OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - TUESDAY 13/08/2013 - PRAYER IS KEY BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

PRAYER IS KEY

MEMORY VERSE

And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

Genesis 32:26

READ

Genesis 32:24-30

Genesis 32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

Genesis 32:25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

Genesis 32:26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

Genesis 32:27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Genesis 32:29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

Genesis 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

MESSAGE

Apart from making sacrifices and sowing seeds, another step you must take to enter your next level is prayer. You need to pray because it is only God who can bring you from the past to the present and take you from the present to the future. He is the One who is totally in charge of the elements of time and chance that are required to move you to your next level (Ecclesiastes 9:11). 

John 15:5 says:

"without God, we can do nothing. "

If you look at the lives of patriarchs of old, you would see the role prayer played. Abraham and Isaac were great intercessors and Jacob too was a prayer warrior. After wasting several years, it got to a point that he realised he could no longer continue without prayer; so he tarried in God's presence and wrestled with God until his name was changed and his destiny was released. Do you realise that if he had refused to breakthrough in prayers, he could have been shut out of the destiny that had been earlier prophesied about him? Many people who claim to know Jesus are still separated from their next level because they have refused not just to pray but to pray through. What is the essence of praying without getting results?

Looking back in retrospect, I can tell you that my father-in-the-Lord Pa Akindayomi was a seasoned prayer champion. Many years ago, Baba came to visit me in Ilesa (south-west Nigeria). Then, I lived in a small house on the outskirts of the town and the toilet was outside the house. When I was going to bed that evening, Baba was on his kneels praying. I woke up at night to go to toilet and he was still praying. On rising up the following morning, Baba was still praying. I became afraid and began to wonder how I could cope with a man like him. I also wondered what he was praying about, but today I know better. Are you really keen on entering your next level? Then you cannot afford to ignore prevailing prayers. Arise today and hold on to the Lord in prayers until your answer is delivered.

PRAYER POINT

Father, help me to pray my way through to my next levels.