The Secret Ingredient (Afternoon Message)

[0:00] So, really today I want to talk about a secret ingredient, this next message. And so, in my family, a little bit more personal information, I'm actually one of four.

[0:12] I'm the oldest of four siblings, that's me and my sister, and then I have a brother and then I have another sister. And in the family, I'm the smallest and the shortest of the lot, they're all these giants over me.

[0:24] And they always used to call me the runt of the litter. So you know what the runt is actually. You know when a dog has a whole bunch of babies, the last one's always called the runt. But you know what, the runt's always the best dog, is what I say.

[0:37] So I always tell my family, you can call me the runt, but I'm the best dog. And it's the truth, I am the best dog, okay. So when I met my husband, my mother used to say this to him, he used to say, Sean, I feel so sorry for you.

[0:50] He says, this woman can't cook to save her life. This is what my mother used to do. I mean, you know, never mind trying to get rid of me, you know, like, yeah, she can cook, please take her. No, she can't cook. You're going to be really hungry. And I was, like, really offended, you know.

[1:02] I'm like, you know, what do they think I am? I can cook. Because I have my second sister, the one that I'm actually, her and I are like best friends. We've just been all our lives. They used to think we were twins, actually. When we used to go out in the shop, oh, you do twins.

[1:14] I mean, that's how close we are. We actually look really similar, too. And she went to become a home economics teacher in South Africa. So she can cook. She runs a hotel school. She can cook.

[1:25] So I mean, she used to always make all these fancy meals at home. And everyone used to rave about Tandy's cooking. And Tandy, Tandy, Tandy. And of course, when it came to me, I didn't get much chance, you see.

[1:36] So I couldn't cook. Anyway, so I thought, oh, well. So Sean says, that's okay. I don't love her for her cooking. I love her for her. Thank you, Lord, for a great man. Anyway, so now I've been married for nearly 30 years.

[1:48] And let me tell you something. I'm now the one that they phone and ask for recipes. And then they'll take the recipes that I make, because they've had my food. Then they'll phone me and they'll say, how do you make that pasta dish?

[2:02] Then I'll tell them. Then they eat it and they'll say to me, but it doesn't taste the same. So I thought, you know, God has an amazing way of turning things around, doesn't he?

[2:13] The one that doesn't have a cooking degree. He hasn't got a clue how to cook, apparently, according to my mom. Even my sister calls me and says, please send me that recipe. I really like what you made. And most of the stuff I cook, I make up anyway off the flyer.

[2:25] That's how I cook, you know. Anyway, so I wanted to tell you that, because sometimes there's a scripture. And when I was reading this particular scripture, it just jumped out at me.

[2:36] And I thought, you know, here we are today. We're talking about casting our cares, because we have them. And we're talking about a God who loves us, because he does. But then, you know, there's something else sometimes that we just need to add into the dynamic of this whole relationship.

[2:51] And this is kind of the secret ingredient. So when I began to do a bit of research, according to the data that's released by Amazon on the most highlighted passage in Kindle and e-books, the most popular passage from the Bible is the one on reducing anxiety and finding trust in God.

[3:10] Oh, that was very fascinating. And that just kind of settles the case today. I'm like, yeah, you know what? We're all there. We all experience things. And you want to know what that scripture is? Well, let's all turn together to Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 and 7.

[3:25] And this is what it says. It says, Isn't that amazing?

[3:49] So what does that tell us today? Everybody is looking for a solution.

[4:01] Everybody is looking to a place or to someone that can help them. So when I was reading this scripture, and obviously the context of the Philippians is Paul was in prison.

[4:14] And actually, Philippi was a really difficult place for Paul because Paul was imprisoned there. He was beaten there. In fact, at one point, the elders even asked him to leave.

[4:24] So Philippi wasn't his most favorite city in the whole world. But the whole book of Philippians, when you read it, is based about joy, finding joy in God. In fact, in Philippians chapter 1 and verse 5, he says, And every time I think of you, I give thanks.

[4:40] And that must be really tough for Paul, considering they beat him, they put him in prison, they chucked him out the city. But when he speaks to them, he says, I give thanks to God for you. So here Paul is writing to these Philippians.

[4:52] They're not a very wealthy church either. And yet, sacrificially, they have given over and above to support Paul's ministry. And so he's writing to them, and he's saying to them, Listen, don't be anxious about the persecution and things that are going on.

[5:05] But continue to pray and bring your supplications, which is kind of what we saw Hannah doing in the previous text in 1 Samuel. She came and her supplication was that place of desperation of casting her things before the Lord.

[5:20] And he's saying, do that. And then suddenly, there's like a comma. And he says, with thanksgiving, comma. So now when you're reading that, you can almost kind of just gloss over that really quickly.

[5:31] Because you know what we want to get to? Let your request be made unto the Lord. And the peace of God, which surpasses all our, oh, I want the peace of God. But I kind of felt the Lord say to me, but Michelle, that with thanksgiving is like a little secret ingredient.

[5:45] It's almost like thrown in there, almost like an afterthought. It's like when you're cooking a really nice bolognese dish, you just chuck that extra little bit of herbs in it. And it'll be the best dish you've ever made. And so we say, how did you make that?

[5:56] Well, I know, it's what I did. But that little extra bit. And this is what the Lord showed me. He said, this with thanksgiving is our secret ingredient. And we need to exercise. Okay?

[6:08] So let's read this a little bit like this. If this was a recipe. I mean, who likes cooking here? Who likes baking? I mean, let's be honest. Well, not everybody does. But I have learned to love baking and cooking.

[6:18] I actually love it now. This is one of my favorite hobbies. One of my best things to do is to host a tea party or a dinner party and get everyone over to come for a meal. I just love that. It's my best thing to do. Anyway, so if we had to read this verse like a recipe, the first thing we need to do is there must be no anxiety.

[6:36] Number one, no anxiety in this recipe. Okay? Secondly, we need a few cups of prayer. A few cups of prayer.

[6:46] And maybe a liter of supplication. And then as a last measure, add in a little bit of thanksgiving. That's a really simple way of looking at a breakdown of that scripture.

[6:59] Now, the truth of it is, developing an attitude of gratitude is actually not the easiest thing to do. Let's be honest. It's really easy to moan and to complain and to find fault in a lot of things.

[7:10] It's easier to moan. Oh, the weather's so bad. I mean, I've lived in this country for 20 years and the weather is bad. I'm sorry. It's terrible. I still can't get used to the cold.

[7:21] The weather's so bad. Oh, it's gray again today. Oh, there's Brexit. They're on about Brexit. Oh, my goodness. There's a new one now. Now we've got Mexit. You know? Oh, on and on. You know, there's always something to complain about.

[7:36] You know? I'm the worst in the car. All right? The Bible says, confess your faults that you may be healed. I get very irritated in the car, especially when I get stuck behind a slow truck. I just whinge and complain and I have to watch my salvation at that point because I could get mean.

[7:52] I'm just being real here. I'm just being real. And then one day we were in the car and we pulled up at the robot. Sorry, the traffic lights. For the South Africans, they'll know the robot.

[8:02] Sorry, the traffic lights. And I stood there and there was this massive double deck. And I thought to myself, I am not getting stuck behind this bus. And I had my little one in the back. And I revved the engine and I went, as the light went green, I went, rawr!

[8:16] And I said, Mr. Bus, eat my dust. Well, to this day, my daughter never lets me forget that. She says, Mom, you need to submit your foot to Jesus because you still drive too fast at the traffic lights.

[8:29] Anyway, but that's my little vice. I can't stand driving behind big buses and things. So, it's so easy to become disgruntled. So, developing an attitude of gratitude is really not very easy.

[8:42] We are not, by nature, grateful people. You know, when we were born, we were born with this in nature. So, you know, your mother had to teach you, say thank you, say please. You know, some of us have got children.

