I want to share something with you today that I believe is foundational to the life of faith.
In fact, I would say that if we don’t get this, we cannot walk by faith at all.
It comes from John chapter 11, where Jesus has come to the tomb of Lazarus, his friend. Lazarus had been dead for four days, and Jesus is about to perform one of the greatest miracles of His earthly ministry.
What is the first thing He says?
“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.” (John 11:41)
Before Lazarus was even raised, Jesus said, “thank You.”
Friend, gratitude is the expression of faith in action. It is the language of faith itself.
The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Thanksgiving completes our prayers.
Faith says, “I believe, I receive,” and then it says, “Thank You.”
Faith stands on God’s promises, even when circumstances scream otherwise. Our confidence isn’t based on what we see but on what God has said.
Now faith is different from hope. Hope says, “God is going to do it.” It is future tense. But faith is always present tense. Faith says, “It is mine now.”
Jesus said in Mark 11:24, “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” You must believe that you receive—when you pray.
Faith believes God is telling the truth, regardless of our feelings. It is not based on the evidence of the physical senses. It is based on what God has said. If He has promised something, faith takes a hold of it in prayer and then says, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.”
When I was a new believer, I met a woman at church who was terribly sick and didn’t look good at all, and I told her so. I will never forget how she responded to that.
She said,
“Bayless, I feel awful right now. But the Bible says that ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ I’ve prayed according to God’s Word, and it declares that Jesus has borne my sicknesses and carried my pains. So I have prayed and received my healing by faith.”
Friend, that is the attitude we need. You may not feel it. You may not see it. But you can still thank Him.
Why? Because we trust His Word more than our feelings.
That’s what Abraham did.
Romans 4:20 says, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.” He had not seen the promise fulfilled yet, but he gave glory to God anyway. The Living Bible says that Abraham “praised God for this blessing even before it happened.”
Anybody can give thanks after the tomb is empty. Anybody can shout after the walls come down. But it takes faith to say “thank You” before the miracle comes. It takes faith to give thanks when the stone is still in place.
That is the kind of faith that produces results.
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