Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heavens: (Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018) – Refuse To Be Hopeless

1.Thank You, Jesus, for leaving all Your glory in heaven, and taking the form of man to come and show us the way.

2.Father, in anyway I have fallen short of your glory, please, have mercy and forgive me, in Jesus’ name.

3.Father, please turn every hopeless situation in my life around for good in Jesus’ Name

4.Father, I refuse to be hopeless, in Jesus’ name.

5.Father, let the coming of Jesu, in Jesus’ name.

6.Jesus will make a way for me, even in my present predicament. Lord, I look up to you for life.

7.Father, please, help me, as a soul winner and preacher of the gospel, to preach the true, undiluted and unadulterated, word, in Jesus’ name. Click To Read – Open Heaven 4 October 2018

8.Father, I would testify of your goodness and mercy, which endureth forever in my life, in Jesus’ name.

9.Father, I pray that the type of hopelessness that drive men to commit suicide will never be my portion in Jesus’ Name.

10.Father, I pray that no matter what am passing through, I will not take any step that will lead to destruction in Jesus’ Name.

11.Thank You Father, for the gift of Pastor E.A. Adeboye, to The Redeemed Christian Church of God, and to the body of Christ, as a whole.

12.Your Personal petitions.
( Philippians 4:6)
13.In Jesus’ name I pray.
(John 14:13-14; 15:16)
14.Thank you Father for answered prayers.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Open Heaven 4 October 2018 – Instant Restoration

Open Heaven 4 October 2018 Memorise
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. Luke 4:27

Open Heaven 4 October 2018 Bible Reading – 2 Kings 5:8-14

8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Open Heaven 4 October 2018 Bible in one year – Isaiah 33-35,  Luke 1:57-80

Instantaneous restoration is a miracle that occurs suddenly. Immediate resolutions of human problems and challenges like this are highly desired and sought after. The Bible contains several accounts of divine interventions that resulted in instant miracles, signs and wonders, one of which is the healing of Naaman.

Naaman had been a leper for many years, but after he dipped himself into River Jordan seven times, he was cleansed immediately and his skin became like that of a little child (2  Kings 5:14). Similarly, the woman with the issue of blood had suffered for twelve years before she met with Jesus ( Mark 5:25-29). Click To Read – Open Heaven 2 October 2018

As a matter of fact, she had exhausted all she had without any solution. However, immediately she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment , her issue of blood ceased. Another example of instant restoration is seen in 2 Kings 7:1.

After about three years of terrible famine, Elisha prophesied that there would be a food surplus in Samaria within 24 hours, and it happened as he said. In Matthew 8:3, the moment Jesus touched a leprous fellow who had been in that condition for years, the man became cleansed instantly.

Also, in John 5:1-9 , once the impotent man who had been at the pool of Bathesda for thirty- eight years heard the words of Jesus , he was completely made whole. Just as it happened in all these examples , I pray that whatever you are passing through at the moment will receive immediate attention of heaven, and you will get instant restoration in Jesus’ Name.

Note however that behind every seemingly instantaneous miracle, there has been meticulous obedience, stubborn faith, perseverance, serious fasting and prayers, and sometimes prolonged pain, sorrow and shame.

Open Heaven 4 October 2018

What appeared on the surface as instant restoration did not exactly come easy for Naaman, Joseph, Hannah, and the people of Samaria, Zachariah and  Elisabeth, and several others.

Most of these people pair the price in perseverance, stubborn faith, fasting and prayers, etc. For example, the people of Samaria had to endure a situation where the dung of birds became an expensive delicacy and some women actually ate their own children.

In the case of Zachariah and Elisabeth, they waited for so long that they completely lost any hope of bearing a child. The impotent man at the pool of Bathesda had no hope of restoration after  thirty-eight years of waiting for am opportunity that kept eluding him.

One thing that kept all these people going was perseverance. Perseverance is maintaining your faith in God even in trying times. Every Christian is expected to faithfully endure hardship, persecution and trials.

Through consistent prayers, we are expected to remain steadfast in the face of opposition, attack and discouragement (James 5:13, Ephesians 6:18,). I pray that God will grant you the type of endurance that can whether any of life’s storms without giving up in Jesus’ Name.

Open Heaven 4 October 2018 Prayer Point
Father, please uphold me and see me through every storm of life in Jesus’ Name.

Open Heaven 4 October 2018 Hymn 4

TRUST AND OBEY

1. When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His word
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey

Chorus:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2. Not a shadow can rise,
Not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt nor a fear
Not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

3. Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief nor a loss,
Not a frown nor a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey.

4. But we never can prove
The delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favour He shows,
And the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

5. Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do
Where He sends we will go
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heavens: (Monday, October 1, 2018) – Watch Your Nutrition

1.Thank You, Father, for the salvation of my soul and Your calling, upon my life.

2.Thank You, Father, for the revelation power of the Holy Spirit.

3.Thank You, Father, for Your daily guidance, through the power of Your word.

4.Father, in anyway I have fallen short of your glory, please, have mercy and forgive me, in Jesus’ name.

5.Father, give me the grace to maintain a personal spiritual walk and relationship with You, on a daily basis, in Jesus’ name.

6.Father, redeem and connect me with spirit-led preachers in Jesus’ Name.

7.Father, my spiritual growth is very paramount, let your Word constantly grow me spiritually, in Jesus’ name. Click Here To Read – Open Heaven 2 October 2018

8.Father, fine tune my spiritual antenna to become highly sensitive, in receiving divine information, from above, in Jesus’ name.

9.Father, give me direct revelation, to solve specific, personal, ministerial, corporate and national problems/challenges, as I tarry in Your presence, in Jesus’ name.

10.Father, please, anoint your servants with fresh anointing, in Jesus’ name.

11.Father, increase Your grace, consecration and anointing upon Your son, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, in Jesus’ name.

12.Your Personal petitions.
( Philippians 4:6)
13.In Jesus’ name I pray.
(John 14:13-14; 15:16)
14.Thank you Father for answered prayers.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Open Heaven 2 October 2018 – Refuse to be Hopeless

Open Heaven 2 October 2018 Memorise:
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13

Open Heaven 2 October 2018 Bible Reading –  Ezekiel 37:11-14

11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

Open Heaven 2 October 2018 Bible in one year: Isaiah 28-29, Luke 1:1-25

Hopelessness or despair is a state marked by great difficulty, doubt, desperation, heaviness and embarrassment, causing one to be confounded, to give up hope or to be at a loss on what to do. Shame is also implied, as hopelessness leads to hanging one’s head low in a daze or confusion.

What do you do when life leaves you with no money, no source of livelihood, no food and no place to lay your head? What do you do when there is no way of providing for your family, especially if you have little children?

What do you do when you are faced with medical, financial or physiological problems that seem to defy all solution? What do you do when calamity or devastation comes against you unexpectedly and you have exhausted channels of resolution without respite?

Many in such situations have chosen the dark path that eventually leads to death, either by way of murder or suicide. I pray for anyone who may be passing through difficult times at this moment: the Lord will help you, He will make a wat for you out of your troubles, and you will live to share your testimony with the world in Jesus’ Name.

So much evil comes forth from situations of hopelessness. In 1 Samuel 31:4, after King Saul had been badly wounded, he lost every hope of divine intervention or recovery, and he committed suicide by falling on his sword.

Similarly, in 2 Samuel  17:23, the moment Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed he was filled with shame and embarrassment, so much so that he took his own life. Click To Read – Open Heaven 1 October 2018

After Judas Iscariot had betrayed Jesus, his heart was stricken by guilt, and he hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5). I pray that the type of hopelessness that drove these men to commit suicide will never be your portion in Jesus’ Name.

Open Heaven 2 October 2018

Are you confronted by a hopeless situation, or are you stricken with deep sorrow and pain? I want you to encourage yourself in the Lord your God, just like David did after he lost everything he had ever laboured for (1 Samuel 30:6).

The Almighty is our hope, our salvation and our peace. In your deepest sorrow and greatest moments of despair, please avoid temptation of seeking respite in alcohol, hard drugs or any other mind bending substances.

Always turn to God for help, because you can always count on Him to console you and make a way out of that hopeless situation. I pray that no matter what you are passing through, you will not take any step that will lead to destruction in Jesus’ Name.

Open Heaven 2 October 2018 Prayer Point
Father, please turn every hopeless situation in my life around for good in Jesus’ Name.

Open Heaven 2 October 2018 Hymn 11

O GOD, OUR HELP IN AGES PAST

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth receive her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the
night
Before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

O God. Our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while life
Shall last,
And our external home.

Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heavens: (Sunday, September 30, 2018) – Private and Public Ministry

1.Thank You, Father, for all Your blessings and endowments in my life and destiny.

2.Father, in anyway I have fallen short of your glory, please, have mercy and forgive me, in Jesus’ name.

3.Father, please, give me the grace to handle spiritual matters delicately, in Jesus’ name.

4.Father, let every spirit of spiritual weakness and distraction in my life, be destroyed, in Jesus’ name. Click To Read – Open Heaven 1 October 2018

5.Father, please, anoint me for the task ahead of me, in Jesus’ name.

6.Father, help me to be sensitive to the needs of the less privileged around me; don’t let me wait for them to ask, before I give, in Jesus’ name.

7.Father, equip me for your works, in Jesus’ name.

8.Father, give me the grace to continue, in Jesus’ name.

9.Father, give me the grace to follow, abundant grace to follow You!

10.Father, help me to balance my private and public ministry, in Jesus’ name.

11.Father, reward Pastor E.A. Adeboye, for all his givings and sacrifices, day and night, in Your Kingdom, in Jesus’ name.

12.Your Personal petitions.
( Philippians 4:6)
13.In Jesus’ name I pray.
(John 14:13-14; 15:16)
14.Thank you Father for answered prayers.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18).

RCCG SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER’S MANUAL LESSON FIVE SUNDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER 2018 – THE NEW BIRTH

*SUNDAY SCHOOL HYMN*

*1.* O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
O how I love Thee well,
I am happy, it makes me glad
To rejoice at Thy birth.

*2.* O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Thy friend friendship suits me well,
Both young and old will sing Thy song,
We long for Sunday School.

*3.* O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Christ was Thy first teacher,
The Holy Spirit, great teacher,
Does manifest in thee.

*4.* O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
This testimony is sure,
That God, the Father Almighty,
Poured His blessing on Thee.

*5.* O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Though the sun be so bright,
Or if the clouds be black with rain,
I’ll be in Sunday School.

*6.* O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
I rejoice to see Thee,
Will thou pass over me today?
Without my being blest?

OPENING PRAYERS
Father, let the light of salvation shine in every family and nation of the world.

BIBLE PASSAGE: JOHN 3:1-13.

John:3.1
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

John:3.2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
John:3.3
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John:3.4
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
John:3.5
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
John:3.6
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
John:3.7
“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
John:3.8
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John:3.9
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
John:3.10
Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
John:3.11
“Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.
John:3.12
“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
John:3.13
“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, [that is,] the Son of Man who is in heaven.

MEMORY VERSE : “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

INTRODUCTION:
Simply put, the new birth is the creation of a new life in a man by the Holy Spirit. The new birth also referred to as being born again, is to be born of God with His seed (Christ The Word) dwelling in man. John 3:3, 5; 1John 3:9; 1Peter 1:23). Everyone born of a woman is born unclean. Psalms 51:5. Therefore, to become clean as well as enlist as a member of the family of God, a new birth becomes necessary.

TEXT REVIEW: JOHN 3:1-13-“MYSTERY ABOVE TRIVIALITIES”

The issue of being born again goes beyond the trivialities of re-entering into the mother’s womb and be born as opined by Master Nicodemus. John 3:4. Jesus blamed his ignorance on his perception centered on the process of natural procreation. John 3:4, 9-10.

