Open Heaven 11 May 2023

Open Heaven Topic:

DIVINE HELP II

Memory Verse:

Isaiah 41:10 – (KJV) Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Bible Reading:

2 Kings 5:1-14 (NIV)

1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.

3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.

5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.

6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.

10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”

14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Open Heaven 11 May 2023 Message

The help of God usually comes from unexpected sources like in our Bible reading for today.

You might be thinking that help would come from a particular place and then it comes from a completely unexpected source.

God can send help to you from anywhere because He owns the world and its fullness (Psalm 24:1). The Bible tells us in Exodus 17:1-6 that God brought water out of the rock, meaning that He can send help from the most unexpected sources.

Don’t think of how God will help you; just know that He will do it.

When I was to move into my first house at the Redemption Camp in 1985 – now known as The Open Heavens International Centre, it didn’t have any doors or windows and I wanted to move in before October 1.

That weekend, we had a School of Disciples meeting and I could have easily raised the needed N50 from my students, since they were more than fifty in number.

To me however, that would have been begging. When God called me to ministry, He told me that He would be my source.

I just told them, “I need a miracle”. They all prayed for me and left. The following Sunday there was this young lady who came to my office and gave me money that she had been saving so that she could travel abroad.

I accepted the money, prayed for her and she left. When I opened the envelope, it was the exact amount that I needed.

One Sunday, I saw this young girl again, gorgeously dressed. She explained that she had just returned from London.

Her friend’s parents took her abroad on holidays with them, as their daughter had refused to go without her.

They paid all her expenses and gave her a shopping allowance. God used that girl to meet my need, then He used her friend’s parents to meet her own need.

You don’t need to calculate how God will send help to you; just tell Him what you need and trust Him. Whatsoever you may need help for right now, God will send it to you in unexpected ways, in Jesus’ name.

Open Heaven Hymn:

Rock Of Ages, Cleft For Me

Open Heaven Prayer Points:

Father, I don’t know how You will help me, but please send help to me, Lord.

Bible in one year:

2 Chronicles 12, 2 Chronicles 13, 2 Chronicles 14, 2 Chronicles 15, 2 Chronicles 16