OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: THURSDAY 17TH JUNE 2021.
THEME: PRAYER WORKS!
MEMORISE:
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Joel 2:32
READ: Psalm 30:1-3
1I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
MESSAGE:
Beloved, you must know that life is a battleground. Revelation 12:12 says that the devil has come in because he lost out in Heaven as a result of his rebellion against God.
Apart from the devil, even mankind has, from the beginning of time, been wicked to one another. The story of Cain and Abel is a classic example. No wonder Jeremiah 17:9 says:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Should believers then run from the children of men to avoid being victims? No, Christians should instead look unto the word of God to find a way out. The way of escape is prayer. Our memory verse of today succinctly guides us in the direction of prayer so that we may be victors and not victims.
There is a lesson from our Bible reading today; it is that when we call upon the Lord for help, He will not withhold His everlasting arms from saving us. David called on God when he was distressed and his testimony was that God heard him (Psalm 3:4). Beloved, what are you waiting for? Why cant you call on the Lord today concerning the unpleasant situation you are passing through? I assure you that you will not be disappointed in Psalm 91:15:
“He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.”
The condition for the fulfilment of this promise, however, is in the preceding verse which says “….I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.”
The question is: Do you love God, do you know His name as Jesus, the Deliverer from sin? If yes, have you been delivered from your sin and become one of His own? If your answer is in the affirmative. I congratulate you. Go ahead and prayed like never before because today is the day you will receive express answers to your prayers. If not, ask Him to save you today.
Father, help me to always exercise my faith when I come to You in prayer, in the mighty name of Jesus.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Samuel 19-21.
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 32: 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,
Amen and Amen
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