There’s something very powerful about thanking God. We are encouraged throughout the Bible to cultivate a heart of thankfulness. Many of us only think to thank God after the fact – but then we are looking with our natural eyes and not with the eyes of faith. There is tremendous blessing and power in thanking God for who he is before the fact and in the midst of troubles (you do still have those don’t you?).

If we can cultivate a heart of thankfulness then we create an atmosphere which is filled with the fragrance of God and in which extraordinary things can happen. For example, we often find at Healing On The Streets that simply thanking God for who he is brings healing to people.

Take last Saturday. A young boy, I’d guess 11 years old or so, came to Healing On The Streets. His mum explained that he’d injured his back a while ago while fighting with his sister. His doctor had said that his posture had been permanently affected and that was also the reason he was getting cramps in his neck and shoulders.

I love helping kids. By and large they’re honest and open. I first asked him how his sister was and ascertained that there was no longer any issue of unforgiveness between the two of them. Then I shared some stories about healing and asked his permission to place my hand on his back so that Jesus could touch him and heal him. He agreed.

As I placed my hand on his back I simply thanked Jesus for how much he cared about him. I was about to command healing over his posture, but before I could start the boy started to flinch tiny spasms in his back. I kept my hand there but asked him if he was okay. He said it felt like something inside his back was moving and I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what was happening. When that finished, he flexed his shoulders, circled his neck, and said in that very matter of fact way that kids do “thanks, that feels a lot better!”.

Thank you Jesus!