OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY JANUARY 21ST 2024

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY JANUARY 21ST 2024

THEME: GOD'S BEST FRIENDS III

MEMORISE:

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:10

BIBLE READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:5-9

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

*MESSAGE:*

Many people want to be one of God's best friends so that whenever they ask Him for something, He will do it for them immediately. This is surely one of the benefits of being one of God's best friends, however, those who really become such care more about Him than they care about themselves.

The priorities of a man are known from his prayer points. If your prayers are always selfish, God will not make you one of His best friends. In fact, He will not answer your prayers when they are born out of your lusts (James 4:3).

Those who will be one of God's best friends are people who pray God's prayers and want to partner with Him to establish His will on earth. They are people who say regularly, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." When such people go to pray, they don't go with preconceived prayer points at all times. They make a habit of going into His presence with a burden to hear from Him about what He wants to be done on earth and to pray those things into existence.

Every now and then, God needs someone to stand in the gap for His people, He needs someone to pray about a particular situation so that He can have the legal right to step into that situation. If you are an intercessor, always willing to pray God's will into existence, He will draw you closer to Himself. He will tell you things that He usually doesn't tell others and show you sides of Himself that others don't see - He will even reveal His burdens to you! Only those who are willing to share in God's burdens can become one of His best friends.

In Matthew 26:36-39, Jesus' best friends saw His sorrow; they saw Him in His time of distress at the garden of Gethsemane when He was crying for God to take away the cup from Him and more importantly, to let His will be done. Jesus was the one who invited them to watch with Him; they were His prayer partners.

Can God invite you to watch with Him over a nation, His church or any matter at that? Can you forget all your prayer points and just keep praying for the will of God to be fulfilled like Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane? Do you care more about God than you care about yourself?

PRAYER POINT:

Pray for the body of Christ with specific reference to Christians facing persecution across the world.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

EXODUS 17-20

AUTHOR

PASTOR E A ADEBOYE 

HYMNAL: 20 - STAND UP! STAND UP FOR JESUS

1 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!

  Ye soldiers of the cross;

Lift high His royal banner,

  It must not suffer loss:

From vict’ry unto vict’ry

  His army shall He lead,

Till every foe is vanquished

  And Christ is Lord indeed.

  Stand up for Jesus

Ye soldiers of the cross;

Lift high His royal banner,

  It must not, it must not suffer loss.

2 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!

  The trumpet call obey;

Forth to the mighty conflict

  In this His glorious day.

Ye that are men, now serve Him

  Against unnumbered foes;

Let courage rise with danger.

  And strength to strength oppose.

3 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!

  Stand in His strength alone;

The arm of flesh will fail you;

  Ye dare not trust your own.

Put on the Gospel armor,

  And, watching unto prayer,

Where duty calls, or danger,

  Be never wanting there.

4 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!

  The strife will not be long:

This day the noise of battle,

  The next the victor’s song;

To him that overcometh

  A crown of life shall be;

He, with the King of glory,

  Shall reign eternally.