[8:53] What are you doing? Say please. Say thank you. Now, you've got the grandchildren. Say please. Say thank you. Then you get married and say, say please and say thank you. You know? That's just the society we live in.

[9:04] There's no gratefulness. And so, this verse is actually giving us quite a big challenge. It's quite a big challenge to come to the Lord with our prayers, with our concerns, but with thanksgiving and to give thanks to God.

[9:19] So, this word thanksgiving is an act of giving thanks. It's a grateful acknowledgement of the benefits of favors, especially to God. An expression of thanks, especially to God.

[9:32] A public celebration in acknowledgement of divine favor or kindness. A day set apart for giving thanks to God. So, at the center of this thanksgiving is firstly, it is an action.

[9:47] You know, if I had to stand up here and try and talk with my lips shut, you wouldn't hear anything. Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. So, you see, when we give thanks to God, it requires us to open our mouths and to say thank you.

[9:59] To give thanks to God for what He's done in our lives. The problem is sometimes I think that we don't actually recognize and we don't see the hand of God.

[10:10] We're so busy looking inwardly, so concerned about all our cares, that we don't actually look beyond that realm. Remember I said to you in the first session that the cares and anxiety changes our perspective.

[10:23] We're so busy, for want of a better way of putting it, looking inwardly, that we don't look outwardly to see what God is doing. And to begin to develop that attitude of thankfulness.

[10:34] You know, even in modern psychology, I was reading an article in my preparation, have done studies on this whole thing of being thankful. And these are some of the points that they've come up with. Now, you know, you'll be surprised how similar it sounds to biblical teaching.

[10:48] Firstly, they say people that are thankful are happier by reducing depression and anxieties as well as phobias and there was a reduction in addictions.

[10:59] Isn't that interesting? Another thing is they also have improved relationships. Well, that was interesting. Thankful people have lower levels of narcissism.

[11:13] Wow. Big word. And that just really means you just love yourself too much. It's all about me, myself, and I. Isn't that interesting? And this is not even a biblical study. This is a worldly psychological study.

[11:24] Yeah? And they are more prone to forgive. I found that fascinating. They also have enhanced health. They sleep better. And they perform better.

[11:37] Isn't that fascinating? And this is a worldly study on someone, on people that have made a daily habit of just being thankful. In fact, in this article, he suggested to these people he was dealing with that all they had to do is every day is write down two or three things that they were thankful for every day.

[11:56] That's all they did. And through a period of time, they began to notice all these changes. So how much better, ladies, let me propose to you, if we take the word of God and begin to put that into practice.

[12:10] If we take the word that tells us, with thanks, be anxious for nothing, but in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.

[12:22] And so what I'm going to do now is I'm going to talk to you about how the secret ingredient that we have will give us, bring a transformation into our lives.

[12:34] Okay. You all still with me? You all still doing okay? Excellent. Right. So, by adding our secret ingredient, that little bit of salt or that little bit of thanksgiving, there are three things I believe that God is going to do in our lives.

[12:47] The first thing is, and he says that in the X part of the scripture in verse 7, he says, And the peace of God. And the peace of God.

[13:01] You see, God's peace is a state of tranquility. It's a state of quietness that transcends upon us despite our circumstances. I know a few years ago we had to go back to South Africa to bury my father-in-law.

[13:16] He passed away. I mean, as you all know, having any funeral of any family member is never an easy time. And I actually asked my husband to do his own father's funeral. That was really tough for him.

[13:26] You know, it was tough. It was a tough thing to do. But, you know, the peace of God came. It was like tangible. Just came upon him. And despite the fact that in his self he was distraught that his father had died, he stood up there and he delivered the most amazing address to the people.

[13:45] And it was all people that didn't go to church. They were unsaved people because Sean's dad wasn't a Christian at the time. Well, we believe that he is. We've had testimony since then. But all the family aren't.

[13:55] And yet he stood up there with such peace and such tranquility. Despite the hardship. Despite the heartache. And he was able to be strong in the Lord. You see, this presence of God, this peace of God is a total absence of fear in your life.

