Remember My Past Blessings

I was thinking how often we joke about our memory and what remember and what we don't remember in and particularly when we reach a certain age and age, of which I'm now have become familiar that I belong to and I even heard about this or elderly or widower who was dating an elderly widow and he said to her.

He said that I propose marriage to you last night. She said I know someone did, but I can't remember who it was but the reality is that scientists tell us that from every study that is being done that most of us the most. If we can use of our brain capacity is less than 20%. That is the one that uses the most average person uses less than 5% of memory capacity that God has placed in our mindset physiologically placed in their we are capable of remembering far more than we admit.

And of course a list of some illness that affects the memory that's different. In fact, our minds are capable of storing up to 86 million bytes of information had done. When you think about this like hundreds of thousands of books that can literally be stored in our minds and our memory banks. But as long as we tell ourselves we can't remember we want to remember it like that so fulfill prophecy, but the truth is we all remember what we want to remember right I mean really that we remember that which we want to remember. If you don't want to remember we calendar go by the wayside. Even kids young kids use this excuse why just can't remember. In fact, that some of them use that as a convenient excuse for when they don't do what they're supposed to have done. I heard about this boy who was asked or like all the kids in the class. Remember a certain poem they were supposed to commit it to memory for school. While this particular boy just didn't and that the teacher began to scold him and she said did not tell you to memorize this by heart, and he said yes ma'am, I learned that by heart, but I forgot it by head human nature. The way it is. We remember those things that we want to remember an effect that is why from the pyramids of Egypt to the monuments in Washington DC that will hold throughout history there were designed to remind us and to keep certain memories in mind so we don't forget our nation right now at this moment in history.

We are going through of what I would call a serious case of amnesia. It's a deliberate case of serious amnesia amnesia as to the truth of the founding fathers amnesia as to the real history of this nation amnesia as to the biblical foundation of this nation amnesia as to the biblical roots of this nation. Some of our leaders are running around and deliberately trying to obliterate that from our memory they trying to obliterate from memory that this is a nation. This was founded upon Christian truth that this is a nation that was built on the dependence on the God of the Bible that this is a nation will become great simply because of the godly foundation that this nation is so generous and welcoming and loving of others because they sought to express their love for God by being a welcoming nation.

Why am I telling you this in the series of messages on prayer entitled: me while because when you just call upon the Lord for what you want or what you need and not pray with thanksgiving for what he has done in the past. Your prayer becomes ineffectual when you just come to God with your grocery list and say give me give me give me God and then get on your happy merry way. You have failed to grasp effectiveness in prayer, to be sure doesn't call upon me, but how you call upon the Lord is of vital importance. If you examine all the great prayers of the Bible from the prayer of Daniel in chapter 9 to the that of the prayer of Nehemiah.

After the people of God come back from exile to the prayer of the Temple dedication of Solomon, even the prayer of Stephen before he was dying in the book of acts you will see that every one of those prayers began with remembering with thanksgiving what God has done in the past.

Every one of them. These great prayers begin by reciting God's past provision for them.

Every one of these great prayers began with enumerating what God has done in the past.

Why because amnesia of the past blessings of God is an indication of an end in gratitude to God amnesia as to the past interventions of God renders our prayer ineffective. We saw in the last message that persistence in prayer and intimacy with God in prayer on a daily basis is inexorably linked to our joyful hope and here were going to see how remembrance of God's blessings. How, remembering, with thanksgiving, as we pray, is vitally important for ineffectual prayer lesson.

This is not my idea is God's idea is the God who made us who put us together who nestled us in our mother's womb. He knew that we can easily develop a sense of amnesia toward what God has done toward God's past blessings in our lives and that is why he constantly reminded his people over and over and over again. That is why he constantly urged them to deliberately and definitively and efficiently.

Set up a visible memorial for those past blessings, our God who made us who created us. Who knows us knows our capacity for rewriting history. He knows our capacity for ingratitude. He knows our capacity for reinventing the truth he knows our capacity for manipulating history.

He knows our capacity for taking credit for that which only God could have done. He knows he knows that and that is why Ebrahim set up a memorial. That's why Jacob set up a memorial. That is why lots wife turned into a monument of to the divine judgment of God and that is why Joshua does a people of Israel to set up those memorial Joshua chapter 4 God said to him, set up the stone of memorial stones of remembrance on the bank of the river Jordan, why because God did not want them.

