OUR PRAYERS AND WORSHIP

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES WEDNESDAY 10TH NOVEMBER

OUR PRAYERS AND WORSHIP BY PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME.

And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne (Revelation 8:3).

When you study the Book of Revelation, one of the many beautiful things you find is the power and spiritual import of our prayers and worship. Revelation 15:8, for example, describes something remarkable as revealed to John: it says, “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.”

This parallels what we read in the Old Testament when the priests entered into the temple built by Solomon. The Bible says when they began to sing and worship God with the instruments of music, the glory of God filled the house, that even the priests couldn’t stand to minister by reason of the cloud of God’s glory (2 Chronicles 5:14).

Our prayers and worship in the earth have great impact in heaven. When we pray, when we worship, how does God see it? We’re actually offering spiritual sacrifices. The Bible says, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints” (Revelation 5:8).

When you’re praying here in the earth, it’s not a mere religious routine; it goes to Heaven as incense. That’s what David meant when he said, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2). David, being a prophet, had a revelation of the future. He saw that our prayers and sacrifices and the lifting up of our hands would replace these incense and sacrifices of the Old Testament.

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OUR PRAYERS AND WORSHIP...

Our theme verse says there’s an altar—a temple— in heaven, upon which the angel offers his incense, alongside the incense of our own prayers. How amazing that is! So, when you’re praying and worshipping the Lord, it’s important that you understand the spiritual significance of what you’re engaged in and do it with faith, hope and love. Praise God!

CONFESSION
I lift my hands today in worship to the great God of glory, who has lavished His love on me and beautified my life with splendour. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might, be unto our God forever and ever! Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY
Revelation 8:3-4; Hebrews 13:15; Revelation 5:8

1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Hebrews 9:11-28 & Lamentations 3-5
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
John 11:14-23 & 1 Chronicles 10

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ALL WRAPPED IN THE WORD.

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES MONDAY 8TH NOVEMBER.

ALL WRAPPED IN THE WORD BY PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name (Psalm 138:2).

In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself through various names to the children of Israel. Generation after generation, they recognized Him with those names, for they depicted or described His character. Examples of such names are Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner), Jehovah Raah (The Lord My Shepherd), Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals), Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts), etc.

However, our theme verse says He’s magnified His Word above all the revelations of His names. Meaning that whether you knew Him as El shadai or as Adonai or as Jehovah Rapha or Jehovah Jireh—whatever you knew Him to be—He’s magnified His Word above all those revelations.

Those revelations were limited; they’re all wrapped up in the Word. If you know the Word of God, you’ll go beyond the man who knows God as Elshadai or Jehovah Rapha or any of the other revelations of Him in the Old Testament. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the word was God.” This is the Word that’s been magnified above all the revelations of God’s names.

You don’t need all of the Hebrew names of God now; the last of the revealed names was Jehovah Shammah—the Lord is present; and after that, He brought forth “Emmanuel”—God with us—which was Jesus in the midst of His people. But His desire was to be in us: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

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ALL WRAPPED IN THE WORD...

Too many have lived in religion and haven’t received reality; they don’t know how to relate with God. Christianity is a living thing; a real relationship with a living heavenly Father and His Son Jesus through the person and power of the Holy Spirit. Get to know the Word and put it to work, and your life will be an unending stream of blessings and grace.

PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for the revelation of your Word to my spirit. Forever, your Word is settled in my heart and in my life. I walk in success, victory and triumph; my life is an unending stream of blessings and grace in Christ Jesus. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY
Psalm 119:160; Isaiah 40:8; Psalm 119:89

1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Hebrews 8 & Jeremiah 52
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
John 10:33-42 & 1 Chronicles 8

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HIS RESURRECTION GAVE US ETERNAL LIFE.

HIS RESURRECTION GAVE US ETERNAL LIFE BY PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

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HIS RESURRECTION GAVE US ETERNAL LIFE

There’re fundamental tenets of the Faith that every Christian must live by. For example, you must believe that God raised Jesus from the dead; otherwise, you’re not a Christian. That’s because salvation was made available by the resurrection of Jesus. The death of Jesus paid for the sins of the world, but that was neither the end nor the purpose of Jesus’ death.

If you found a poor man who owed a lot of money and you paid his debt, that’ll be great, but not enough. Paying his debt made him a free man, but a “poor free man.” He’ll require something more to live on so he’d be out of poverty. In the same way, when Christ paid for the sins of the world by the shedding of His blood, we were free from the consequences of sin. Awesome! But it didn’t make us free from the nature and power of sin.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ gave us a new life and power over sin. It gave us a new life of righteousness. Hallelujah! Believing in the resurrection means you believe in His death too, because there’ll be no resurrection without the death.

