Open Heaven

 OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

DATE: SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 2025.

TOPIC: AVOID LEAKAGES

MEMORISE

“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” - (Song of Solomon 2:15)

READ: Judges 16:1-21 (KJV)

1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.

11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

MESSAGE

Over the past few days, I have been discussing being filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. If a person can be filled, it then means there is a possibility of being empty. Talking about the possibility of emptiness brings me to the possibility of leakages. There are various ways to empty a container; one is to pour all its content out at once, and another could be to puncture the container so that the content begins to leak until it is totally drained.

Most times, when satan wants to attack a believer who is full of the Holy Spirit, he doesn't launch an all-out attack. The devil is wary of the impact of the anointing; therefore, when he wants to attack such believers, he looks for subtle ways to empty them of the anointing. He looks for little cracks in their lives that he can exploit to cause them to lose the anointing gradually until they become empty - then, he strikes.

Believers who toy with sin will first experience a leakage of the anointing, and if they do not repent, it will ultimately lead to death (Romans 6:23). A believer might still be functioning in the gifts of the Spirit, but if he or she is involved in secret sins, the anointing will begin to leak. The problem with leakage from a container is that the time it is discovered is usually when the remaining content has become too little to be useful or when the container is totally empty; by then, it is already late. When Samson said, "I will arise and go out as before" (Judges 16:20), he didn't know that the anointing had departed from him. The discovery that the anointing is gone often happens when the devil has achieved his goal, and it can only take the special grace of God for the believer to be restored.

...it is high time to awake out of sleep...let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. (Romans 13:11-12)

Beloved, if you have been toying with sin, this is the time to wake up. Those toying with sin are courting destruction. Nobody may know what you are doing in secret, but God knows, and you can be sure that the devil knows too. Solomon spoke about little foxes that spoil vines in today's memory verse. If you have been committing secret sins, please deal with them now before they destroy you. 

KEY POINT

Secret sins will cause a leakage of the anointing and eventually destroy a believer. 

AUTHOR: Pastor E. A. Adeboye 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Jeremiah 18 - 21

HYMN 31 - YIELD NOT TO TEMPTATION

1. Yield not to temptation, 

For yielding is sin; Each victory will help you Some other to win; Fight manfully onward, Dark passions subdue; Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through. 

CHORUS 

Ask the Saviour to help you 

Comfort, strengthen, and keep 

you; He is willing to aid you, 

He will carry you through. 

2. Shun evil companions, 

Bad language disdain; God's name hold in reverence, Nor take it in vain; Be thoughtful and earnest, Kindhearted and true; Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through. 

3. To him that overcometh God giveth a crown; through faith we will conquer, though often cast down; he who is our saviour our strength will renew; look ever to Jesus, he'll carry you through.

The End of the Gospel

The End of the Gospel

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:9–11)

What do we need to be saved from? Verse 9 states it clearly: the wrath of God. “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” But is that the highest, best, fullest, most satisfying prize of the gospel?

No. Verse 10 says “much more . . . shall we be saved by his life.” Then verse 11 takes it all the way up to the ultimate end and goal of the gospel: “more than that, we also rejoice in God.” 

That is the final and highest good of the good news. There is not another “more than that” after that. There is only Paul’s saying how we got there, “through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

The end of the gospel is “we rejoice in God.” The highest, fullest, deepest, sweetest good of the gospel is God himself, enjoyed by his redeemed people. 

God in Christ became the price (Romans 5:6–8), and God in Christ became the prize (Romans 5:11).

The gospel is the good news that God bought for us the everlasting enjoyment of God.

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY AUGUST 09, 2025.

SUBJECT : WHY WE FAST AND PRAY!

Memory verse: "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17 vs 21.)

READ: Luke 2 vs 37; Acts 14 vs 23:

Luke 2:37: And this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Acts 14:23: So when they had appointed them elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

INTIMATION:

A fast is a voluntary abstinence from food or drink or both for the purpose of calling on God to respond to one’s request. It is a period of time when no food or drink was eaten and people approached God in humility, sorrow for sin, and urgent prayer. Fasting, though not a command, is noble and difficult. It gives us time to pray, teaches us self-discipline, reminds us that we can live with a lot less, and helps us appreciate God’s gift. Fasting is both an outward sign of humility and regret for sin, it is a sign of mourning for sin, and an inner discipline that clears the mind and keeps the spirit alert. 

Fasting indicates our seriousness with God. By separating ourselves from the daily routine of food preparation and eating, we could devote that extra time to considering our sin and praying to God for help. Hunger pangs would reinforce our penitence and remind us of our weaknesses and our dependence upon God. Fasting is always helpful as we seek God’s Will in special situations. People often fast during the time of calamity in order to focus their attention on God and to demonstrate their change of heart and their true devotion. 

Fasting is an understood practice of the disciples of Jesus. Jesus said to His disciples, “When you fast,” it is not if the disciples would fast. Fasting is the natural response of those who respond with discipleship to the lordship of Jesus. It is the response of those who depend on God’s work in their lives, for in fasting one is calling on God to respond to his pleas for help. Fasting is done in order to to take one’s mind off the physical needs of the body in order to concentrate on the spiritual needs of the inner man. 

