OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL DATE : FRIDAY 3rd JULY 2015.......

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE : FRIDAY 3rd JULY 2015
THEME : PRAYER CAN SUBDUE PEOPLE
Memorise:
He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our
feet. Psalm 47:3
Read: Genesis 32:6-12 & 33:4,
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy
brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred
men with him.
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the
people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the
camels, into two bands;
8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then
the other company which is left shall escape.
9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my
father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy
country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the
truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I
passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the
hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and
the mother with the children.
12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed
as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
33:4
4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his
neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
Message
When Jacob was told that his brother, Esau, who had sworn to kill
him, was coming to meet him with four hundred men, he was
justifiably afraid and distressed. However, he prayed to God for
deliverance, reminding Him of His covenant with his father.
Several things happened to Jacob as a result of this prayer. After
he prayed, God changed his name from Jacob to Israel (Genesis
32:28).
Prayer can rename a situation or an individual, and it can also
terminate the regime of an evil era induced by a bad name. When
prayer ends a bad name, there will no longer be any reason to call
the fellow by the former name.
God told Jacob “From today, nobody will call you that name
again.” As soon as He said it, every reproach the name had
attached to him was completely erased. Royalty took over from
there.
From today, you shall no longer be called barren! You shall no
longer move around in circles. You shall no longer labour without
receiving a commensurate harvest. From today, sorrow, tears and
disappointment have ended in your life!
Beside this, prayer gave Jacob power with God and helped him
prevail over the anger of his brother.
To subdue impossible human beings, you need power with God.
The extent to which you can control men will be determined by
the power you have with God, because it’s God who subdues men
under you (Psalm 47:3).
Whenever you pray intensely from your heart, power is produced.
The power that prayer generates can be channelled towards
achieving any goal.
When you pray effectively concerning your business, the power to
succeed in it is released to you. If you are struggling in your
studies, you need to pray intensely, and the power to enable you
all that you should do to succeed in your academics will be
released.
Acts 1:8 declares that when the Holy Spirit comes, power comes
with Him. When you pray in the Holy Ghost with your heart,
power comes. This power may come in the form of understanding
difficult subjects you are studying, wisdom to relate with
subordinates in such a manner that garners their support to
enable you succeed in your assignment or ministry, and so on.
Prayer also helps you to be victorious over men. Are people rising
up against you? Pray! As you pray, they will be subdued. Is
anyone threatening your life like Esau did to Jacob? Pray, and the
Lord will subdue them.
Action Point:
One weapon every leader requires to keep the loyalty of their
subjects and subordinates is prayer. Pray that God will keep those
under you faithful to your righteous cause.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : 1 CHRONICLES 12:14 and LUKE 16:14-31
AUTHOR : Pst E. A ADEBOYE