Open Heaven For Today 2024 Thursday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Prayer Extinguishers II
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TOPIC: Prayer Extinguishers II
MEMORISE: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts". James 4:3
READ: James 4:1-6 (KJV)
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 40-43
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
Yesterday, I discussed how sin can extinguish our prayers. Another prayer extinguisher is – not praying according to God’s will.
You must understand that God has a plan for your life and wants to bring you to an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11).
This means that God already has an expectation about you before you were born.
Thus, everything He does, including the prayers He answers, is to bring you to that expected end. You cannot pray for God to do something against His will and expect Him to do it.
Many people have said, “I have been asking God for a particular thing for so long without an answer.”
Where they are probably getting it wrong is that they are not checking if what they are asking for aligns with God’s will or if it’s just for their selfish lusts (James 4:3).
Asking for something outside God’s will is asking amiss; such prayers are extinguished, and God will not grant such requests.
This is why you must be intimate with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26 says that we do not know how to pray because, many-a-times, we don’t know the will of the Father.
However, the Holy Spirit can help you to pray exactly what the will of the Father is, and then your prayers will be attended to.
When you pray in tongues, you are praying very accurate prayers because the Holy Spirit is praying the will of the Father through you.
Imagine that you are friends with the son of the chairman of a company, and you apply for a job in that company, using an application letter that was written by a director in the company, and having the chairman’s son, who is also a director, as your referee.
When your application gets to the chairman’s table, he will not be able to ignore it because it will contain the exact things that relate to the organisation and the role you are applying for, and also because his son is your referee.
You will surely have the job because your application will contain exactly what is on the chairman’s mind, and you have a good relationship with his son.
If you don’t want your prayers extinguished, let the Holy Spirit pray through you as you maintain an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ in whose name you are praying.
The best prayer points are the ones generated for you by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer Point
Holy Spirit, please teach me to pray according to the will of the Father at all times.
HYMN 22: Sweet Hours Of Prayer
1. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father’s throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter’s snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
2. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share
of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
where God my Savior shows his face,
and gladly take my station there,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
3. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear
to him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face,
believe his word, and trust his grace,
I’ll cast on him my every care,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Wednesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Prayer Extinguishers I
Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional
TOPIC: Prayer Extinguishers I
MEMORISE: "Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings". Micah 3:4
READ: Isaiah 59:1-2 (KJV)
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
When you spray a fire extinguisher over fire, it dies off. In the same vein, certain things act as prayer extinguishers.
If such things exist in our lives, we will not get answers to our prayers because the prayers will die off before they get to God.
Sin is the first thing that extinguishes our prayers the moment they leave our lips. David said in Psalms 66:18: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
If sin is in your heart, it will extinguish your prayer, and God will not hear it, even if you scream aloud while praying.
In Isaiah 59:1-2, the Bible says that sin creates such a huge distance between God and us that He cannot hear us nor can His hand reach us.
Even when a genuine man of God prays for a sinner, the prayer will be extinguished by the sins of that sinner unless he or she repents.
Many years ago, when the congregation was not as large as it is now, and I could lay hands on everyone, a woman came to one of our Holy Ghost Services.
She had been married for many years without a child and had been told that I have a special anointing for making the barren fruitful.
I laid hands on her during the service, and she fell under the anointing. However, months after that, she still did not conceive.
She came back complaining,
“They told me that when you lay hands on me, I will fall, and then I will become fruitful, but up to now, there is still no child”.
I thought she needed an extra dose of the anointing and was about to pray for her again when God told me,
“Son, ask her how many boyfriends she has.”
It was hard to ask her the question, but I managed to mumble the words. She replied that she had six boyfriends.
I exclaimed,
“Ah! And you expect my God to answer your prayer?”
Yes, I prayed for her and laid hands on her, but her sin extinguished the prayers.
Check yourself before you pray to be sure that you don’t have any sin in your heart because if sin is present, your prayers will go to waste.
Repent of the sin first, then you can be sure that God will answer your prayers.
The only prayer that God will hear from a sinner is the prayer of repentance from sin because as long as sin exists in his or her life, God will not hear him or her (Isaiah 59:1-2).
Key Point
Sin extinguishes prayers.
HYMN 23: Take My Life And Let It Be
1 Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
2 Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee,
swift and beautiful for thee.
3 Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee,
filled with messages from thee.
4 Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose,
every power as thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.
6 Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Ask In His Name
Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional
TOPIC: Ask In His Name
MEMORISE: "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth". Psalms 145:18
READ: Psalms 66:17-20 (KJV)
17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
All around the world, people call on God for one thing or the other, and as busy as He is, He said: Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3
I have been to the offices of some presidents. Before you go, you must first book an appointment.
If the president asks you to come by 2pm and you get there early, you may still not be allowed to see him until 5pm because the president is busy.
At times, it is the president who needs you, but you still must wait. No president is as busy as God, yet He is always available to give you His undivided attention whenever you call on Him – He is never too busy.
Jesus said that whenever we come to God in prayers, we should come in His name. I can send you to someone and give you a signed note asking the fellow to give you what you want.
However, when I say you should go in my name, what I mean is that, even though you are the one going there, when you arrive at the gate, tell them it is Adeboye who has arrived.
When the people see you, they are to receive you and treat you as if I am the one they are welcoming.
Jesus asking you to pray to the Father in His name means that even though you are the one praying, the Father is to see that prayer point as if He prayed it.
Since Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30), it also implies that whatever the Father owns, the Son owns also, so as the Father will not refuse to give Jesus whatever He asks for, He will also not refuse to give you whatever you ask for according to His will.
If Jesus appears to you and tells you that the moment you ask Him for anything, you will get it, will you stay silent or start asking for whatever you need?
He already told you in John 16:23 that if you ask Him for anything, He will give it to you.
This is why you should pray for everything you need. Many people complain about things they can change by simply praying. Jesus is waiting to give you whatever you ask Him for.
Don’t be worried about anything; just pray in Jesus’ name, and the problem is solved (John 14:13-14).
Key Point
Jesus is waiting to hear your requests, don’t hesitate to talk to Him.
HYMN 22: Sweet Hour Of Prayer
1. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father’s throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter’s snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
2. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share
of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
where God my Savior shows his face,
and gladly take my station there,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
3. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear
to him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face,
believe his word, and trust his grace,
I’ll cast on him my every care,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Monday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Blessed Beyond Curses
Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional
TOPIC: Blessed Beyond Curses
MEMORISE: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ": Ephesians 1:3
READ: Numbers 23:5-8 (KJV)
5 And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? Numbers 23:8
The Scripture above tells us that it is impossible to curse people that have been blessed by God. Such persons can never be affected by curses that are pronounced on them.
No matter how hard he tries, there is absolutely nothing the devil can do to curse the fellow that God has blessed. Romans 8:31 says:
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
God is Almighty; if He is on your side, there is no force on the earth, underneath the earth, or in any other place that can work against you.
The Bible says that you have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20) and that price is the blood of Jesus.
This means that no one can touch you because you are God’s possession. Through the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus flowing inside you, you are irreversibly blessed.
God has blessed you with all heavenly blessings, and there is no man that can curse you!
Numbers 23:23 says: Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
In Proverbs 26:2, you are reassured that: As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
If someone decides to curse you without a genuine cause, do not be moved and do not be afraid.
Goliath cursed David and, in a few minutes, his head was in David’s hands. In fact, any fellow who tries to curse you needs your prayers because God’s word says in Genesis 12:3: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: …
What is that genuine cause that can make a curse active even on a believer? It is sin.
After Balaam could not curse the people of Israel because they were blessed, they were tricked into sleeping with strange women, and before they knew it, they were cursed with diseases.
If you want to be blessed beyond curses, after surrendering your life to Jesus, you must ensure that you live holy.
A life without Jesus does not have protection against any curse. As long as you remain a child of God, you are untouchable to curses.
Key Point
Surrender your life to Jesus and live holy to ensure that you are blessed beyond curses.
HYMN 19: Rock Of Ages, Is Cleft For Me
1 Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.
2 Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s demands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.
3 Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.
4 While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.
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