Open Heavens 10 July 2015: Friday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Prayer Provokes Blessings

Open Heavens 10 July 2015: Friday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Prayer Provokes Blessings

Memorise: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. - Matthew 7:8

Read: Luke 1:5-14 (KJV)

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

Bible In One Year: 2 Chronicles 1-3; Luke 20:19-47

MESSAGE:

One great lesson from Jacob’s Penile experience, documented in Genesis 32:24-32, is that prayer provokes blessing. A key part of this experience inGenesis 32:28-29 thus read:

“And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.”

After changing Jacob’s name to Israel, the Lord further blessed him. This tells us that having a new name is desirable, but securing a blessing that will empower the new name to achieve its prophetic meaning in the life of its recipient is even more preferable. Some people who once had negative names have changed them; this is good but don’t stop here. Ask that God will bless your new identity, so that your new name will speedily work for you and finally take you to your place of destiny.

Similarly, you will notice that a blessing was pronounced on Israel in the place of prayer, not at some other place. Blessings are attracted to you while you are praying. The blessings that manifest after your moments of concerted prayers were first delivered to you in the place of prayer. In Acts 12:1-17, it was while the children of God were taking turns to pray that freedom was delivered to Peter who had been incarcerated by the authorities. In addition, the gift of a baby boy, in the person of John the Baptist, was delivered to Zacharias while he and the people were praying in the temple. This gift manifested nine months later (Luke 1:65-66).

Effective prayer is like a collection basket for blessing. If you can pray, you will have a place where your required blessings will be dropped for you, but if you cannot pray, you can be certain that even when God decides to give you a particular blessing out of mercy, you will not have a receptacle to receive it. This is one reason why some blessings that are brought to people are returned to Heaven. Effective and sustained praying over an issue tells the heavenly hosts that you are truly prepared to receive what you are asking for. Prayer provides that landing platform for your miracles and blessings. You desire God to bless you; have you prepared the platform on which the answer to your request will be laid?

Key Point: Prayer is a platform for collection, and only those who engage in it will reap its dividends.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God

Open Heavens 9 July 2015: Thursday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Wonderful Miracle

Open Heavens 9 July 2015: Thursday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Wonderful Miracle

Memorise: Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.-Romans 15:19

Read: Ezekiel 37:1-10 (KJV)

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Bible In One Year: 1 Chronicles 28:9-29:30; Luke 19:41-20:18

MESSAGE:

Miracles have a lesser degree of awesomeness when compared to wonders. Let us closely look at examples of these. It is undeniable that the raising of the dead through prayer is a great act of God. In 1 Kings 17:17-24, when the son of the widow of Zarephath died and Elijah was informed; he prayed, paced up and down, threw himself on the child about three times and the child came back to life. This was a miracle no doubt; but when dead bones cause the dead to be raised to life, it is a greater miracle. This happened in 2 Kings 13:20-21.Someone died and was being conveyed to the burial site, but because the mourners sighted a band of enemy soldiers heading in their direction, they threw the corpse into a nearby grave. Coincidentally, that was where Elisha had been buried. Elisha's body had decayed, leaving only his bones behind. As soon as the corpse touched his bones, the dead man came back to life and ran after his fleeing relatives.

However, when you compare all these great miracles with Ezekiel's experience documented in today's Bible reading, you will conclude that they are incomparable in awesomeness. What Ezekiel experienced was a wonder. Ezekiel was taken to a valley full of dry bones and God asked him if the bones could live again. This man of God immediately realised he had come face to face with a situation his faith could not handle. "Lord, this is beyond my faith. Only You can tell", he replied. God then said to him, "Don't pray, don't touch, just prophesy to them and say, Dry bones, hear God's word and come together, every bone to its bone as it was originally". Oh! That was easy to say, and he said it as he was commanded, even though he knew it sounded far-fetched. How can you ask dead, dry bones to hear? Oh yes, they can hear, though not your words but God's Word. This is why you should not stop speaking the Word of God to dead situations, people and things. They all have ears to hear God's Word and they respond to it. Meanwhile, as the dry bones began to move to form their original bone structure, Ezekiel must have been saying, Wonderful! But God was not done yet; He commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind. Now, this was a bit more outlandish! At least the bones he could see, but the wind he could not see. He however obeyed, and the wind began to blow. Breath came into the lifeless entities that had been formed from the dry bones. In no time, a valley full of dry bones was taken over by a strong and able army. Always use God's Word to call up what you want to see in the Name of Jesus Christ, and it will be so.

Prayer Point: Father, in my life, family, workplace and ministry, make us recipients of your wonders.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God

Open Heavens 8 July 2015: Wednesday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Fake Promises & Scales

Open Heavens 8 July 2015: Wednesday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Fake Promises & Scales 

Memorise: Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD -Proverbs 20:10

Read: Proverbs 20:7-10 (KJV)

7 The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

8 A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

10 Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.