Fasting not only strengthens our self-discipline, it also helps us to focus our attention on the work of God in our lives. The purpose of fasting is to inwardly humble oneself before God in order to proclaim one’s dependence on the work of God in his or her life. In humbling ourselves before God, we manifest our dependence on God in order to plead for His work in our lives. 

Prayer is an expression of one’s most inner feelings of thanksgiving to God and request for His help. In the Bible, prayer is often combine with fasting on the part of the one who prepares his or her mind in prayer. Praying is to speak reverently to God in order to express thanks or make a request. It is earnestly entreating God in sincerity of your intention, always rendered "supplication." Prayer is one of the greatest opportunities given to man by God. It is one of the greatest privileges and ministries available to all Christians. Indeed, everyone who seeks to take his or her place in the Kingdom of God should seek or learn how to pray effectively. 

Fasting and praying are spiritual preparations necessary for seeking the face, and help of God in our journeys of life, especially in situations beyond our control. It also shows our dependence on God for protection and leading, indicative of our faith that God is in control, and our affirmation that by our strength we cannot prevail. When we take time to put God first in any endeavor, we are preparing well for whatever lies ahead. It’s also an indication that we are not taking God’s promises to us for granted. 

God’s blessings are appropriated through prayer, and fasting humbles one because going without food is a reminder of our complete dependence on God. It gives one more time to pray and meditate on God. Prayer and fasting increase the faith of the believers. Therefore, Christians who wants to grow in faith must give themselves to prayer and fasting. 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace and the spirit of supplication, total dependence, loyalty, and complete trust, in You. For I know the thought You think toward me, thought of good and not of evil, to bring me to the expected end. You created me for Your purpose here on earth, and let that purpose, expressed in Your Will for my life, be accomplished in me, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

APPROPRIATION PRAYER FOR OUR SPOUSES !

 APPROPRIATION PRAYER FOR OUR SPOUSES !

-IF SPOUSES WHO ARE JOINED TOGETHER DID NOT BREAK THEIR SPIRITUAL HEDGE NOTHING WILL PUT THEM ASUNDER!

SHALL WE APPROPRIATE ON OUR SPOUSES?

Let’s go oo!

-Thank you Almighty for my spouse, please forgive & have mercy, may my spouse be blessed on daily basis🙏.

-No matter what happens,let our love be stronger & thicker than blood, & we’ll be helping hand to each other🙏.

-May our weaknesses not become stronghold of pulling each other down, we shall not become open door for attacks to each other & our children🙏. -We shall dwell in unity,be an encourager to each other & together we shall bring up our children in Godly way🙏.

-May the Lord protect & provide all your heart’s desires acc to His will for your life 🙏.

-Father God pls expose & disgrace those blocking my spouse’s divine purpose in life.

-May the Lord silence & humiliate your haters,& deliver you from darkness/dangers, & above all,give you joy, peace,& unlimited blessing of all kinds 🙏.

-May God fight your life’s battles & every one who is offering sacrifices of untimely death upon evil altar/ shrine🙏.

-Finally, with all my strength, I shout EPHPHATHA TO every closed door at the edge of breakthrough & decree close door to affliction,weeping,pain,suffering,sickness,& on any sort of problem sent to your life in Jesus name Amen 🙏.

Grace and MARANATHA!!!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY AUGUST 08, 2025.

SUBJECT : PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!

Memory verse: "Pray without ceasing.” (First Thessalonians 5 vs 17.)

READ: Luke 18 vs 1 - 8:

18:1: Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray, and not to lose heart,

18:2: saying, “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

18:3: Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’

18:4: And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 

18:5: yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.”

18:6: Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.

18:7: And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry day and night to Him, though He bear long with them?

18:8: I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?”

INTIMATION:

Prayer brings us before God in communion with Him. Humbly being at all times in the presence of God is the secret to continual triumph of the believer, hence the reason to pray at all times. Though we cannot spend all our times on our knees, but it is possible to have a prayerful attitude at all times. 

Emphasis here is not on a continued action of prayer, but on a continued attitude of prayer. This attitude is built upon acknowledging our dependence on God, realizing His presence within us, and determining to obey Him fully. Then, we will find it natural to pray frequent, spontaneous, and short prayers. In other words, the Christian should be in a state of mind that he can at all times take part in the action of praying to the Father. 

It is the desire of the Father that His children approach Him in prayer. Prayer is the natural response of those who recognize their need for the help of God in their lives. To persist in prayer does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Jesus’ lesson in the passage we read today is that if an unrighteous and unconcerned judge would act upon the persistent requests of a pleading woman, then certainly the persistent pleas of the righteous to a concerned, loving, and merciful God would attract His response to the pleas of the righteous. Consistent prayer means keeping our requests continually before God as we live for Him day by day, believing He will answer. 