New birth is a deep truth which cannot be scratched on the surface to unveil. Jesus said, “the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou heareth the sound there of but cannot tell whence it cometh, and wither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit”.

John 3:8.
It is this mystery which made Saul of Tarsus to abandon his deadly mission of binding the early Christians into captivity in Jerusalem. Acts 9:1-5 and later suffered greatly for the same cause he had opposed. 2Cor. 11:23-28. Click To Read – Open Heaven 1 October 2018

It is the same mystery that turned Saul, a one-time servant and enemy of the Church to become a Minister of Christ. 2Cor 11:22-23. The same mystery made a Man of Ethiopia, and Eunuch of Great Authority under Candace Queen of Ethiopia to surrender to the great wisdom with which Apostle Philip (who was lesser by wealth and position to the Eunuch) exposed the mystery of the new birth through Jesus Christ.

Acts 8:28-30. If new birth were to be by wealth or age, the Eunuch might have purchased it with the great wealth he possessed. New birth is by the Spirit. (The spirit said unto Philip) Acts 8:29, 35, 39.
It is an experience which authority or power or wealth or age, education cannot acquire. It is purely spiritual matters which end result is rejoicing. Acts 8:39.

LESSON OUTLINES
1. Reasons for a new birth
2. Steps to a new birth

REASONS FOR A NEW BIRTH
The whole world should experience the new birth because of the following reasons:
(i) Because we were all born sinners. Psalms 51:5, Romans 3:23

(ii) Because the heart of all sinners (un-generated persons) is deceitful and desperately wicked. Jeremiah 17:9.

(iii) Because men’s hearts cannot be tamed like domestic animal through training and secular education. Jeremiah 13:23.

(iv) Because new birth is the only channel through which human beings can live a godly life and have constant fellowship with God while on earth. Psalm 4:3; Galatians 2:20.

(v) Because it is only through new birth human being can make it to heaven. John 3:3-5.

(vi) Because it is only through new birth we can follow peace with all men and be holy to God. Hebrew 12:14; 1Peter 1:16.

CLASS ACTIVITY 1
Every student should mention one thing at least which they use to do which was contrary to God before they had the experience of new birth but which had forthwith ceased.

STEPS TO A NEW BIRTH

The following steps are crucial to experience a new birth:

(i) Hear the word of God. Romans 10:9-10.

(ii) Acknowledge that you are a sinner, helpless and hopeless and that you need the mercy of God. Romans 6:23; 1 Thess. 5:9.

(iii) Believe the word of God. 1 Peter 1:25.

(iv) Believe that God came in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ to save all mankind from their sins. Titus 2:11; John 1:14; Acts 4:12; John 3:16-18.

(v) Confess your sins to God. Romans 10:9-10; 1 John 1:9.

(vi) Genuinely repent of your sins. Acts 2:38; 3:19.

(vii) Accept Jesus as your Lord and savior. John 1:12.

(viii) Request the Lord Jesus to come and dwell in your heart. Revelation 3:20.

Now that you are born again and have become a new creature. 2Cor. 5:17, you must cherish the following truth:

(I) That salvation is by grace. Ephesians 2:4-9.

(ii) Determination to keep/retain the new birth through uprightness is essential. Proverbs 28:18.

(iii) The love and fear of God is paramount. Philippians 2:12.

(iv) “Endurance to the end” is the watch word Matthew 24:13.

CLASS ACTIVITY 2
Students should explain why a regenerated person should endure to the end.

SUMMARY
You must be born again. John 3:3.

CONCLUSION
The new birth is a necessity for all. Without the new birth experience, it is impossible to live godly in this world let alone reigning with Christ in Heaven eternally.

CLOSING PRAYER
Father, don’t let me lose my salvation.

ASSIGNMENT
Write five (5) benefits of new birth.