Bible In One Year: 1 Chronicles 26:1-28:8; Luke 19:11-40

MESSAGE:

It is unfortunate that some people make promises and don't bother to keep them. This is one area that requires restitution. Broken promises can stand against you in eternity. This is why you should not make a promise you are not prepared to keep. Politicians easily fall prey here. When they are campaigning for votes, they will promise heaven and earth, but after their election, many of them fail to live up to their promises. If you are a child of God and a politician, let people know the difference between light and darkness by making sure you fulfil your promises. One of the characters of a person who will enjoy the ever-abiding presence of God and make heaven is keeping of promises. Psalm 15:1&4b says:

"LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?....He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not."

There is a user of this devotional: you have made several promises to individuals and even to the Church of God but failed to keep them. Your inability to fulfil them is keeping back certain promises made to you from being fulfilled. If you can repent and fulfil your pending promises, the door will be opened for promises made to you to be fulfilled.

Closely allied to the issue of trustworthiness is the use of fake weights and measures, especially in trading activities. Some people beat in their measuring cups so that they can make more profit. That is fraudulent. Believers should not manipulate their instruments, but measure accurately. Serve completely and charge for it. Sell a full cup for the full amount and not 3/4 of a cup for the full amount. You cannot be asking for God's blessings and be doing what He hates. Proverbs 11:1 says:

"A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight."

Just as individuals offend here, so also do governments and government agencies. For instance, any government agency making people pay for services not rendered is fraudulent and destroying itself. One way this happens is through the use of fixed estimates by power companies. When a person's monthly consumption of energy is 200 units, why must such a person be compelled to pay for 300 or more units? This is serious fraud. This also applies to fuel (gas) stations. Some of them tamper with their meters so that instead of the requested quantity being delivered, fewer litres are dispensed for the same price. They believe people will not know, but what about God? In any way you are delivering below what is expected of you or your organisation, repent and return the difference to the owners before it is too late.

Key Point: Whatever is not originally yours that you take from others by deceit can never truly add to you.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God

Open Heavens 7 July 2015: Tuesday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Love Must Be Reciprocated

Open Heavens 7 July 2015: Tuesday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Love Must Be Reciprocated

Memorise: If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. -John 15:10.

Read: John 15:9-10 (KJV)

9. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

Bible In One Year: 1 Chronicles 23:25; Luke 18:35-19:10

MESSAGE:

God loves us so much the He gave us Himself as a gift. Giving Jesus Christ to die for us was the same as giving Himself to us (1 Timothy 3:16). But He did not stop there, He went further, pointing out to us in Romans 8:32 that:

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things.”

However, love should be a two-way exchange, and not one-sided. If you love someone and your love is not being reciprocated, after a while, something will happen to that love. That love may grow cold or even die. The same applies to the relationship between God and us. If you check through the scriptures, you will learn that whenever God does something for someone, He expects them to do something in return. It is one thing to be loved and another thing to abide in that love. While you were in your sins, God demonstrated His love for you by sending Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, to die for you. When you respond to this divine initiative by repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you will be washed by His blood and forgiven. After this, God increases His love towards you, and when you reciprocate, that love increases.

Love begets greater love. If you want to sustain or increase the love that God has for you, reciprocate His love. In today’s reading, Jesus tells us that when He came to earth as a man, He was loved by the Father; but to sustain that love, He had to keep the Father’s commandments. What the Father expected of Jesus is what He expects of us today. There is no way you will continue in God’s love when you deliberately break His commandments or refuses to obey Him. If He has loved you, He expects you to love Him too. He expects your obedience. He also expects you to love other brethren. How have you reciprocated the love of the Lord? Even though afflictions, persecutions, angels, Satan, what we see and what we can’t see cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35-39),disobedience, manifested by violation of His word, can deal that love a terrible blow.

Action Point: List some things you have never done that you can start doing to reciprocate the love of God. Do them from today!

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God

Open Heavens 6 July 2015: Monday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – The Price Must Be Paid

Open Heavens 6 July 2015: Monday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – The Price Must Be Paid

Memorise: There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. -Joshua 1:5

Read: 2 Kings 6:15-17 (KJV)

15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

Bible In One Year: 1 Chronicles 20-22; Luke 18:9-34

MESSAGE:

After God chose Joshua to succeed Moses, Joshua was afraid, as he wondered how he could ever fit into Moses' big shoes. Therefore, God came to reassure him, calm his fears and promised to be with him. He said to him in Joshua 1:5 that:

"There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Thereafter, he had a smooth ride in ministry until the day the children of Israel fled before Ai. Joshua felt disappointed that God had gone back on His promise, so he went back to God and asked Him "Lord, I thought You said nobody would be able to withstand us. How come we are fleeing before a little city like Ai?" God replied "That is correct, but you are now disconnected from me, and until you restitute and deal with the sin, I will not continue with you."

If God will use you for great signs and wonders, you must be prepared to make instant restitution. God is about to do great exploits, but if you are not prepared to pay the price, you will be a spectator and not a key player. Have you stolen God's money, particularly tithes, first fruits and offerings? Pay back immediately! Did your members contribute some money for a particular thing but you diverted it to something else? Restitute! Have you been looking at the wrong direction? Restitute by facing the direction God wants you to take.

