Cultivate a thankful heart!‘I will bless the Lord at all times.’ Psalm 34:1

David said, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.’ A thankful heart should be a way of life for us. But did you know that it can save your life? When Jonah disobeyed God and ended up inside the whale, he told the Lord, ‘I will sacrifice to You with…thanksgiving’ (Jonah 2:9 NKJV). When he did, God made the fish spit him up on dry land. When you’re in the pits and all hell is breaking loose around you, that’s when you need to raise your voice in praise. Nothing demonstrates trust, like thanking God when you’re in the throes of crisis. A thankful heart does two things: 1) It builds your faith. The reason ‘we [can] walk by faith [and] not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7 NAS), is because we know that regardless of the circumstances, God’s working on our behalf (Romans 8:28). David said, ‘Magnify the Lord with me’(Psalms 34:3). To magnify something is to enlarge it. When you focus on God instead of the problem, God becomes bigger and the problem becomes smaller. Plus, ‘Faith cometh by hearing…the word of God’ (Romans 10:17). Hearing God’s promises coming from your own lips, causes faith to rise in your heart. So start talking! 2) It restores life. Before raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father…thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me’ (John 11:41-42 NKJV). Something wonderful happens when you start thanking God for saving, protecting and providing for you. Your faith soars. You gain the confidence to command those things in your life that you thought were dead, to live again. So, cultivate a thankful heart!