Of course, to set up a monument for the sake of setting up a monument that was not the intention of his heart, he wanted them to. Can you honestly expressing thanksgiving and praise in the prayer every time there was see these monuments, God wanted them to continuously be filled with faith and prayer every time they saw these monuments of what God has done. God wanted them to testify to their children and to the next generation. Every time they saw these monuments they wanted to take time to praise God in prayer.

I can testify to you that perhaps there is no greater witness no greater witness to your children, then when you pray with them for you to testify of what God has done for you in your life in the past how God answered your prayers how God blessed you how God brought you out of the top spot how God healed you testify into them is the greatest power that you can experience in times of prayer.

There is no greater witness than reciting how God has blessed you in the past.

There is no more powerful faith buildup in prayer. Then, beginning with enumerating what God has done for you in the past. There is no more ineffectual prayer than the prayer that is filled with praise for your salvation.

The greatest blessing of all, there can be no more powerful program than the one that is filled with thanksgiving for past revisions listen even if you going through tough times in life and in fact I want to hasten to say, especially when you're going through tough times in life, especially because those are the times when you you get so clouded and and and you achieve your vision so cloud and he cannot thank God because you're in so much trouble and then you focus on what you want God to do you forget what he had done. This is what happened and that's why Joshua was adamant about them doing what they did and setting up these memorials is he Joshua was there with Moses when they come out of Egypt, he was there when he saw the miracles of God, and the plagues he was there when the cross. See he was there when he saw the manna coming from heaven. He was there and he's there, he saw all of this, but then also was there when he saw how easily they have forgotten all that God has done how easily they denied what God has done in the past and how easily they ignored what God has done in the past and when Joshua saw this when you remember all the past grumbling when you remember all of the past complaining every time they face a challenge. They murmured in the complaint in this at the Moses whether not enough graves in Egypt that you bring us here to die in the wilderness. Every time they face a challenge. They did not stop and say thank God for what he has done first.

They grumbled and the movement in the complaint, Joshua Shaw, all of this instead of thanksgiving and praise and adoration for all the miracles that were performed when Joshua saw how their past forgetfulness of God's miracles of parting the Red Sea. When Joshua saw how ungrateful they were for the provision of water and manna have Joshua saw how there in gratitude to God on the part of the Israelites in the wilderness when Joshua saw the rocking attitude of the Israelites toward God was so expressed and in the words that we probably would use today and say well you know what have you done for me lately.

Okay you did all this with what have you done for me lately. God is he when he saw all of this and that God basically said because of that attitude of ingratitude that generation. Every single one of them had to die and be buried in the wilderness that every one of that generation literally will never be privileged to go into the promised land. When we saw what ingratitude and praise and thanksgiving did to that generation even say God allowed this to happen to my generation. I don't want this to happen to the next generation EC literally their lack of praise and thanksgiving stopped him from going to the promised land.

And God waited 40 years until every single one of those grumbling, complaining, ungrateful people died in better than the wilderness. See when Joshua saw all of this he was saying all Lord let this generation not make that same mistake. Let my generation not fall in this terrible terrible predicament all Lord don't let my generation be filled with ingratitude all Lord, don't let this generation to be forgetful of your great mercies and your great interventions and the great miracles in the wilderness. He did not want his generation in the future generation to live without Thanksgiving for past blessings in their time of prayer pleasing right on this one. Joshua understood that for prayer to be ineffectual it must be filled with praise and thanksgiving toward God has done in the past for prayer you prayer my prayer to be effectual is not the run with God to the grocery list is because God is merciful and gracious and and he will answer your prayers doesn't mean that you do that as a habit. If you continue that as a habit and you are dishonoring God.

God wants you to come into his presence, not bursting there with your grocery list, but bursting there with praise and thanksgiving and ask your question. Why does God answer prayers for his faithful children.

Why doesn't you want to know what Scripture tells us very clearly to strengthen their faith in him to help them always trust in his word to express his love for his children.

So just imagine when God acts in love and mercy and grace toward his children and all of that gets taken for granted. Just think of how he feels when they never acknowledge in prayer. All of his pastimes of prayers. All they treated as if that is the right they only got was due to them or they reinterpreted as to give the credit to somebody else, all to themselves as more likely or to explain it away.

As luck or being fortunate or that I was at the right place at the right time, or that is my strategic thinking that really got me here, whatever it may be just think of what got things when you come to him crying to him force something else without spending time thanking him for what he really gave listen.

