OPEN HEAVENSThe BIBLE talks about windows,

doors, stairways, and gates in heaven.

A STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

• Jacob, fleeing from his brother Esau, had a dream and saw a stairway to heaven with angels ascending and descending. He recognized that in that place he saw the gate of heaven. (Gen. 28)

THE DOORS TO HEAVENS

• Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens;

Psalm 78:23

THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN

• The prophet Malachi taught the people of Israel that if they tithed faithfully to God, He would open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (Malachi 3:10)

A DOOR OPEN IN HEAVEN

• “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” (Rev. 4:1)

• JOHN SAW AN OPEN DOOR IN HEAVEN.

Keys to open heavens

Keys to open heavensPrayer, Prayer, Prayer

Keys to open heavens9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10)

Matthew 7:7-87 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Three Levels of Prayer 1. Ask and it will be given to you; Asking is a petition- a simple prayer of petition for simple

requests and needs. 2. Seek and you will find; Seeking is a deeper level of prayer; it means being

determined and persevering in prayer for things and needs that are more difficult.

3. Knock and the door will be opened to you. Knocking requires strong faith for things that seem to be

behind of a door; things that seem impossible.

Three Levels of Response Ask and it will be given to you; everyone who

asks receives

Seek and you will find; the one who seeks finds

Knock and the door will be opened to you, the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

THE THRONE OF GRACE IS OPEN• WE ARE LIVING IN THE TIMES OF FAVOR AND

GRACE IN THE EARTH.• EVERY TIME SOMEBODY PRAYS TO GOD THE

FATHER, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, THE HEAVENS ARE OPEN.

• “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)

WHAT CAN SHUT HEAVENS?

SIN SHUTS HEAVENS

• “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.” (1 Kings 8:34-36; 2 Chronicles 6:26)

SINS HID HIS FACE FROM US

• 1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

• ISAIAH 59:1-2

WRONG MOTIVES BEHIND OUR PRAYERS

• 1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3)

LACK OF PRAYER• Heavens are closed when people don’t

pray.• God doesn’t answer when there is no

prayer. • God answers prayers…not desires,

dreams, wishes, complaints, etc.

JESUS’ TEACHINGS ON PRAYER

• Matthew 21:22“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Mark 9:29He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer. ” Mark 11:24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

GOD HEARS PRAYERS

• Luke 1:13But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

• 1 Peter 3:12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

GOD HEARS FROM HEAVEN

• “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

GOD HEARS PRAYERS

• Acts 10:4Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Acts 10:31and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.

GOD USES OUR PRAYERS TO BLESS OTHERS

• Acts 28:8His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

PRAYER IS POWERFUL & EFFECTIVE• 13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone

happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (James 5:13-18)

BE FAITHFUL IN PRAYER

• Romans 12:12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

PRAY ON ALL OCCASIONS

Ephesians 6:18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

EXCHANGE ANXIETY FOR PRAYER

• Philippians 4:6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

BE DEVOTED TO PRAYER

Colossians 4:2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

INTERCEED FOR PEOPLE & FOR CHANGE

• 1 Timothy 2:1I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—