OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY MAY 20TH, 2024.
THEME: HE THAT HATH CLEAN HANDS
MEMORISE:
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Psalm 66:18
READ: Psalms 24:3-6
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
MESSAGE
It takes clean hands to ascend to the hill of the Most High God and receive from Him. Isaiah 59:1-2 says:
Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
When you ask God for something, and He does not give it to you, please check your life first before you start complaining. Are your hands clean? Are you living holy? The Bible says that if you are not living holy, you are at such a distance from God that He cannot even hear your prayers. Because people who are living in sin are far away from Him, He will not hear them. God hates sin and cannot come close to sin at all. If you want anything from Him, stay away from sin.
Some people feel that they can force God to do things for them. Since they do not want to stop their sinful lifestyles and also know that God will not hear their prayers, they will seek an anointed man of God to pray for them. They believe that God will answer the prayers of the anointed man of God. Several times, I have prayed for people for healings, deliverance, and breakthroughs without results. On several occasions, I have cried to God, "What is going on? This fellow is your child, why are you not answering my prayers?" A lot of times, God will say, "You don't know the whole story." It doesn't matter how anointed a man of God is, God cannot be compelled to listen to his prayers over sinners.
My Father in the Lord, Pa Josiah Akindayomi, used to say that it is what a father has that he will use to take care of his children. If God is your father, He will take care of you with His goodness. However, if your father is the devil, he will take care of you with the evil that surrounds him. If you want the blessings of God, ensure that you surrender your life to Him in totality and live holy. The Bible says that without holiness, no one can see God (Hebrews 12:14), so if you truly want to abide in His presence and experience His abundant goodness, holiness must be your lifestyle.
REFLECTION
Are your hands clean?
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 1-3
AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 9: THERE IS A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH THE BLOOD
1 There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
2 The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away:
Wash all my sins away,
Wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
3 Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow'r,
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved, to sin no more:
Be saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved to sin no more.
4 E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
5 When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save:
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save,
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save;
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save.