OPEN HEAVENS PRAYER

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL

DATE: SATURDAY MARCH 11TH 2023

THEME: COMMITMENT BEGETS COMMITMENT

MEMORISE:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Matthew 22:37

READ: Genesis 22:1-18
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

MESSAGE:
Many years ago, when The Redeemed Christian Church of God was much smaller, one of my daughters-in-the-Lord told me, Daddy, you must be at my wedding”. I laughed and said, Okay, let’s look through my diary for a free date”. We looked through the Saturdays for the rest of that year and even the one after, but could only find one free in July the next year. She said, “Glory be to God; that is the date of my wedding”. The next year came and my mother died in July, while l was in London on an assignment and because l hadn’t written the lady’s marriage appointment in my calendar, my wife saw that Saturday free in my calendar and said, “Yes, this is when we will bury Mama”.

I loved my mother very much – l am her last born and only son, but because of how committed this lady was to having me at her wedding, l couldn’t let her down. There was no other free day so l decided that we would do the funeral on Friday so that l could attend the wedding on Saturday.

When God sees a committed fellow, when He sees someone that will do anything to fulfil His will, He will also be committed to that person. Abraham’s heart was totally committed to God – so committed that he was willing to sacrifice his son just to fulfil God’s will. That is why God was so committed to blessing him, even to the extent of swearing thus, “…By myself have l sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son…” (Genesis 22:16).

Some people at not even committed to paying just 10% of their income to God as tithe and they want Him to be committed to their financial success. Some Church workers are not committed enough to the work of God so they either go late or miss workers’ meetings yet they want God to be committed to their businesses. Some Pastors hardly fast and pray for the work that God has put in their hands, yet they want God to be committed to the growth of the ministry. He can see your level of commitment and He is using it to weigh His commitment to you as well.

REFLECTION:
Are you as committed to God as you want Him to be to you?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Joshua 21-22

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

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 endless praise,
let them flow in endless 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.