Sunday, January 17, 2016

The Concept That Changed My Life: Thanking God In Advance

I have heard it said that thanking God after He answers a prayer is gratitude. Thanking Him in advance is faith!

About 15 years ago, I came across this concept and it changed my life: The power of picturing in my mind the best possible scenario or outcome in any situation, and then thanking God for it in advance. Since I believe that what we think about we ultimately bring about, this concept made perfect sense to me, and I started experimenting with it.

Whenever I had an upcoming job interview, visit with a friend, doctor appointment, speech to give, song to perform, party to host, soulmate to meet, home to find, situation to confront, etc, I would play out the best possible outcome in my mind---how happy I would feel that things went smoothly, how wonderful it would be to share the news with loved ones and friends, etc. When the situation was of a weighty matter, I would fast while continually focusing on how happy I would be if the best case scenario took place. I would also end every prayer and thought session with "I am asking for this or better". Sometimes as I was thinking about the best possible outcome, I would have feelings come to me giving me the impression that I didn't really want what I thought I did, or that what I thought would be a great outcome really wouldn't be, so I would change my focus.

I made a constant effort to focus on positive outcomes, and to do all that I could to dwell on the good things I already had. When doubtful or negative thoughts would start coming to my mind, I would push them away as quickly as possible and say to myself, "The best possible outcome is coming my way. I ask God for this or better"

The results of my experimenting were astounding. 99% of the time, the best possible outcome to situations in my life came to pass. For the 1% it didn't, it ended up being BETTER than what I thought would be the best possible outcome.

I know that we are all children of God, and as a result we have quite spectacular spiritual DNA. In Catherine Ponder's Book, The Prospering Power of Prayer, she eloquently states, "As spiritual beings, we have the power to help create our own circumstances, events, and environment. The secret is to sing, to rejoice, to praise and to give thanks even before there seems to be anything for which to give thanks."

It is important to always remember that most miracles take time, and don't happen instantaneously. Some best case outcomes are quick, and some are not. We live in a world where circumstances and events need to "line up" for our dreams to be realized. We also learn some of our greatest lessons during the gestation of dreams.

Always trust God. His timing is perfect. Your best case scenario is yours for the taking. Be grateful for it in advance!



11 comments:

  1. Your beautiful insights, coupled with the purity of your sweet heart, are such a joy to behold. Thank you for this powerful and meaningful message. When I grow up, my goal is to be just like you.

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  2. What a great post...enjoyed it so much.
    Thanks for coming by and following...
    xo bj

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  3. Inspiring as always!! I love your outlook on life!

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  4. believe in God and do the best will us tough facing this live positively

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