The resurrection is what gave us eternal life. The Bible says in Romans 6:4, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” His resurrection ushered us into the new life of righteousness and the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Hallelujah!

CONFESSION
Dear Father, thank you for the vicarious death of Jesus, and His glorious resurrection that has made salvation possible for everyone who believes and declares the same. Now, I walk in righteousness, in the newness of life, walking in fellowship with God, by Christ Jesus. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY
John 11:25; Romans 6:7-11

1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Hebrews 5:11-6:1-20 & Jeremiah 48-49
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
John 10:11-21 & 1 Chronicles 6

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GIVE MORE TIME TO PRAYER.

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES FRIDAY 5TH NOVEMBER.

GIVE MORE TIME TO PRAYER BY PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

Esther Chapters 3 and 4 give us an amazing account of Haman, a wealthy man who was close to the reins of power; he was the king’s friend. For some reason, he hated the Jews and wanted them exterminated. He presented a proposal to the king to that effect and with the king’s express permission, he drafted and published a decree for the elimination of all Jews, both young and old.

But the Bible says, “When Mordecai (one of the Jews) perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry” (Esther 4:1). Mordecai understood that even though the decree had been made, God could cause a change in their circumstance.

He thus galvanised the Jews, and called for prayer and fasting. The Bible says “…there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes” (Esther 4:3). All they could do was call on God, and they were miraculously delivered from their enemy!

There’s a similar account in 2 Chronicles 32; the Bible tells us how the Assyrians under Sennacherib, King of Assyria, planned to destroy Judah and take over Jerusalem. The Bible says, “And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria…” (2 Chronicles 32:20-21). Hallelujah!

It makes no difference how many or how strong your adversaries are; in the place of prayer, you can cut off their influence by the power of the Holy Spirit. What you need is to give time to prayer. In the place of prayer, you obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

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GIVE MORE TIME TO PRAYER

You have a right to be heard when you pray; therefore, pray often. Remember, He invited us to pray; He’s more willing and passionate to answer you than you could ever imagine. The Bible says, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers…” (1 Peter 3:12). Hallelujah! Think about that!

PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for your love, your grace, your presence, your Word, and for your wisdom at work in me. Thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life. As I take advantage of the opportunity and privilege of prayer, I’m victorious always and in all things. I’m making progress from glory to glory, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY
James 5:16 AMPC; Philippians 4:6-7 AMPC; 1 John 5:14

1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Hebrews 4:14-5:1-10 & Jeremiah 44-47
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
John 10:1-10 & 1 Chronicles 5

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OFFERING SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES.

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES THURSDAY 4TH NOVEMBER.

OFFERING SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES BY PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME.

By him (Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name (Hebrews 13:15).

The Kingdom of God to which we belong is a spiritual Kingdom. Therein, we carry out spiritual ministry and offer spiritual sacrifices. This is why it’s so important that we’re spiritually minded, because the sacrifices we offer to God must be spiritual sacrifices. God moved from the sacrifices of bulls and goats that couldn’t take away sin, to spiritual sacrifices.

When we say “spiritual,” we’re dealing with spiritual substance, spiritual tangibility. God’s interpretation of our prayers and sacrifices, for example, is spiritual. Even the prophets could see it that way; in Hosea 14:2, the Bible says, “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.”

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OFFERING SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES

The words we speak to God come up to Him in the quality of those calves that were sacrificed unto Him in the Old Testament. Our words in worship have the same power and effect in heaven as when they brought the sacrifice of bulls to offer to God. Our words are even more important because they go directly to God, but the bulls and calves were killed and eaten by the people.

Our prayers are spiritual sacrifices. In Psalm 141:2, David said, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” “The fruits of our lips, giving thanks to His Name” is a spiritual sacrifice; that means you’re confessing the greatness of God; you’re confessing that He’s gracious to you, and that He’s been good to you.

When you’re worshipping the Lord in Church, or in your home, or on your knees or standing with your hands lifted, something is actually happening in heaven. But that’s not all! Hebrews 13:16, which is the very next verse to our theme verse says, “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Showing mercy to the poor and looking for opportunities to express acts of kindness to others are sacrifices that are acceptable to God. It means that in heaven, they’re spiritual.

The importance of this is for us to be spiritually minded and understand that these things are real. Do them better, more carefully, and more truthfully.

PRAYER
Dear Lord, you’re gracious and kind; from generation to generation, you’re God! Thank you for your love; thank you for your protection and preservation. Thank you for bringing me into a life of liberty and dominion, to reign and express your will, character and goodness in the earth, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY
Hebrews 13:15-16 AMPC; Revelation 5:8

1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Hebrews 4:1-13 & Jeremiah 41-43
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
John 9:28-41 & 1 Chronicles 4

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