Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heavens: (Friday, November 16, 2018) – Worship Does It

1.Thank You, Father, for bringing me out of the darkness of this world, into Your marvellous light in Christ Jesus.

2.Thank You, Father, for placing me under the peaceful and progressive government of the counsellor of counsellors, the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

4.Father, give me the grace and might to worship you all the remaining days of my life, in Jesus’ Name.

5.Father, I worship the beauty of Your Holy name. You’re greater than the greatest.

6.Father, give me a submissive, teachable and obedient spirit, in Jesus’ name.

7.Father, give me wisdom, knowledge and an excellent spirit, that will enable me save souls and bring perfect solution to the myriads of problems, confronting, the world and individuals, today, in Jesus’ name.

8.Gentle holy spirit, I acknowledge that your knowledge is beyond mine: I therefore yield to your counsel in all my ways. Please lead me to the place of heaven’s rest in Jesus’ Christ.

9.Father, please, help me to live through today, without committing a single sin, in Jesus’ name.

10.Father, let every step and decision that I will take from now on, be guided and informed from Your throne of grace, in Jesus’ name.

11.Father, please, continue to confirm the words of Your son, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, and perform his counsels, 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)

Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heavens: (Thursday, November 15, 2018) – Glory Not In Self

1.Thank You, Father, for my yesterday, for my today, and for all that You have in store for me, tomorrow.

2.Thank You, for Your grace and mercy, and for granting me a new beginning, in all areas of my endeavours.

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

4.Father, I receive my new dawn of joy, victory, breakthrough and a perfect walk with You, in Jesus’ name.

5.Father, let every siege over my life, destiny, family, finances, business, marriage, academics, ministry and nation, be terminated today, in Jesus’ name.

6.Father, please, do a new thing in my life, let it show forth, and let the whole world gather to celebrate with me, in Jesus’ name.

7.Father, please remove every trace of self-glory in me, in Jesus’ name.

8.Father, let all my outstanding blessings for this year, still hanging in the air, be released unto me now, in Jesus’ name.

9.Father, please help me to never deceive myself into thinking and believing in a false idea of me, in Jesus’ name.

10.Father, please, help me to live through today, without committing a single sin, in Jesus’ name.

11.Father, let the power of the Holy communion, bring, continued victory, favour and success, upon Your son, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, and his entire household and ministry, 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 16 November 2018 Memorize: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship their Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. John 4:23

Open Heaven 16 November 2018 Bible Reading: Mathew 15:21-28 (KJV)

21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Open Heaven 16 November 2018 Bible in one year: Ezekiel 8:10, Luke 22:39-62, Hymnal: sing Hymn 1

Anyone who has a revelation of what worship does to true and genuine worshippers is blessed indeed. The story in today’s Bible text reveals the practical impact of worship.

In that story, our Lord Jesus Christ was approached for help by a Syro-Phoenician woman whose daughter was grievously possessed by a demon. The Bible says He did not pay any attention to her, and so His disciples advised that He should just send her away.

However, instead of sending her away, Jesus opened the door of opportunity to dialogue with her and bring her to the saving knowledge of the God of Israel.

He said,”I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” This was the hint this woman needed to turn the situation around. On hearing this, she did something which is the focus of our reflection today. Matthew 15:25 says:

” Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.”

This action by the Syros-Phoenician woman ensured that Jesus continued to hear her. In their ensuing dialogue, she demonstrated persistent faith which the Lord’s anointing could not resist. Jesus commended her faith which was borne out of spiritual humility, saying to her:

”O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” Matthew 15:28b

There are many lessons to learn from this story, but central to these lessons is the art of worship. We should always remember that all men are the same before God, and the purpose of their existence is to worship their Maker.

Whether mankind likes it or not, a day is coming when we shall all worship before God. Speaking concerning this, Psalms 86:9 says:

”All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.”

Our memory verse reveals that the Father seeks those who worship Him. Beloved, worship does what no other thing can do in the place of prayer.

