To-dah (thank You) by Pastor Sam Adeyemi: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Science of Gratitude

Psalm 92:1 — it is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. If it is good to give thanks to the Lord, then it is not good to not give thanks to the Lord.

A study on the neuroscience of gratitude and its effects on the brain established that gratitude literally rewires the human brain. Under brain scanners, researchers watched what happens when people gave thanks — and found that gratitude restructures the human brain. It increases the gray matter and strengthens neural pathways responsible for empathy, perception, learning, and emotional regulation.

In other words: gratitude makes a person smarter, more intelligent, more creative, and gives them greater access to divine ideas. It also improves self-control. The American Brain Foundation says gratitude releases dopamine and serotonin — the hormones that improve mood and act as antidepressants.

Gratitude puts you on God's frequency. And when you get on God's frequency, miracles happen.

Gratitude as the Miracle Frequency

John 6:11 — then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish, and they all ate as much as they wanted.

Jesus got on the gratitude frequency before the miracle of multiplication. That frequency was the miracle frequency. As that same frequency is entered today, lack is destroyed, miracles of multiplication manifest, bad news turns into good news, and sicknesses drop out of bodies.

Gratitude Has Value

Luke 6:38 — give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. You give God gratitude — he gives back to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 — in all things give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Specific Gratitude Is What Shifts the Brain

Research shows it is gratitude for specific things that shifts the brain — not general gratitude. Saying "Lord, I'm grateful for everything" does not produce the same neurological shift as naming specific things with specificity and faith.

This is the language of faith. Right before the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus declared: "Father, I thank you specifically because you always hear me" — and then Lazarus came out. John 11:41-42.

Thank him as though the miracle has already happened. Do not position yourself as a victim or as one waiting. Lord, I thank you for my healing. Lord, I thank you for my miracle. Lord, I thank you that I am sickness-free. Lord, I thank you for my business, my promotion, my breakthrough.