Open Heavens Daily Devotional Messages, By Pastor E.A Adeboye.

HELP FROM ABOVE – Monday July 11th 2016

Posted: 08 Jul 2016 12:18 PM PDT

HELP FROM ABOVE

Memorise: My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2

Read: Psalms 121:1-8, (KJV) 1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

²My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

³He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

⁴Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

⁶The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

⁸The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Bible in one year: Romans 13:7-16:27, Psalms 7

MESSAGE

When there was a national calamity of famine in Samaria, a woman conspired with her friend to take turns to kill their children for food. After the other woman had helped her friend to eat her son, she refused to surrender her own son for food. The foolish woman cried to the king for help but the king's reply is a food for thought in our devotional reading for today. The king said:

"…If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? Out of the barn floor or out of the winepress?"

2^nd Kings 6:27

The Psalmist was right when he said, in our memory verse, that his help comes from the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Genuine help can only come from above. The strength of man is bound to fail. The Almighty God is the present Help in the time of need; He is ever ready to send help to whoever solicits for it. He said:

"And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."

Psalms 50:15

When five kings united against the Gibeonites because they made peace with the children of Israel, they cried unto Joshua who in turn cried unto God for help. The Lord sent help from above and the five kings perished by the hand of Joshua.

"And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword."

Joshua 10:11

Many people put their trust in mortal beings and always end up disappointed. The Bible discourages us from putting our trust in men (Jeremiah 17:5). Whereas, the same chapter says:

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is."

Many years ago, someone heard that I was building a house and volunteered to help in the supply of blocks since he was a block manufacturer and that I should pay at the convenient time. It was a mistake that I never made again. The moment this man realised that I was doing the roofing of the house he began to pester me for his money. I remained him that he was the one who volunteered to help but he continued all the same to pester me for his money. I cried to God for help with a promise that I will never make such a mistake again. Beloved, I prophesy to your life, the help that will not expose you to ridicule will come your way this season in Jesus' name. However, you must always put your trust in the Lord; you must not choose to have a "Plan B" in your relationship with the Present Help, the Almighty God. More importantly, you must surrender your life to Jesus Christ and abstain from all appearances of evil (1^st Thessalonians 5:22).

Prayer Point:

Father, please send me help from above today and don't let me be put to shame in Jesus' name.

Open Heavens Daily, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye

PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS – Sunday July 10th 2016

Posted: 07 Jul 2016 02:36 PM PDT

PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS

Memorise: Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24

Read: John 16:23-28, (KJV) ²³And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

²⁴Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

²⁵These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.

²⁶At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:

²⁷For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

²⁸I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.

Bible in one year: Romans 9:30-13:6, Psalms 6

MESSAGE

Children of God must cultivate the habit of persistent prayers so that they may attain their full potentials. The importance of prayer cannot be overemphasised when we consider what those who take time to pray gain. The Bible say;

"Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."

James 5:17-18

The prayer of Elijah that brought about the rain was not just a five-minute prayer. He prayed and prayed again before the rain fell. When a man of God prays for a few minutes in the public and miracles begin to happen, one should not be deceived that it is the few minutes of prayer that instigated the miracles. The fact is that, the man of God had prayed long hours in private before the pubic show of God's miraculous deeds. God, in His Word, commands us to "Pray without ceasing." The One who commands us to pray, definitely will answer our prayers, if only we will obey command. God is interested in listening to our petitions and responding accordingly. Our Lord Jesus Christ in our text for today says,

"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

John 16:24

In other words, we must not stop asking if we have not received an answer to the petitions that we put before God. At times, answers to our prayers are double-crossed by the agents of darkness like in the case of Daniel. The following importune prayer of Daniel eventually saved the day:

"Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo Michael, one the chief princes came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia."

Daniel 10:12-13

Hannah prayed until something happened in her life and so did Jabez. We must begin to pray until the attention of God is drawn to our petition. The Psalmist said in Psalms 30:2 that when he cried to the Lord, the Lord healed him. This is another testimony of someone who believed in the God that answers prayers. My prayer for someone using this devotional is that as you cry unto God today, He will answer you as He answered Hannah, Jabez and Elijah in Jesus' name.

Action Point

Set aside quality time to pray today and you will receive unprecedented answer to your prayers.

Open Heavens Daily, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye