Make Gratitude Your Password by Pastor Sam Adeyemi: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Gratitude Has Value

When you look at the word thanksgiving, you see two parts: thanks and giving. That implies that appreciation and gratitude have value — they are something you can give. In God's economy, gratitude has value.

Psalm 100 tells us how to get God's attention. If you are looking for what to give Him, give Him praise. And verse four is the key verse: "Enter His gates with thanksgiving. Go into His courts with praise."

The Message Bible puts it like this: "Enter with the password: Thank you. Make yourselves at home talking praise. Thank Him. Worship Him."

The password is thanksgiving.

A Secret About Giving That Opens Doors

When you approach someone who is highly placed — someone with great authority or resources — the natural instinct when you have experienced deprivation is to ask for something. But wisdom says: focus on giving to them rather than getting from them, and you will gain access faster.

Proverbs 18:16 (New Living Translation) — "Giving a gift can open doors. It gives access to important people."

This is the secret of thanksgiving with God. Don't let your desperation for survival cause you to focus so much on yourself that you forget that God also has needs. When you look at thanksgiving — thanks and giving — giving is the proof of love. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave." The proof of love is giving. If you love God, give to Him. What does He want? He doesn't need lunch. He says: "Give Him thanks."

Philip demonstrated this principle in Acts 8. The Ethiopian eunuch — equivalent to a finance minister — was passing in his chariot. Philip was not looking for what to get from him. Philip was looking for an opportunity to add value to him. He asked, "Sir, do you understand what you are reading?" The man said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" And Philip rode in the limo.

Appreciation Is Something You Can Give

Somebody once said: the person who benefits from your favor and refuses to say thank you is like an armed robber who stole your goods away. Why? Because the appreciation had value. Did Jesus not react when He healed ten lepers and only one came back to say thank you?

Thanksgiving — entering with the password — gives you access to God's presence, to His joy, and to the power in His presence. And when that power flows, miraculous things happen.

When Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus, who had been dead and buried for four days, He did not pray any intense, head-shaking prayer. He simply gave thanks: "Father, I thank You because You hear me always." Then He shouted, "Lazarus, come out." It was gratitude on the frequency of the eternal dimension that unlocked the miracle.

What the Password Unlocks

In the event that all you have been doing is complaining — gratitude is the reset. The password is "thank you." And when you operate on this password, you will see: