Open Heaven For Today 2024 Saturday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Prayer Contaminants
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TOPIC: Prayer Contaminants
MEMORISE: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof". Proverbs 18:21
READ: Proverbs 18:20-21 (KJV)
20 A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 47-48
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
Certain things can contaminate our prayers, such that they weaken our prayers and their possible results. One such thing is speaking words that are against what we are praying for.
When you pray about your country, for example, and later join others in saying that nothing good can come out of that same country, you have contaminated your prayer already.
Don’t pray for God to give life to something and then turn around to speak death into that same thing; you will not get results from such a prayer.
Joel 3:10 says,
“Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’”
In other words, if you have prayed for strength, but can still see traces of weakness in you, at that point, say,
“I am strong”.
As your words go in line with your prayers, they will remain potent enough to deliver the results you seek.
When you pray about something, it is important that your words and thoughts agree with your prayer. This way, you will not stand in the way of the answer to your prayer.
Another thing that contaminates prayers is a lack of concentration while praying. This is when people pray, but their hearts are not in the prayer.
Rather, their minds are occupied with other things. The devil knows that if your mind is distracted while praying, your prayer will not carry as much power as it should.
Therefore, whenever you decide to pray, he will begin to remind you of things you are yet to do and places that you ought to have gone to.
His plan is to occupy your mind with other things so that you will become distracted and lose your concentration as you pray.
Whenever you find your mind wandering while praying, write down the things that you ought to have done, put the note aside, and continue to pray.
Train your mind to keep all distractions away, and don’t give room for them to disturb your connection to God in the place of prayer.
With time, as you continually train your mind, you will get good at focusing on God while praying.
Key Point
If you want your prayers to remain potent and powerful enough to deliver results, make sure they are not contaminated.
HYMN 3: Ancient Words
For our walk in this world
They resound with God’s own heart
Oh, let the ancient words impart
Chorus
Ancient words ever true
Changing me and changing you
We have come with open hearts
Oh, let the ancient words impart
2. Words of Life, words of Hope
Give us strength, help us cope
In this world, where e’er we roam
Ancient words will guide us home
3. Holy words of our Faith
Handed down to this age
Came to us through sacrifice
Oh heed the faithful words of Christ
4. Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world
They resound with God’s own heart
Oh let the ancient words impart
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Friday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Prayer Extinguishers III
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TOPIC: Prayer Extinguishers III
MEMORISE: "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed". James 1:6
READ: James 1:5-8 (KJV)
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
Today, I will conclude my discussion on some of the factors that can extinguish prayers. Some people get almost everything right in the place of prayer but miss out on just one thing – faith.
Today’s memory verse says that believers should always make their requests to God in faith without having any doubts in their hearts.
The next verse directly addresses anyone who makes requests from God without faith:
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. James 1:7
When you pray without faith, that prayer is dead on arrival.
Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Believers cannot expect God to answer their prayers when He is not pleased with them.
God requires that you have faith in Him when you ask Him for something. Luke 17:6 says that even if your faith is as little as a mustard seed, God will use it to move mountains on your behalf.
If your child asks you for food and then looks at you in such a way that says,
“I know you will not give me; you probably don’t even have it,”
you will feel insulted.
This is what we do when we ask God for things that we are not really expecting Him to give to us.
When you come to God in faith, you come knowing without a doubt that what you have asked of Him is already done.
You bring your requests with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6) because you know that your prayer has already been answered.
The moment you pray, your hands are already stretched out to God, expecting what you asked for.
This is how to pray; it is the kind of prayer that God cannot ignore. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the evidence of things not seen.
In other words, when you have faith, even though you have not seen what you are asking for, you will be so sure that you have it that you can present it in court as evidence to any judge, telling them,
“See what ! have.”
For a long time, I tried by my own power to increase my faith, but it was difficult. Then, I read Mark 9:24, where a man cried to Jesus, saying that he believes but that Jesus should help his unbelief.
In minutes, what Jesus was asking him to believe for was done. I also started praying that God should help my faith, and I have seen my faith grow tremendously since then.
If you pray the same prayer, Jesus will give your faith a boost, and you will be able to overcome unbelief.
Prayer Point
Lord, I believe in you; please help my faith.
HYMN 10: In Christ Alone
1 In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
2 In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live
3 There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
4 No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
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.
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
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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.
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