Dave Wager: Thanksgiving, Dependence, And The God Who Provides

In today’s NEW PODCAST, Bible teacher Dave Wager walks through what it really means to give thanks “with all our heart” to the God who provides everything we enjoy. Starting from Psalm 9:1, he explains that true thankfulness needs a Person as its object, not just things. Hope, love, and gratitude all have to be directed somewhere, and for the Christian that “somewhere” is ultimately God. Dave contrasts our American abundance with the deep joy and generosity he witnessed in a poor African village, where believers gladly shared their only meal with him and pointed every ounce of gratitude back to the Lord’s daily provision. Their example forced him to confess how casual and shallow his own thanksgiving had often been, even while living with full cupboards and constant comfort.

From there, Dave draws a line from Scripture to our own Thanksgiving tables, reminding us that it is God who gives life, safety, health, work, family, and even the heritage of our national Thanksgiving celebration. He unpacks passages like 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 and Philippians 4:6, showing that God’s will for His people is to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything, including hardship. Using Job, Habakkuk, and the history of the pilgrims, he shows how trials expose our dependence and highlight God’s faithfulness. Above all, Dave centers the conversation on the gospel, calling listeners to thank God for His “indescribable gift” in Jesus Christ, who died so we could be adopted into God’s family. This Thanksgiving, he urges us to remember that God does not need us, but He wants us, and to respond with lives that gratefully point every good gift back to the Giver.