What can anyone do that could make God do what He wouldn’t have done otherwise? The answer is worship. David worshipped God and God established a dynasty for him. Also Read – Open Heaven 15 November 2018

His son worshipped God through unprecedented sacrifice and got more than he bargained for (1st Kings 3:4-13). The Gyro-Phoenician woman worshipped Jesus Christ and a dog outside the kingdom became a child of the kingdom.

As a matter of fact, some dogs worship their owners and eventually eat from their master’s table! Beloved, I want to encourage you to always engage in genuine worship, and you will be amazed by the great breakthrough you will begin to experience.

Open Heaven 16 November 2018 Prayer Point:  spend quality time worshiping God today and see how he will rise on your behalf.

Open Heaven 16 November 2018 Hymn 1

My Faith looks up to thee

Verse 1:

My faith looks up to thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine;
Now hear me while I pray;
Take all my guilt away.
O let me from this day
Be wholly thine!

Verse 2:

May thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire.
As thou hast died for me,
O may my love to thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be,
A living fire!

Verse 3:

While life’s dark maze I tread
And griefs around me spread,
Be thou my guide;
Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
From thee aside.

Verse 4:

When life’s swift race is run,
Death’s cold work almost done,
Be near to me.
Blest Savior, then, in love
Fear and distrust remove.
O bear me safe above,
Redeemed and free!

OPEN HEAVEN 15 NOVEMBER 2018 MEMORISE:
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Matthew 23:12

OPEN HEAVEN 15 NOVEMBER 2018 BIBLE READING: Isaiah 14:12-17, Luke 18:10-13

Isaiah 14:12-17
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Luke 18:10-13
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

To glory in self is to exalt one’s own worth above what it really is. It is the act of perceiving yourself as overly important.

A person who glories in self is a person who thinks he stands on his own merits and by his own power. This is the reason why the father of lies, Satan, was cast down from heaven.

Indeed, Satan is a classic example of someone who gloried in self. He exalted himself above what he really was, and he started to think of himself as better than everyone else, including God.

Glorying in self has its roots in self-deception; it starts when a man deceives himself into thinking and believing in a false idea of himself.

Glorying in self might not be obvious at first. It is a very dangerous character flaw that sometimes creep in on children of God until it leads them to doom. Also read – Open Heaven 14 November 2018

What then are the signs that a person glories in self? One indicator is when you feel the need to parade in public what should and can be done in private. This was one of the issues Jesus had with the Pharisees.

They would rather pray in public than pray behind closed doors, and when they fasted, they ensure that it showed on their faces, just so that everyone knew they were fasting.

Even today, some people ensure that every good thing they do is done from the rooftops, so that people will see and praise them. In addition, people who glory in self tend to talk about themselves a lot.

This is majorly because they feel the need to constantly list out their accomplishments and achievements.

They are always quick to say “I” even when “we” is the approximate thing to say. People who glory in self honestly feel that they are better than everyone else.

Luke 18:10-13 shows a clear difference between a self-glorying person and a humble person.

When humble people see themselves as needing God’s grace and mercy, self-glorying people think that their actions are perfect enough to dignify them before God and man.

A self-glorying person will never get anything from God. Only a person who recognises his or her need for God’s help and asks for it will get it.

Glorying in self is very dangerous because at the end if the day, every single thing that the person thinks he or she has accomplished will be taken away, and shame, disappointment and humiliation will be the portion of such a fellow.

OPEN HEAVEN 15 NOVEMBER 2018 PRAYER POINT – Father, please remove every trace of self-glory in me.

OPEN HEAVEN 15 NOVEMBER 2018 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Ezekiel 5-7, Luke 22:14-38
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 10: MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE

VERSE 1
My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Saviour divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
Take all my guilt away,
Oh, let me from this day
Be wholly Thine!

VERSE 2
May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me,
Oh, may my love to Thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be,
A living fire!

VERSE 3
While life’s dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread,
Be Thou my guide;
Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.

VERSE 4
When ends life’s transient dream,
When death’s cold, sullen stream
Shall o’er me roll;
Blest Saviour, then in love,
Fear and distrust remove;
Oh, bear me safe above,
A ransomed soul!