OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL…. Date: Tuesday 12th January 2016

Theme: Genuine Praise and Worship: A Path to
Prosperity
Memorise:
“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he
addeth no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22
Read: 2Chronicles 20: 24-26
24 And when Judah came toward the watch
tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the
multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies
fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came
to take away the spoil of them, they found
among them in abundance both riches with the
dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they
stripped off for themselves, more than they could
carry away: and they were three days in
gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
26 And on the fourth day they assembled
themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there
they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the
same place was called, The valley of Berachah,
unto this day.
Message:
Yesterday, we considered genuine praise and
worship as a path to victory, today we want to
consider prosperity: the genuine praise and
worship.
“And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to
take away the spoil of them, they found among
them in abundance both riches with the dead
bodies and precious jewels, which they stripped
off for themselves, more than they could carry
away; and they were three days in gathering of
the spoil, it was so much.”
2 Chronicles 20:25
When God tells you that He would prosper you,
don’t insult Him by asking “how?” This is
because while you do not have one way that can
lead you to your prosperity, God has uncountable
ways. All you need is to believe and obey Him
(John 11:40). Is it not amazing, if not unusual,
for the soldiers in our bible reading to go to
battle with precious jewels and costly outfits as
if they were going for wedding ceremonies? The
reason for this was that God had determined to
bless His people, because He knew from onset
that His people would praise and bless the
beauty of His holiness, so He prepared their
compensation beforehand! Another lesson we
must learn from this story is that our praise and
worship must be Holy Spirit inspired; it must not
be offered from our carnal man. The way we
sometimes sing God’s praise confirms that these
songs are carnally motivated: not seasoned with
grace. It would have been acceptable if we were
singing it to praise men like secular musicians
do. Unfortunately, the One we claim to be
praising is a spirit; He knows everything.
“ But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and
in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship
Him. God is a spirit: and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” John
4:23-24
Moreover, the Almighty demands our praise and
worship of Him. He is also prepared to bless our
obedience to this divine mandate. In other
words, if we deny Him the praise that He is
worthy of, He will also deny us the prosperity
that we can so easily get. I once visited a
relation with the aim of blessing him with a
certain amount of money, but changed my mind
because he failed to give me a modest
hospitality according to our custom. When I left
his house, I used about 5% of the money I should
have given him to buy the soft drink he should
have entertained me with. He lost 100% because
he did not host me with 5%. Let us cultivate the
habit of giving God abundant praise and worship
and He will bless us with abundant prosperity.
Action Point:
Throughout today, worship God in truth, in spirit
and in holiness as you go about your daily
buisiness.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 4:32-6:25,
Job2:7-3:2
AUTHOR : Pst E.A. ADEBOYE