At the root of every genuine thanksgiving and praise is understanding. Ps. 47:7, we are admonished to praise God with understanding. So our thanksgiving is barren, is mechanical without understanding. Understanding is of the heart. It is the understanding from the heart that gives value to the act of thanksgiving and praise (Matt. 13:23). The deeper your understanding, the greater the results you command. Understanding is going under to find out what makes something to stand. It is also a working knowledge, the knowledge that works, that produces results. Knowledge is useless without results.

Nehemiah 8:8. Understanding is when the word makes sense, and you apply it to end your mess. Understanding is making sense from the scriptures in order to alter your future. Wisdom is applying scriptural sense in order to cancel earthly stress. The cure for stress is wisdom. Life is a journey, and that journey requires understanding of the intricacies of life and patience.

Stages of life

In the journey of life, there are three stages.

Acts 7:38. Moses was a type of Christ, Pharaoh was a type of the devil, Egypt was a type of the world system. The wilderness is a type of our Christian journey. Canaan is a type of Heaven. The people that Moses led through the wilderness to the promise land was a shadow of the present Church. The bible calls it the church in the wilderness. As soon as they crossed the red sea, which was the last obstacle to being free from the influence of the Egyptians, they encountered 3 major places and these places are very significant – the three phases of life.

Exodus 15:22 – the first place was the Shur phase. The phase of shur is a phase of nothingness and insignificance. They are the days of little beginnings when you are trusting God for things to happen. You are believing God to get admission, graduate, get a job, to get married, to get the fruit of the womb. Nothing is happening, you are expecting something. Everyone went through that stage.

Exodus 15:23-25 – Marah phase. The marah phase is the phase where you have results with insults. Where your prayer is being answered but you are not satisfied! For instance, you have gotten admission, but to get school fees, buy handouts, pay rent is difficult. Someone is trusting God for a job – Shur phase, then he gets the job but the salary is nothing to write home about – that is Marah phase. You are were looking for a husband, now you are married but beaten by your husband – that is Marah. The Isrealites found water, but the water was bitter. They had results, but bitterness was in it. That is Marah (Exodus 15:23). They murmured because the water was bitter. They were foolish because they did not thank God for the water. In shur there was no water, but in Marah, there was water but they didn’t thank God, they complained. If you start thanking God enough, situations will change. Nothing is useless when God is involved. He can bring sweetness out of bitterness! Thank God for the upgrade from Shur to Marah.

Exodus 15:27 – the Elim phase. God moved them further. God will always move you forward, you would not die where you are. After the horrors of Shur, after the bitterness of Marah, there is the settlement of Elim. Elim is the phase of more than enough. The phase of Elim is the phase of settlement and perfection. It is the phase of Glory. If you are not patient, you will end up as a patient in the hospital! The vehicle that moves us from Shur to Marah, and Marah ultimately to Elim is the vehicle of thanksgiving, 1 Thess 5:18. You need to give God thanks at the phase of Shur because where you are is somebody’s prayer point. Thanksgiving is the wheel that takes you from where you are to where you want to be. The thankful cannot be ‘stagnatefull’ (Jonah 2:9-10). Until you pass the test of thanksgiving, God cannot take you out of that position, Hab. 3:17-19.

What is thanksgiving?

1. An attitude of gratitude for appreciation for something received from Him or done for us .
2. Recounting of God’s loving kindnesses, mercy and faithfulness in our lives. Lamentation 3:22-23

There are two levels of Thanksgiving:

1. Thanksgiving of appreciation. This is thanking of God for what He has done previously or presently. Ps 118: 23, 105:1-2.
2. Thanksgiving of anticipation. I have not gotten what I want yet but I am doing advance gratitude. This is thanking God for what He is about to do. It requires faith and trust in God, Rom. 4:17-21, John 6:6-11, While the bread and fish were not enough, He was thanking God.

What are we thanking God for?

1. We are thanking God for his faithfulness. Whatever we have, we are not qualified for it but for His faithfulness, Lamentation 3:22-23
2. To keep the anointing of God fresh in our lives. The reason why things are great is because of grace. Those that trust in their degrees will soon decrease. If you trust in your first class, you become last. Ps 91:1-2, 34:1. The ticket for living is praises, Ps 150:6. The thankful will always have his tank full of praise. Ps 92:1,10. The thankful will be graceful, and the graceful will be strength-full (Neh. 8:10). When your oil is stale, your speed will be slow.
3. For rendering our enemy to be helpless. It is the presence of the Omnipotent God in our midst that makes our enemies impotent, Ps 23:5.

Benefits of thanksgiving

1.  Thanksgiving grants us access into God’s presence and inside the presence of God, we discover the path of life to move out of challenges, Ps 16:11. 1 Cor. 10:13, the way of escape is in His presence.
2. When thanksgiving become our lifestyle, breakthrough becomes our identity. Matt 1:3. Every time you go into praise, it gives birth to breakthrough. Hab. 3:17-19. The focus of thanksgiving is not on your situation but on the one that can change the situation. Looking at the situation, you cannot thank God, but when you focus on the one that can change the situation and begin to thank Him, then you are ready for a change concerning the situation.
3. It multiplies the blessings of God in our lives. It is a spiritual yeast and fertilizer. Everything you thank God for will always multiply, Jer. 30:19.

What is a family? 

1. A group of people closely related to one another especially comprising of father, mother and children .
2. A group of related people bound together by a common ancestry or marriage and living under the same room. This consist of parents, children and close relations

Scriptural definition: The gathering of brethren bound together by a common Faith in Christ, Eph 2:19

Understanding the family

1.  Redemption changes our spiritual lineage, Rom 11:16-18
2. If our lineage changes by redemption, curses, enchantment become a thing of the past. Gal. 3:13. When we change our roots, we change our fruits. If salvation changes our lineage, salvation changes our fruits or results. Gen. 45:5.
3. God is committed to saving us when we belong to God’s family.

How to secure the rescue of God on our families?

1.  Pray for the salvation of those not yet saved in our families. Heb. 2:3. Salvation is the escape from attacks of life
2. Plead for God’s mercy for every enchantment to be broken, Ex 20:3-5
3. We need to enter a covenant to serve God with our household.