Day Seven

Step 7: We Must cultivate a Grateful Heart

To cultivate means to prepare or prepare and use for the raising of crops. To loosen or break up the soil. To foster growth of... (fill in the blank) to improve by labor, care or study.

We must on purpose cultivate a grateful heart.

The world we live in seems to feed off negativity. It seems there are more people complaining and focusing on what's going wrong than what's going right in their life.

Do either of those sound like you? Are you the glass half full or half empty kind of person?

We must choose to be grateful...daily.

Being grateful doesn't come naturally we must work at it...we must cultivate a grateful heart!

When we cultivate our stony stubborn heart, we are preparing it for the way of the Lord. When we cultivate our negative heart, we are in essence preparing our spirit and soul (our heart) to be grateful.

Cultivating our hearts will knock off the stubbornness and pride, it will knock off the dry hard dirt that's been there for years, it will knock off the negative tendencies, it will knock off that toxic mindset pattern...we are loosening what's been bound by this world.

The world seems to harden our hearts, but we are going to go against the norm of culture and do things God's way!

If you seem to be more of a negative person now that life has hit you hard, don't lose hope. You can have joy and peace again. You can have a life full of positivity and abundance. You can laugh again.

It's all about what we focus on.

We cannot control what happens in life, but we can control our response. When life seems to be unfair, we can declare I trust God! I know He is going to work this out for me! God loves me!

I believe when we fully trust in God, we can have a grateful heart no matter what the circumstance is! Our firm foundation rest in Him and Him alone, not our situation. Our Joy is found in Him in His glorious presence, not our circumstances.

So, my friend with all that being said, what are you grateful for today?

Have you said so? Or are you busy murmuring and complaining? I'm not trying to be mean or harsh, but it is my job to teach you and show you what the Lord has taught and shown me!

I have to live this out too!

I am responsible for sharing what I have learned in my walk with God. I want you healed and unstuck.

In order to get healed we need to have a grateful heart!

Every day I encourage you to write down 3 things that you are grateful for. When we focus on the good instead of the bad our eyes will be opened to seeing the good that God is doing in our life.

The more you focus on being grateful it will silence the voice of negativity and fear.

Praise God!

If nothing in your life is going as you planned, you can still be grateful for God's unending love for you! You are saved and not going to Hell. That alone is enough to be grateful.

We need a mindset shift.

When we shift our awareness to being grateful instead of the chaos that is going on around us and inside us, we being to shift the atmosphere.

One way to do this is by speaking words to create our atmosphere, not to describe it! In Matthew 15:18 it says, "But what comes out of your mouth reveals the core of your heart..."

When you get your heart right everything falls into place.

Think about it...when you begin to murmur and complain you can feel the atmosphere shift over into the negativity. How about when you go over to someone's house and you can feel something isn't right, but you aren't sure what it is. Maybe you've heard the saying 'you could cut the tension with a knife' ...I can bet they were either fighting our talking negatively before you came over, and your spirit felt it.

It's great to have a grateful heart but are you saying so? We know according to God's Word that words have power. The power of life and death.

Are you speaking out loud what you are grateful more than the words you are speaking negatively about?

When we begin to truly listen to the words that are coming out of our mouth we can see the condition of our heart. I know firsthand when you are reliving the pain and shame my words were not honoring God. When our heart is hurting and full of pain it seems we keep replaying the broken record over and over in our thought life.

It seems that it is easier to have defeating words come out our mouth than it is positive words. Why is that?

I believe it’s habit. What you do over and over gets easier and easier.

If it's in your heart, it will be in your mind and soon out your mouth.

It's time to fill our heart with the promises of God, because then when the pressures of life come...guess what will come out?

The Word of God!

Psalm 51:10 says, "Create a new, clean heart with in me. Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you."

When you've been wounded it affects your heart, your soul and everything else...

It's time to get your heart healed.

It's time for a heart transplant.

In Jesus' name!

TODAYS PRACTICE

Start a gratitude journal! Everyday write at least 3 things that you are grateful for, making sure you chose something different each day! Doing this will ensure you to be more mindful and aware of all you truly have to be grateful for.

Something to think about...what if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you were grateful for today?

Cultivate a grateful heart.

TODAYS DECLARATION

I am grateful! I focus on my blessings! A grateful heart will have more to be grateful for! I have a clean and pure heart! My thoughts and desires are holy! Every day I will focus on choosing to be grateful!

MY PRAYER FOR YOU

Lord, I pray for my friend who is reading day 7 today. I pray that they would supernaturally have their eyes opened to all the blessings that you have given them. I pray that you would supernaturally cultivate their heart today and remove anything that is getting in the way from them fully receiving their grateful heart. I pray that no matter what happens in their life that they can still declare I am grateful! I pray that they would see that they have The Blessing of Lord upon their life and begin to focus on all they have to be grateful for instead of the situation they are facing. I pray they would experience and feel your supernatural love to such a degree that they would know you are God and that you are carrying them through. I pray their faith would be unshakable through all life's challenges and they would choose to be grateful. I pray they would focus on you. I pray that you would supernaturally infuse them with your joy and peace, as they choose to focus on you and choose to be grateful in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.