OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL BY PASTOR.E.A.ADEBOYE, 20/05/2017

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE: SATURDAY MAY 20TH 2017

THEME: HOW OFTEN DO YOU FAST? 

Memorise:

In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and unclothedness. 2 Corinthians 11:27

Read: Matthew 6:16-18

16:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

16:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

16:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Message:

One of my sons was travelling with me for the very first time sometime ago, and after we had been together for two days he asked me, “Daddy, why do you pray so much?” he said he observed that before we left the room, we prayed; when we got into the car, we prayed; on arrival at our destination, we prayed; when we entered the venue of the programme, we prayed; on arrival at the lodging place, we prayed; also when he peeped to check on me, he still saw me on my knees. Well, I pray a lot because prayer is an activity we are commanded to always engage in (1 Thessalonians 5:17). How often do you pray? Do you use every available opportunity to pray?

Apart from prayer, another spiritual activity you should regularly engage in to keep you spiritually fit and growing is fasting. Some people believe that doing a long fast for 30days or 100days is sufficient for a year. While this is a good spiritual exercise, there is still the need to continue fasting in the course of the year. When the Lord addressed the question of why His disciples were not fasting often like those of John the Baptist, here is what He said in Luke 5:34:

“And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?”

Since the Master has been received into glory, it is clear from His words that we now are expected to fast often. Some people fast for a short period at a stretch and thereafter they want to feast for the rest of the year. This is not good enough. A better practice is to find or create some time monthly or better still weekly to engage in fasting. Fasting was not strange to the patriarchs of old. Fasting does you so much good spiritually, so it should be a part of your lifestyle. You can live a fasted life. While detailing his experience in life, Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:27 said that fasting was a reoccurring activity in his Christian life:
“In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and unclothedness.”

Most people who find it difficult to fast simply have a problem with discipline. They are so used to eating that they cannot sacrifice a few meals to seek God’s face. Anyone who cannot control his or her appetite may remain enslaved to the body. Fasting helps to subdue or break the controlling power that the weaknesses and desires of your body have over you.

Action Point:

Stop talking about your plan to fast, just go ahead and fast. You can start with one day per week.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Deuteronomy 33-34
Jeremiah 32:36-44 

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 6: DEEPER, DEEPER 

1. Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.

Refrain:
Oh, deeper yet, I pray,
And higher every day,
And wiser, blessed Lord,
In Thy precious, holy Word.

2. Deeper, deeper, blessed Holy Spirit,
Take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,
And His perfect will.
[Refrain]

3. Deeper, deeper! though it cost hard trials,
Deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
Let me fruitful grow.
[Refrain]

4. Deeper, higher, every day in Jesus,
Till all conflict past,
Finds me conqu’ror, and in His own image
Perfected at last.
[Refrain]


5. Deeper, deeper in the faith of Jesus,
Holy faith and true;
In His pow’r and soul exulting wisdom
Let me peace pursue.
[Refrain].

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR PASSAGES
Deuteronomy: 33. 1. And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2. And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. 3. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. 4. Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. 5. And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together. 6. Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few. 7. And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies. 8. And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; 9. Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. 10. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. 11. Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again. 12. And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders. 13. And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, 14. And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, 15. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, 16. And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. 17. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. 18. And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar, in thy tents. 19. They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand. 20. And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head. 21. And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel. 22. And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan. 23. And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south. 24. And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil. 25. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. 26. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. 27. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. 28. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. 29. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. -

Deuteronomy: 34. 1. And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, 2. And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, 3. And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. 4. And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. 5. So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 7. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. 8. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. 10. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11. In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12. And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel. 

Jeremiah: 32. 36. And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; 37. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: 38. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: 39. And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. 42. For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. 43. And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. 44. Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.