstances and we will see victory. When we pray the prayer to change circumstances, never put an ‘if’ in front of it. Stand firm on the promise God gave you.
We will never comprehend what Jesus went through when He was about to die. He cried out to His Father, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” This is the only time Jesus asked God if it was His will as He knew his demise. It is not a pattern for prayer as it is an isolated instance.
What Jesus Went Through Emotionally
When we think of our Savior’s death, we grieve knowing the horrific physical suffering He endured in our place. However, we must also realize how He must have agonized mentally and emotionally. His heart broke for us.
How He must have agonized mentally and emotionally. His heart broke for us.
Scientists tell us that after a severely stressful situation we can have an adrenaline rush unlike any other. The left ventricle of the heart takes on a cone-like shape which resembles the shape of a pot the Japanese use to capture octopus called ‘tako-tsubo” which means “fishing pot for trapping octopus.” Tako-tsubo Cardiomyopathy is now Broken Heart Syndrome’s medical name.
Wikipedia defines it as sudden temporary weakening of the myocardium (the muscle of the heart). This weakening can be triggered by severe emotional stress. Stress cardiomyopathy is a well-recognized cause of acute heart failure.
Like Jesus, when someone is flogged, they often go into hypovolemic shock, a term that refers to low blood volume. There is evidence from Scripture that Jesus experienced a hypovolemic shock as a result of being beaten 39 times for our healing.
Before death, the sustained rapid heartbeat caused by hypovolemic shock also causes fluid to gather in the sack around the heart and lungs. This gathering of fluid in the membrane around the heart is called pericardial effusion, and the fluid gathering around the lungs is called pleural effusion. This explains why, after Jesus died and a Roman soldier thrust a spear through Jesus’ side, piercing both the lungs and the heart, blood and water poured out just as John explained in John 19:34.
When I realized how much Jesus suffered not only physically but mentally and emotionally, I understood how he could have undoubtedly died of a broken heart.
Jesus Understands Our Pain More Than We Realize
There have been times in my life when I did not know if I could put one foot in front of the other and continue living. The heartache was intense. The agony seemed endless. But as hopeless as each situation appeared, I praised God for making me a victor instead of a victim; for giving me His promises and assuring me that He was in control.
As hopeless as each situation appeared, I praised God for making me a victor instead of a victim.
During one of these times God spoke directly to my heart and said, “Carol, because I suffered from a broken heart, I understand your pain. I took all the sin, all the guilt, all the condemnation upon myself on the cross. I experienced that agony on your behalf.”
How do you feel when you do something you know you should not have done? Guilty? Now, imagine Jesus taking on all our sin and all our guilt; carrying the weight of that burden so we don’t have to. Multiply that by billions of times for each person he died for.Thanksgiving Is The Language of Faith
When we grasp the extent of what Jesus went through emotionally, we understand why He needed to go through heartbreak to relate to our sorrow. This is why we can praise Him no matter what we are going through. He knows. He understands – in every respect.
If we whine or complain about our circumstances, they tend to magnify and all we see is the problem. Thanksgiving is the language of faith that pleases God. We are not thanking God for the problems but for the answers, He has already provided in His Word.
Thanksgiving is the language of faith that pleases God.
Our prayer should be: “Thank you, Heavenly Father, for providing the answer to my situation in your Word. I stand on your Word. I will not allow doubt to rob it. Your Word is truth. It is absolute. I choose to believe your Word and I thank you for that provision.”