Thanksgiving marks a holiday our forefathers in the United States and Canada set aside to thank God. They wanted to thank Him for blessing them and bringing them into a new land rich with material provision. For Christians, however, Thanksgiving also reminds us to thank Him for bringing us into a land rich with spiritual provision—the Kingdom of God (Col. 1:13).

We often fail to receive our needs met from God because we don’t thank Him. Thanksgiving is an important expression of our faith. That’s because we cannot genuinely thank Him for something unless we believe we have received it.

The Bible tells us the Father has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ (Eph. 1:3). He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). If we really believed those words, we couldn’t help but thank Him for blessing us—no matter how bad our situation might seem.

Often we pray over and over about the same problem, but we never thank God for the answer. If we truly believe the Lord has heard and answered our prayer, we will thank Him. But when we continue to pray and pray without thanking Him, we aren’t even acknowledging that He has heard us, let alone answered us!

After we ask in faith, thanksgiving will keep us established in faith (Col. 2:7). Instead of talking about what we don’t have, we should thank God according to His Word for what we do have. Each time we release our faith by thanking and praising Him, no power in hell can hinder His provision on our

behalf.

If we want our lives to overflow with God’s blessings, we should thank Him continually from our hearts for what we have. As we overflow with thanks to Him, He will pour out blessings greater than we can imagine. Our gratitude will be the key that unlocks the abundance He has already provided for us.

Happy Thanksgiving!