There is a price to pay to be a minister or vessel of signs and wonders, one of which is a readiness to operate in both physical and spiritual realms simultaneously. When you pay this price, you will start seeing the invisible. You will not only see angels and the heavenly hosts like Elisha's servant in today's Bible reading, you might equally see demons. This should not scare you. When you can see demons, you will immediately see them in any demon-possessed individual brought to you, and when you cast them out, you will be able to know whether they have really gone or are just pretending to have done so. Asking demons how many they are inside their victim is of no use when the minister cannot see them. Even if there is just one of them, because you cannot see him, he can lie to you. How prepared are you to pay the price?

Action Point: If God's promise to you is not being fulfilled exactly as He promised it, find out what you may be doing wrong?

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God

Open Heavens 5 July 2015: Sunday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Satan Targets The Holy

Open Heavens 5 July 2015: Sunday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Satan Targets The Holy

Memorise: Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. - Acts 12:1

Read: Acts 6:8-15 (KJV)

8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:

14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.

15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Bible In One Year: 1 Chronicles 17:19; Luke 17:20-18:8

MESSAGE:

Holiness is very necessary for anyone who wants to fulfil destiny and make it to Heaven. Holiness also makes God to hide you in His bosom (Psalm 91:4). In other words, holiness provides a cover for the holy, whereas sin exposes the sinner. Sin exposes the one who commits it to shame, disgrace and pain, and it makes the sinner vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. When you combine holiness with being a vessel of honour, you become doubly precious to God. You become like a delicate egg in His hands. This is why Psalm 103:13-14 says God will treat such a vessel with lots of care, remembering how weak and fragile he or she is. From today, the Lord will treat you with special care. You will be special to God and He will hide you in His love in Jesus’ Name.

Moreover, as an instrument of honour, never rest on your oars. Whatever level you may be on presently, you have only started; you have not yet attained the heights that God is taking you to. If you think that you have already arrived with respect to Kingdom tasks, you may attract unwanted things to yourself. Note however that the more God uses you, the more you will be of interest to the kingdom of Satan. Satan never wants any believer in Christ to end up in Heaven; so he will do all he can to stop you. Take Peter for instance: he loved Jesus so much that he vowed never to deny Him. This he said in spite of what Jesus had foretold would happen(Matthew 26:34-35). Satan saw Peter as a vessel of honour in God’s hands and immediately marked him out as a target. He did everything possible to bring him down, but Jesus prayed for him and he overcome.

Similarly, Satan picked on another vessel of honour – Stephen. Stephen was holy, full of faith and full of Holy Spirit. He was also full of wisdom and was used to perform mighty signs and wonders in the early Church. Satan therefore stirred up serious opposition against Stephen, but he overcome them. When this failed, the enemies connived and brought false witnesses to lie against him. Satan never keeps to any rule of decency when he fights. He fights dirty. He kept working at it until he got Stephen killed (Acts 7:56-60). But unknown to him, when he thought he had won the battle, his chief vessel of persecution, Saul, was arrested by God and did even far greater works for God than Stephen did. In the end, the devil regretted his action. He wished he had left Stephen alone to have been spared the immense irrecoverable losses he got from his ex-loyal fanatic –Paul.

Action Point: Pray that every target of Satan in your local church be protected from falling.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God

Open Heavens 4 July 2015: Saturday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – The Anointing Speaks

Open Heavens 4 July 2015: Saturday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – The Anointing Speaks

Memorise: But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. -1 John 2:27

Read: 1 Samuel 10:1-9 (KJV)

1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

2 When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

3 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.

5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:

6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

7 And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.

9 And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

Bible in one Year: 1 Chronicles 15:16; Luke 17:1-19

MESSAGE:

The anointing creates the opportunity for you to be entrusted with God’s heritage. This great responsibility requires that you have divine information and guidance to carry out the assignment. As stated in our memory verse, the anointing speaks to or teaches the anointed, providing him with divine information. If you have the anointing, it will speak to you; it will tell you the truth. If you say you are anointed but you cannot hear from God, your anointing is very much in doubt. Based on 1 John 2:20, one way you can know that you are anointed is by the divine information released to you. The more the anointing on your life, the more you should have access to divine information (Number 12:6-8). To what extent does then anointing speak to you?

What does the anointing teach? If you closely look at Saul’s experience. You will learn that the anointing reveals future events to the anointed. After Saul was anointed by Samuel, the latter told him of a series of events that he was going to experience sequentially, and they happened accordingly. Do you know that God loves speaking to you? God is looking for those He can share certain vital information with before they occur. No wonder Amos 3:7 says,

“Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

Any information that is only accessible by God is God’s secret. The anointing makes God share His secrets with His anointed. Do you hear God’s voice? How often does He speak to you? Does He confide in you concerning future events that will affect you or members of your family? As we speak, there are some people who are acquainted with divine information of events that will occur in some 2,3,5 or 10 years’ time. May the Lord anoint you afresh and open to you the door of communication, granting you access to knowledge of events long before they happen. When you know what will happen in the future, you will be guided on how to handle your today and tomorrow.

Prayer Point: Father, make me sensitive to Your voice. Help me never to mistake Your voice for that of any other person.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God