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

THEME: GETTING ANSWERS THROUGH WORSHIP.

MEMORISE:
“And whatsoever 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.

MESSAGE:
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.
Not only does He answer prayers, He can also answer them instantly.
If there is any example of 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. Amen!
Elijah is one of my favorite 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 “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the Heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit."

He is one of the reasons why I pray so much.

I spent quality time studying his prayer in 1 Kings 18:36-37, and I would like to share with you some of what the Holy Spirit taught me.

1 Kings 18:36-37 “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
Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your Servant, and that
I have done all these things at Your Word.

Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

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 worshiping God by eulogizing Him.

When you go through the Scriptures, all those who worshiped God got their request granted.

You will never find a single example of someone who worshiped God in spirit and in truth who did not get his or her request granted.

Matthew 8:1-3 tells the story of a leper who was granted his request.

This is 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 worshiped 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.”

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 from a far 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 worshiping Him?

Read the story very well, he did not even pray to be delivered, but God delivered him
all the same.
Furthermore, in Mark 5:21-24, how did Jairus get his daughter restored to life?
He worshiped Jesus! Even though he was a great man, in the presence of Jesus, he considered his status to be 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. 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!

ACTION POINT:
Worship God by eulogizing Him with His attributes you know. Read Isaiah 40:22-25 to aid you.

Isaiah 40:22-25
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.

Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.

“To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says The Holy One.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Number 22; 2 Corinthians 8

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN: IMMORTAL INVISIBLE GOD ONLY WISE!
1. Immortal, Invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most Blessed, Most Glorious, The Ancient of Days,
Almighty, Victorious, Thy Great Name we praise.

2. Unresting, Unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, Nor wasting, Thou Rulest in Might;
Thy Justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy Clouds, which are fountains of Goodness and Love.

3. To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou Livest, The True Life of all;
We Blossom and Flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

4. Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
all praise we would render, O help us to see
'tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee!

5. Immortal, Invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most Blessèd, Most Glorious, The Ancient of Days,
Almighty, Victorious, Thy Great Name we praise.


Open Heavens 11 March 2018, Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries