Author: John Page 152 of 166

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

Thankfulness is akin to contentment.  A thankful spirit provokes satisfaction with the things that we have, and resists restlessness that always requires more.

These simple principles demonstrate the most duplicitous back-to-back days on the American calendar – Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  The former is intended to display thankfulness for what we have.  The latter is designed to enable a reckless dissatisfaction with what we have by prompting us to greedily grasp for more.  The former is intended to be a peaceful day with friends and family reflecting upon our current blessings.  The latter is intended to be a frenzied day trampling strangers to satisfy our most selfish urges.  The former is intended to focus on God’s blessings with a satisfied spirit.  The latter is intended to focus on selfish desires with a dissatisfied spirit.  The former is intended to be about contentment.  The latter is intended to be about discontentment.  The former reinforces Christian principles heading into a season that celebrates the birth of our Saviour.  The latter reveals the antithesis of Christian principles and is at cross-purposes with Christ’s message.  The former is a fitting celebration for a Christian.  The latter is a disquieting reminder of the secular celebration that Christmas has become in America.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD ENTER THE CHRISTMAS SEASON WITH A SPIRIT OF CONTENTMENT.  God has blessed us greatly.  We should be satisfied with His gifts, and content with such things as we have.

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The same people who had signed the Mayflower Compact in 1620 had endured a difficult year as winter approached in 1621.  Yet, they remained faithful.  In the midst of a severe drought that threatened to destroy their harvest, the pilgrims prayed and fasted.  In response to their faithfulness, the Lord brought crop saving rain.  Indeed, the pilgrims had much for which to be thankful as they established a feast that we now celebrate as Thanksgiving.

Their faithfulness and thankfulness provided witnessing opportunities to the American natives who observed the pilgrims and their relationship to the Lord.  Because of their strong testimony, a native remarked:

“Now I see that the Englishman’s God is a good God; for he hath heard you, and sent you rain, and that without such tempest and thunder as we used to have with our rain; which after our Powawing [Indian worship] for it, breaks down the corn; whereas your corn stands whole and good still; surely, your God is a good God.”

Similarly today, a thankful and faithful spirit provides us opportunities to let our light shine before men.  May we not squander an opportunity during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons to let others around us know where our thankfulness is directed, towards the Lord.

PLEASE PRAY THAT TODAY’S AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD USE A THANKFUL SPIRIT AS A WAY TO LET OUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN.  Others should see us act as if our God is a good God.  He is!

Psalm 116:17 “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.”

In a nation only a few months old, the national government in the newly formed United States of America found it fitting to establish a specific day of thanksgiving to celebrate the Lord’s blessings.  In America’s first year under the Constitution, President Washington declared the following:

“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor; and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me ‘to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.’

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which He hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our national government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.”

With these words, the fledgling American government offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving by calling upon the name of the Lord.  In a spirit of thankfulness and humility, the government rightfully recognized that God was the source of all our blessings; they conveyed the same to the general public through this proclamation.  PLEASE PRAY THAT TODAY’S AMERICA WOULD DEMONSTRATE AN EQUIVALENT SPIRIT OF THANKFULNESS DIRECTED TOWARDS THE LORD.  For the many blessings in our lives, our thankfulness is the least that we should offer back to God.

Esther 4:15-17 “Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.”

Throughout the Bible, fasting accompanies the Lord’s working.  It was a component of the Ninevites’ repentant spirit that prevented God’s wrath from falling upon them (Jonah 3:5-10).  It was a part of Moses’ receipt of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:27-28).  It was even a part of the Savior’s life as he prepared himself for the tempting of the devil (Luke 4:1-14).

Interestingly, it was also a part of the Jews’ victory as they avoided persecution at the hands of king Ahasuerus in the book of Esther.  In fact, immediately after Mordecai’s impassioned charge to Esther (and the PLUS theme verse) the way to success was revealed; fasting was a fundamental part of it.  The faithful recognized their need to bond together in order to see God-given victory in their land and so they fasted.  They saw their nation headed in the wrong direction and so they fasted.  They recognized their need for salvation from abuse and so they fasted.  They sensed governmental power being marshaled against the will of God and so they fasted.  They witnessed manipulation of the laws by the enemies of God and so they fasted.  They recognized their need for God-inspired leadership and so they fasted.

PLEASE PRAY AND FAST AS YOU SEEK NATIONWIDE REVIVAL.  They fasted, and so should we.

Matthew 17:21 “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”

In my post from October 27^th I wrote about the power of faith the size of a mustard seed from Matthew 17:19-20.  Yet, I stopped short of using the next verse that describes how to develop such powerful faith. The importance of prayer has been a mainstay of the PLUS ministry, but I have never written about the other precursor to mountain-moving faith – fasting.

Through the encouragement of a couple of good Christian friends, I spent a day fasting for my country last week.  Frankly, fasting had been a glaring omission in my personal life of faith.  I had seen the mention of fasting countless times throughout the Bible and had ignorantly skipped over it, failing to put it into practice.  I had even breezed by the passages that assume that fasting is a part of an average believer’s life.  Matthew 6:16 doesn’t say ‘if ye fast’ or ‘when you consider fasting.’  God’s word says “Moreover when ye fast.”  With that in mind, I spent a day fasting and the Lord impressed upon me that fasting should become a regular part of my prayer life for our nation.

We should pray and fast that the Lord gives us the wisdom to make an impact on our community and our country.  We should pray and fast that Christians in this land would stand up for Bible-based principles.  We should pray and fast that our leaders would get saved.  We should pray and fast that a widespread revival would sweep across the United States that would redirect our path back towards the Lord.  PLEASE PRAY AND FAST FOR OUR NATION.

We should never ignore fasting as a component of our worship, especially because it is a precursor to unleashing faith that can move mountains.