OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL: SUNDAY, MARCH 11TH 2018- GETTING ANSWERS THROUGH WORSHIP

Memorise: And whatever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13
Read: 1 Kings 18:36-39
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.
Bible in one year: Numbers 22, 2 Corinthians 8

1. Without controversy, my God is indeed a prayer-answering God. In my life, He has proven Himself to be a prayer-answering God over and over again.
2. Not only does He answer prayers, He can also answer them instantly.
3. If there is any example of a prayer that was answered instantly, it is the prayer of Elijah, which brought down the fire of God in today’s Bible reading. In the Name that is above every other name, God will answer your prayers by fire today.
4. Elijah is one of my favourite characters in the Bible, and I spent three years studying him. I observed something very very significant about him: he was a prayer warrior (James 5:17-18). He is one of the reasons why I pray so much. I spent quality time studying his prayer 1 Kings 18:36-37, and I would like to share with you some of what the Holy Spirit taught me.
5. You will observe that Elijah started this prayer by calling on the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What is the significance of this? He was first worshipping God by eulogizing Him. When you go through the scripture, all those who worshipped God got their request granted.
6. You will never find a single example of someone who worshipped God in spirit and truth who did not get his or her request granted.
7. Matthew 8:1-3 tells the story of a leper who was granted his request. This was someone who had an incurable disease; someone who was not supposed to be found among the multitude. He came to Jesus and the first thing he did was to worship Him. He worshipped Him before He said “I know You can heal me if You want to”. Of course, he had already prepared the ground for his request to be granted. Jesus had no choice but to say “I am willing, be thou cleansed.”
8. A similar story is found in Mark 5:1-15. It is the story of the mad man of Gadara, who when he saw Jesus afar off, ran to meet Him and fell at His feet. Remember he was mad, but even in his madness, he was still able to worship God. If a mad man could worship God, what is your excuse for not worshipping Him? Read the story well, he did not even pray to be delivered, but God delivered him all the same.
9. Furthermore, in Mark 4:21-24, how did Jairus get his daughter restored to life? He worshipped Jesus! Even though he was a great man, in the presence of Jesus, he considered his status to be all of no significance. This is why I feel uncomfortable when I see some so called “great men” who cannot worship God. Whenever we are praising God and we are dancing and rejoicing, I see some people who feel they are too big to worship the King of kings. This is rather unfortunate because there is no one like God.
10. He is greater than the greatest, higher than the highest, older than the oldest, richer than the richest, and He is better than the best. Worship your way into victory today!

When mere men get praised, they are pushed to exhaust their limited resources or money on the praise singers. Eulogising God is a gift I covert so much because it draws God’s attention to the person involved in that act very quickly. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”John 4:24 This is a great tips for us to imbibe in and I enjoin us to do so often. God bless and continually increase Pastor E.A Adeboye on every side in Jesus name.

Action Point
Worship God by eulogizing Him with His attributes you know. Read Isaiah 40:22-25 to aid you.
HYMN
1. Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things has done,
In whom his world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms
Has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.
2. O may this bounteous God
Through all or life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us,
To keep us in his grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
Of this world in the next.
3. All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son and Spirit blest,
Who reign in highest heaven
The one eternal God,
Whom heaven and earth adore,
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore.

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