OPEN HEAVEN DEVOTIONAL DATE: THURSDAY JUNE 16TH 2022

OPEN HEAVEN DEVOTIONAL

DATE: THURSDAY JUNE 16TH 2022

THEME: DON’T INTERFERE WITH GOD’S PLAN

MEMORISE:
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

READ:
Matthew 26:39 -42
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

MESSAGE:
Occasionally, what God has for your life may contradict everything you want, but He is your manufacturer, He made you for a certain purpose and whether you believe it or not, fulfilling that purpose is the best thing that can ever happen to you. When my Father-in-the-Lord mentioned to me, after he returned from a trip to Israel, that God told him to ordain me, my wife and I fasted for fourteen days, praying that God would not let that happen. At that time, my monthly salary was more than the entire income of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. I had just escaped poverty and I did not want to go back to it. Today, I thank God that He didn’t answer that prayer – not because of prosperity, but because of the joy of seeing how many people are blessed. There are certain things money cannot buy. Don’t interfere with God’s plan for your life, let His will be done. Be like David who said in Psalm 31:15:

*My times are in thy hand…*

Don’t interfere with God’s plan for your children. You may have plans for your child, but you must recognize that you did not make him or her – God did and He had a purpose for bringing that child into the world. Why don’t you pray and ask God what His plan for your child is? You can then guide the child correctly in fulfilling God’s purpose for his or her life. I know of a person whose mother said, “My child must be an engineer”. The boy spent several years in the Faculty of Engineering and just kept on failing, so he was asked to withdraw. He then decided to transfer to another faculty. His mother insisted that if he could not be an engineer, he should be an architect, so he moved to architecture. The boy kept on saying he wanted to be an artist, but the mother insisted that an architect also draws. He spent more than 8 years in the university and left with nothing.

Don’t interfere with God’s plan – either for yourself or your children. Don’t let those childhood dreams of yours that you could not fulfil dictate what your child should become. Don’t let your desire to boast amongst your friends dictate the destiny of your child; let God and God alone determine what that child will become. Ask God for His plan for that child and don’t interfere with it.

PRAYER POINT:
Father, my times and those of my children are in your hands, Lord. Do with us as you please and help us to fulfill your plans for our lives in Jesus name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 40-42

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 28: HYMN 28: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD
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.

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

2 Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.

3 But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.

4 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.