[14:13] See, anxiety and worry are stemmed out of fear. Fear of not having. Fear of not knowing. Whereas the peace of God is a security. It's a knowledge that, you know what, doesn't matter what I'm facing right now, I know that God is with me, God is for me, and he's working all things together for good in my life.

[14:32] That's what the peace of God says. The peace of God helps you to smile when you should be crying. Really, that's what I see.

[14:44] That's what I know. It's a supernatural peace. You can't explain it to somebody. It can't be explained. It's just there. Chaos may be going on around you, but you are still okay.

[14:58] You're still smiling. You're still happy. I remember one day in our previous church, we'd been through a really bad, bad time with my daughter, and there was another lady that had been kind of praying with us and walking with us.

[15:10] And I just remember being at church the one day, and I just stood there, and I said, you know what, I don't know where this is going. I don't know what, I mean, we had massive meetings with doctors and all sorts of stuff.

[15:21] And I just stood in the church, and I lifted my hands, and I began to praise God like my daughter was healed. And this lady came up to me, and she just came.

[15:32] She says, you know, Michelle, I know your story. I know what you've been going through. She says, but I watched you today. She says, and you were just like, there was such peace on you, and it just spoke such volumes to me.

[15:44] Because you didn't allow that thing to come into church with the long face, hanging on the floor, crying all the time. And you know what, and I can appreciate there's time and place for that. But you allowed the peace of God to carry you and to be a testimony to somebody else.

[16:01] You see, when we begin to live a life of thankfulness, when we begin to thank God that, you know what, even though I'm in a tough spot right now, I can thank God that he's with me, guess what, it begins to speak volumes to other people.

[16:13] You begin to get strong on the inside. Strong inside. Because you know, it's like a knowledge. You know what, I'm okay. I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen?

[16:24] Well, if I die, I go to heaven. Praise the Lord. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. You see, but we can get our perspective so wrong sometimes about where we find ourselves.

[16:37] So thankfulness will produce the peace of God. The Bible says the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. All understanding. You can't make sense of it.

[16:48] God, why do I feel so good and everything's going wrong? Because you've got the peace of God. You've got the wellness of God. Isn't that amazing? The second thing I believe that thankfulness will produce in your life is protection.

[17:03] He says, and the peace of God will do what? Guard your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus. So that word guard for me is like a protection.

[17:13] It's like having a computer that has a virus protection. Anybody ever happen to them where they clicked on a link and the whole machine just shut down? It's happened to me. And I allowed a virus in that came and destroyed my computer.

[17:25] Well, you see, let me say to you this morning, I think, or this afternoon, this anxiety is like a virus. It is like that. The minute you allow yourself, your mind, you see, you are driven by the way you think.

[17:39] The thoughts that go on in your mind all day is actually how you're going to end up behaving. So if you're at work all day and your husband didn't pick his socks up before he went to work, and all you think about all day is I'm going to tell him off when I get home.

[17:51] I'm going to tell him about those stinky, smelly socks. I'm fed up of picking up his stinky, smelly socks. And you're just like stewing all day. By the time he gets home, oh my goodness, World War III is going to break out.

[18:02] You and your stinky, smelly socks. I'm fed up of your stinky, smelly socks. But you see, that came because the whole day all you did was think about the stinky, smelly socks. Instead, I'm only using this as an example because I've been there.

[18:16] It's actually the other way around in my house. Me and the toothpaste tube just don't work. I mean, I just squeeze it anywhere. And every morning I hear this, oh, toothpaste tube. Anyway, Lord help me about the toothpaste tube.

[18:30] The stinky, smelly socks. So you know what? If your mind, go back to that one, your mind is going to drive how you think. So when you start to worry over something, what does that mean? When you are constantly thinking about the same thing over and over and over, how am I going to cope?

[18:45] How am I going to cope? How are we going to pay this? How are we going to do this? What's going to happen with so-and-so? If you are constantly thinking and chewing over that all the time, guess what's going to come out in your behavior?