This attitude of gratitude must take place in our individual prayer life. It has to. This attitude of thankfulness and praise to God must take place in our public prayer life this Thanksgiving of praise to God for his past blessings must be the cornerstone of every families prayer time. I know that Simon life is a link.

This lesson early on that many times as many of you I'm up early and I start recounting and blessing God for all the answer prayers. All the past blessings on all the things he's done 40 minutes later I haven't prayed for anybody. It is, I can lose count okay. Write them down. It's okay right about that region got its all right in going to be upset about that right now.

Take a moment have them all listed keep adding to them and begin by praising God and thanking him for what he had done moms and dads with me challenge you, but in your prayer time with your children testify, testify to them of what God has done in answering your prayers the predicaments that he brought you through the healing that he performed the things that will be impossible otherwise even the things that you have long rationalized that it may happen because of this, so that God did it begin your prayer time with thanksgiving begin with, praising God. I know it's not easy, especially when the dark storms of life begin to break loose on us because our vision is not easy to remember that the incredible things are God has done in the past it blinds us through these past blessings that you raise from our memory past provisions, but remember to bless God for what he has done before you burst into his presence, crying for what you wanted to do, begin first by praising him for what he has done in the past begin. First, by taking time to thank him for his past provision, begin by enumerating what he has done for us before stop and testify at your family and friends of his past provisions. You will be amazed you will be amazed how small your current predicament is going to look not know human nature. The way it is us a look at what Michael said of us all right godly give your blood lipservice. Thank you, Melanie get the must think now known or I'm talking about, not an experiment to go there and since of your test God not enough. I'm talking about a life changing attitude. I'm talking about a lifestyle change I'm talking about a heart change on talk about a mind change on talking about an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving that will fill you to overflowing and do that, especially when you're facing trial in life, especially when you're experiencing puzzling times and we all have experienced the especially when you're not sure which way to go, and will bring the especially when you are longing for God to split heaven into and come down to your aid supernaturally.

First, take time to thank him for past salvation. Take time to bless him for past healings take time and remember with thanksgiving past answers to prayer. You will be the recipient of the incredible peace and confidence. Contentment that only God can give you even as you wait for him to answer your current prayer. The story is familiar to all of you don't have to turn to it.

You know it.

Most of you know it, and is found in Luke chapter 17 is the story of 10 lepers who came to Jesus and he cleansed every one of them. All 10 of them were healed physically out of the 10 there were nine Jews, the people of the covenant. And there was one Samaritan. This one in the Bible said only the Samaritan came back to Jesus. Don't know how long it took him to get back don't know how many days or how many miles are ordered and instantly over it. We don't know, but he came back deliberately, definitively, intentionally he come back to Jesus to say thank you. I wish I can convey to you the words of Jesus in Luke 1717 and how they screamed at me from the pages of the Scripture women do the best I can, and here's what he said when he looked at this one man outside of the covenant coming in bowing to Jesus say thank you for healing me his what Jesus is literally saying why are there not 10 cleansed what the mind verse 18 was not one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner verse 19. Then Jesus looked at the Samaritan and said rise and go your faith has made you all beloved, listen to me if you have never understood that there is unique blessings that are in store for you in prayer. When you spend the time of praise and thanksgiving you need to learn that you need to understand that and it's right here in this passage all the others have received physical healings, all the others received temporary reprieve from their physical pain from the pain of isolation from the pain of rejection from society because of the nature of the disease is remember this everyone that Jesus healed, or even raise from the dead, they died again.

Everyone Lazarus everyone. Only Jesus who rose from the dead, never to die again all of received the medical but only this one who can back was so filled with gratitude was so filled with thanksgiving. He was so filled with praise and as a result he received all a lot more than just the physical healing of the body, he received total wholeness oversold his spirit.

He has received a total forgiveness. He received a total cleansing, he received a total heavenly blessing.

He received eternal life with Christ, and that what happens the blessings of thanksgiving and prayer, incalculable father, only you know each of our hearts. We don't even our own hearts but father, I am convinced that every single person who is within the sound of my voice would want to be man and woman, boy or girl of thankfulness of gratitude to you of thanksgiving to you and father I pray that you begin to revolutionize our prayer life as you remind us to remember with thanksgiving all of your past interventions. Father I pray that as we seek you for a transforming power as we seek you for a revival that would absolutely sweep across the line as we seek you to do great and mighty things beginning here in this place that we would be first and foremost, people of thanksgiving of praise of operation of who you are and what you have done in Jesus name. Thanks for listening to this message from Dr. Michael.

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