OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: WEDNESDAY AUGUST 14TH 2024
THEME: PRAYER EXTINGUISHERS
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
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.
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 Psalm 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.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 37-39
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 ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless 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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