[18:57] You're going to walk in fear. You're going to be anxious. You're not going to be walking in the peace of God. But you see, when the peace of God comes in, it's like this virus protection. So it's sitting there and it's that knowledge.

[19:09] You know what? God is with me. God is for me. God is helping me. And then you start to think, oh, but how am I going to cope? Hang on a second. God is for me. God is with me. God is not against me.

[19:20] And then you start to worry about, oh, my husband's seeking. No, God is for me. And I'm going to thank God for this amazing husband that I have. Thank you that he loves me, even though he doesn't pick up his socks. I thank you that I can pick up his socks and I can serve him and love him.

[19:34] Woo! That's a big one for the change. It's the truth. This week we had an argument about the dishwasher. I was told. I said, I didn't do it. And then he said to me, your mother's always moaning.

[19:45] I was talking to my daughter. She's always moaning about the dishwasher. She doesn't realize how much I do it. I was like, oh, I was fuming. Can I be real? Am I allowed to be real? Okay. I was fuming.

[19:56] This mighty woman of God, I was fuming. And I sat there. So he says, yeah, your mom doesn't receive correction very well. I was like, oh. Anyway, so I thought I'm going to prove him wrong. And the whole week, guess who did the dishwasher?

[20:08] Me! He never did the dishwasher once. I told him. I said, by the way, Monday, guess who did the dishwasher? Tuesday, guess who did the dishwasher? And then the Lord said to me, and yes, Michelle, you were so loving, weren't you?

[20:23] See, we've got to learn to be thankful and to walk in those places where God wants us to be. So the peace of God is like this protection that guards our hearts and our mind.

[20:36] The Bible says as a man thinks in his heart, or as a woman, because we're speaking to ladies, so is he or she. So maybe a good point, maybe in the next week, just to go and have a little bit of quiet time with the Lord and say, Lord, how am I behaving?

[20:51] What do I think in my heart? And ask him and help him to begin to correct some of those things in your life. Amen. So thanksgiving brings that to us.

[21:03] So, you know, when you're so busy being thankful, you know what, you haven't got time to worry. When you are so busy being thankful for things that God is doing, even if it's just one thing, just one thing, you know what, you're not going to have the time to worry, because you're going to be so full of the peace and the joy of the Lord.

[21:23] And then the last thing I see is the thing of power. You know, it says, in Christ Jesus. All right? Be anxious for nothing, but in all things through serenity and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart, will guard your mind through Christ Jesus.

[21:47] Where does our power lie? Where does our power lie? Before you became a Christian, I don't think we had any power to do anything. But it was like taking a dead hoover, a hoover that's just taking the electric cord, sticking it in the wall, and you're connected to something supernatural.

[22:07] Now, we could get into the whole scientific lesson of electricity, but that's kind of how I see us with Christ. When we get born again, when we give our hearts to Jesus, we get connected into, and we get plugged into a power that is so much greater than what we have.

[22:22] I read to you from Hebrews that we have a high priest that is able, that understands where we've been. And so thankfulness helps us to tap in to that power, to plug in and say, by the Spirit of God, because I am a new creation in Christ Jesus, old things have passed away and new things have begun in my life.

[22:44] Therefore, I can develop an attitude of gratitude. I don't have to allow grumbling and complaining and complacency in my life. But I have Jesus.

[22:56] If I have Jesus, I have everything. That is so powerful, ladies. If we have Jesus, we have everything. Jesus is the source of our strength.

[23:10] He's our hope. He's the one who came and died for us. He shed his blood for us. The power of the blood of Jesus is the most powerful thing that was ever shed. It heals every sickness.

[23:21] It heals every disease. We just have to believe in it. Believe and have access to that power in our lives. Jesus says in John chapter 17, 27, he said to everybody, he said to his disciples, peace I leave with you.

[23:40] Not the world's peace, but his peace. Because Jesus is peace. Jesus is the prince of peace. And so I'm hoping this afternoon that I'm encouraging you.

[23:55] This attitude, this lifestyle of thankfulness can produce such a sweet fragrance of the Lord wherever we go. I remember once we went on holiday.

[24:09] And we were shopping, as us girls do. And my husband had the wallet, as he always does. And we went into a handbag shop. And yeah, what can I say?

[24:20] We were shopping there. And he was just strolling around and board as anything, as he always is. And he went to pay at the counter. And I don't know who this lady was. Never met her in my life before. But she stood there and she looked at my husband and she said to him, you are a man of God.

[24:35] Never knew this woman from a bar of soap. Honestly, didn't know. Still don't know who she is. It was one that was down there by Watermouth Valley, right there by the caravan. We love camping. We love tenting.

[24:45] And she just said to him, you are a real man of God. And he just said, wow, thank you. And that was it. I think she said something else. But what struck me was he carried such a presence of God.

[24:56] He carried such a peace of God that it was visible to people that didn't even know him. Now that, I believe, is what our secret ingredient is. When we take time every day, ladies, to be thankful.

[25:10] Thankful for the fact that we're just alive. Our bodies might not function that great, but we're still alive. I was telling my friend earlier on, I've been on a bit of a diet the last couple of weeks because I was struggling with my health.

[25:21] Get up in the morning, I couldn't walk. I was like, what's going on? I better sort myself out. And I stopped eating all the sugar and now I walk just fine. I walk just fine, but I had to, but I still, I practice every morning.

[25:35] I get out of bed and I say, first thing I do, thank you, Jesus. Father, I thank you for this day. This is a day you have made and I will rejoice in this day. And you know, some mornings it's really hard because some mornings I don't want to do it because it's been tough stuff.

[25:49] But I get up every morning and I say, Father, I thank you for this day. As I sit down and I read my word, I say, Lord, I read my word and I thank you that as I'm reading my word, you're going to speak to me today. And Lord, as I go to work today, Father, I thank you that there's going to be an opportunity for me to share.

[26:03] But I've had to practice that over years and years and years and years. I made a choice to be thankful. Be thankful for everything, even when it's been tough.

[26:20] Then I say, thank you, Lord. The only thing I can say right now is just thank you that you saved me. That's it. I might not be thankful about much else, but you know what? Thank you that you saved me. Thank you that you care about me.

[26:31] But it's an attitude that I've had to hear and hear and hear. And I know one year we also went through a really tough time. And I do. I do write songs. I haven't written for a while, but I do write songs.

[26:42] And I'm a real worshiper at heart. And the scriptures are full of things that can help you just to say thank you if you don't know the word yourself. And we were, financially, we were just really, really not in a good place.

[26:55] And God just said to me, I want you to get up every morning and I want you to thank me and I want you to dance. Mm, mm, mm. Dance. So I did. And my husband was like, what are you doing?

[27:07] Because you know, some of the houses are really hollow, you know, especially the new builds. And he's like, every morning, he just kept on hearing all this thumping going on. And he's like, what are you doing? I said, well, I don't really want to tell him what God told me to do.

[27:19] It's my personal time, you know. It's my quiet time place, Nat. Anyway, and I just kept on and I said, okay, well, God told me to dance. Is that okay with you? And he's like, yeah, yeah, no, that's fine.

[27:29] So that's how he knows me. And it's something I've done for many, many years. And I was just dancing before the Lord. I was doing ballet moves. I was doing breakdance moves. Whatever came to me, I just did them.

[27:40] Okay. And in that, I was doing it as unto the Lord. And I was thanking him for a breakthrough, for a strategy. Then my husband says to me, oh, I really feel God's calling me to a fast. I said, okay, it's fine.

[27:51] Now, my husband does a lot of fasting. He just seems to have a neck to do fasting. I can't fast. I struggle a bit with fasting. I think I like food too much. Anyway, so I said to him, well, my baby, you fast and I'll dance.

[28:02] And somewhere between the two, God will speak to us. And you know what? Ten days into his fast, God did speak. And God came through in the most amazing way and delivered us out of a situation that we were not able to get out of.

[28:15] And so I can only declare and I can only share from my own life that I have seen the peace of God when I've taken time to begin to thank God and I begin to put him first in all my decisions that firstly, I don't walk around with loads of anxiety.

[28:31] I don't. I'm not a fearful kind of person. I do get worries and I do get concerns, but I just go straight away back to that place, that place of just being thankful, getting it to change my perspective, getting to change my perspective.

[28:46] You know, we were sharing with Mandy early on, you know, sometimes we are believing God for things and we're waiting and we're waiting and they never happen and then they don't happen and suddenly we shrink back and we don't want to believe God for those things anymore.

[28:57] But the truth of it is, ladies, if we don't have God to trust in, who do we have? Nobody. So we can't allow our thankfulness and our faith in God to be determined by any experience or any place we've been before.

[29:13] God is faithful. God is faithful to do everything that he has promised. Jeremiah 29, 11 says, For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord.

[29:26] They are plans for prospering you. They are plans to give you peace. I find that incredibly encouraging this morning, this afternoon.

[29:37] That I can just know that God has got good plans for my life. And all I have to do is literally open my mouth and say, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father.

[29:47] And I begin to see the peace of God come. I begin to see the power of God come. And I begin to see my attitude change. My heart is protected. My life is protected.

[29:57] There's nothing worse than being tormented by something. Nothing worse than being tormented by something. Nothing worse than being tormented by something. And the torment and the agony and the indecision.

[30:09] And you're on and on. And you can't sleep and you can't do this. Let me challenge you today. Just get into that place of just being thankful. As you pray.

[30:20] As you lift your issues to before the Lord. Say, Lord, now. They are yours. Now I'm going to thank you. You've got them, God. You've got them. And in your time and in your way, you're going to work them out for me.

[30:32] Let me just read you three more scriptures. And then I have a song that I'd love you. I'm going to ask them to play up there. And we're going to listen to the song. And then we're going to go into a time of communion. And we're just going to allow the Holy Spirit to continue.

[30:44] Just to minister to us. Psalm 107 verse 1 says, Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 18.

[30:56] Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ. Isn't that interesting? Give thanks in all circumstances. Give thanks in all circumstances.

[31:11] Even if your health is failing, I can still give thanks that God is with me. And he's helping me through. Colossians 4 verse 2 says, Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

[31:26] Colossians 3 verse 15. Let the peace of God rule your hearts. As members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Psalm 69 verse 30.

[31:37] And I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. Amen. So, I want us to change our perspectives this afternoon.

[31:48] I want you to think about one thing. One thing that you can be thankful for this afternoon. And I want you to actually, out of your mouth, it doesn't have to be loud, it doesn't have to be a display.

[32:02] I want you to thank God for that one thing. And then I want you to think of one more thing. I want you to think of a person. A person in your life that has really made a difference in your life.

[32:13] Someone that you can be very thankful for. Maybe it is your husband. Maybe it is your children. Maybe it is your pastor. Maybe it is, I don't know who it is. Your home group leader.

[32:23] I don't know. Maybe it's just your friend. But I want us to really take time this afternoon. And just to, because you know what? I believe that the atmosphere will change. That with thankfulness we will receive peace.

[32:34] With thankfulness we will receive joy. And like Hannah, when she'd had that encounter with the priest, he'd given her a word. She went away. She ate. And her face was no longer sad.

[32:46] And that's my prayer this afternoon. That as we take time, just to be thankful to the Lord. And you're going to receive from the Lord. The peace of God will come upon your life. The joy of the Lord will be your strength.

[32:57] And when you leave this afternoon, your face will no longer be sad. And you'll go out of here and you'll say, man, I had such an incredible time today. And you'll go home and minister to your families.

[33:08] And minister to your friends. And God, many will see. And they will give God thanks for what's been done in your life today. Amen.