Faith is essential to prayer. Faith is the recognition of the faithfulness of God, and engenders our committing ourselves and our matters to Him. Sometimes you think that God will not hear you because you have fallen short of His high standards for holy living, but if you have faith, and have trusted Him for salvation, you should know that God has forgiven us and He will listen to us. When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but His delays always have good reasons. Faith shouldn't die if the answers come slowly, for delay is not denial, and that may be God's way of working His Will. As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith, and hope.

God not only welcomes us in prayer, He is waiting for us to pray. The godly—those who are faithful and devoted to God—should know that God is waiting for them to approach Him in prayer and should be confident that God listens to their prayers and answers at His own time (which is usually the best timing). Some other times you grow tired of praying because it seems God is not answering you, but a Christian's persistence in prayer is an expression of faith that God answers prayer. Always be confident, and know that God is present, always listening, and always answers in the best ways known to Him, and unknown to us.

A praying attitude is not a substitute to regular times of prayer, but should be an outgrowth of those times. Too often we pray glibly and superficially. Serious prayer, by contrast, requires concentration. It puts us in touch with God’s Will and can really change us. Without serious prayer, we reduce God to a quick-service pharmacist with painkillers for your every ailment. However, the Holy Spirit, being the sole interpreter of the needs of the human heart, makes His intercession therein. Inasmuch as prayer is impossible to man apart from His help (Romans 8 vs 26), believers are exhorted to pray at all seasons in the Spirit (Ephesians 6 vs 18; Jude 20). 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace for persistent prayer, as a demonstration of my absolute faith, and dependence on You in all things, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Ruler of All Nature

 

Ruler of All Nature

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:33)

In modern language we would say, “The dice are rolled on the table, and every play is decided by God.” 

In other words, there are no events so small that he does not rule them for his purposes. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” Jesus said. “And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:29–30). 

Every roll of the dice in Las Vegas, every tiny bird that falls dead in a thousand forests — all of this is God’s command. 

In the book of Jonah, God commands a fish to swallow a man (1:17), he commands a plant to grow for shade (4:6), and he commands a worm to kill it (4:7). 

And far above the life of fish and worms, the stars take their place and hold their place at God’s command. 

Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing. (Isaiah 40:26)

How much more, then, the natural events of this world — from weather to disasters to disease to disability to death.

His law he enforces;

the stars in their courses

and sun in its orbit obediently shine;

the hills and the mountains,

the rivers and fountains,

the deeps of the ocean

proclaim him divine.

(“Let All Things Now Living,” Katherine Davis)

Let us therefore stand in awe and be at peace, knowing that no natural event is outside of God’s wise and good purposes, and perfect control.

Open Heaven

 

*OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL* *DATE: THURSDAY AUGUST 7TH 2025* *TOPIC: OVERFLOW WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT I* *MEMORIZE:* “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:4 (KJV) *BIBLE READING: ACTS 2:1-18* 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: *MESSAGE:* When people are filled with alcohol, they become drunk. God, however, does not want this for His children; rather, He wants them to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were so full of the Holy Spirit that those who saw them thought they were drunk. In truth, they were overflowing with heavenly wine called the Holy Spirit. Drunk people don't see things the way others do. A drunk can look at a refuse heap and see a majestic bed. Likewise, when someone is filled with the Holy Spirit, he or she can look at a crippled man and see him running about. When I moved to the campground that has now become Redemption City, my colleagues at the university thought I had gone crazy. They saw a jungle, but I was seeing a city. Now, everyone can see the city that I saw some decades ago. Drunk people are not in control of their actions; they do whatever the alcohol influences them to do. If it influences them to sleep on a highway, they will gladly do so without thinking of the dangers involved. Likewise, when you're drunk with the Holy Spirit, you're no longer in control of your life. You will go wherever He asks you to go and do whatever He asks you to do. You won't argue with Him when He tells you to do something. I believe you haven't been taken over by the wine of the Holy Spirit if you still struggle with obeying God's instructions. Before Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he could do whatever he wanted; at one time, he even denied Jesus. However, when the Holy Spirit came upon him on the day of Pentecost, he started preaching the gospel and never stopped until God called him home. One time, when some people threatened him not to speak about Jesus, he boldly responded, "We cannot but speak of the things we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). Despite the persecutions he faced, he refused to stop speaking about Jesus. Drunkards are never satisfied with a previous day's drunkenness, so they return to the bottle daily. When you are filled until you overflow with the Holy Spirit, you will keep returning for more. The more He fills you, the more you will want Him, and the more of Him you have, the more your life will overflow with His miraculous power. Beloved, ask God to fill you with His Spirit every day. *ACTION POINT:* Ask God for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit every day. *BIBLE READING IN ONE YEAR: JEREMIAH 12 - 14* *AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE* *HYMNAL 8 - I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR* 1. I need thee every hour most gracious Lord; No tender voice like thine can peace afford. CHORUS I need thee, oh, I need thee; every hour I need thee! Oh, bless me now my saviour; I come to thee! 2. I need thee every hour, stay thou near by; Temptations lose their power when thou art nigh. 3. I need thee every hour in joy or pain; Come quickly and abide or life is vain. 4. I need Thee every hour Teach me Thy will; And Thy rich promises In me fulfill. 5. I need Thee every hour, Most Holy one; Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son!