OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL DATE: SATURDAY AUGUST 17TH 2024

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE: SATURDAY AUGUST 17TH 2024

TOPIC: PRAYER CONTAMINANTS

MEMORISE:
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” – (Proverbs 18:21)

READ: PROVERBS 18:20-21 (KJV)

20 A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

MESSAGE:
Certain things can contaminate our prayers, such that they weaken our prayers and their possible results. One such thing is speaking words that are against what we are praying for. When you pray about your country, for example, and later join others in saying that nothing good can come out of that same country, you have contaminated your prayer already.

Don’t pray for God to give life to something and then turn around to speak death into that same thing; you will not get results from such a prayer. Joel 3:10 says, “Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’” In other words, if you have prayed for strength, but can still see traces of weakness in you, at that point, say, “I am strong”. As your words go in line with your prayers, they will remain potent enough to deliver the results you seek. When you pray about something, it is important that your words and thoughts agree with your prayer. This way, you will not stand in the way of the answer to your prayer.

Another thing that contaminates prayers is a lack of concentration while praying. This is when people pray, but their hearts are not in the prayer. Rather, their minds are occupied with other things. The devil knows that if your mind is distracted while praying, your prayer will not carry as much power as it should. Therefore, whenever you decide to pray, he will begin to remind you of things you are yet to do and places that you ought to have gone to. His plan is to occupy your mind with other things so that you will become distracted and lose your concentration as you pray. Whenever you find your mind wandering while praying, write down the things that you ought to have done, put the note aside, and continue to pray. Train your mind to keep all distractions away, and don’t give room for them to disturb your connection to God in the place of prayer. With time, as you continually train your mind, you will get good at focusing on only God while praying.

KEY POINT:
If you want your prayers to remain potent and powerful enough to deliver results, make sure they are not contaminated.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JEREMIAH 47-48

AUTHOR PASTOR E A ADEBOYE

HYMNAL: 3 – ANCIENT WORDS

1 Holy words long preserved
for our walk in this world,
They resound with God’s own heart;
Oh, let the ancient words impart.

2 Words of life, words of hope
give us strength, help us cope;
In this world where’er we roam
ancient words will guide us home.

Chorus:
Ancient words ever true,
changing me and changing you;
We have come with open hearts,
oh let the ancient words impart.

3 Holy words of our faith
handed down to this age,
Came to us through sacrifice;
Oh, heed the faithful words of Christ. (chorus)

4 Martyr’s blood stains each page,
they have died for this faith;
Hear them cry through the years;
Heed these words and hold them dear. (chorus)