Isaiah 64:1-2 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
• The word “rend” in this Scripture means to “tear open”.
o Isaiah is crying out to God for an open heaven! “Oh, Lord, rend the heavens and come down! We need you!”
o Can you hear the cry of the prophet’s heart as he laments in prayer and petition to God?
Quote from NEW SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE BIBLE (Nelson’s Publishers)
Is 64:1-3 When intercession breaks thru. ‘Awesome things that we did not expect’ (Is 64:3) is a perfect description of genuine revival, because the unpredictable and unusual are the characteristics of great spiritual awakenings.
Isaiah wanted God to behave as He had in the past. Recalling the Scripture about God’s visit with Moses on Mt. Sinai, Isaiah longed for a repeat performance.
Exodus 19:18 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently.
(B) Peter…. ‘He Saw Heaven Opened.’
READ Acts 10:9-16 – 9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. (worship) 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened …
What was Peter doing on the housetop? He was praying.
The presence of God came upon him in such a mighty way, that he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened.
o Would it have been possible for him to have this experience without praying?
o Peter had positioned himself to hear from the Lord.
o He could have been in a million places, but he chose to go to prayer.
o As a result, the vision that he saw changed his whole life.
o How many times have we missed it because of our wrong choices?
B2. Peter Was Hungry For God
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The above Scripture also mentions that Peter was very hungry and wanted to eat.
The Scripture was speaking about “physical hunger”, but I also believe that Peter was hungry spiritually, or he would not have been praying on the housetop in the first place.
o He was definitely in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing.
(C) Jesus … ‘As He Was Praying, Heaven Was Opened.’
Luke 3:21 – 21When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened
• Prayer is like a “key” that has the power and potential to open up the heavenly realm for God’s people. If prayer is a key, why don’t we use it more than we do?
• Have we lost our key, or possibly misplaced it somewhere?
• Or could it be that we just don’t have a full understanding of what prayer can do?
2. DILIGENT OBEDIENCE
READ Deut. 28:1-14 – 1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany (‘overtake’ AMP) you if you obey the LORD your God: …
Once again, we see the Lord strongly emphasizing the importance of obeying His commands.
• He uses the adjective fully (kjv ‘diligently’), which is characterized by persevering or painstaking effort.
• Most of the time, it’s going to take everything that we have within us to obey the voice of the Lord.
• He will not always ask us to do the “easy thing” for His kingdom.
• Sometimes, we will find it very difficult to obey, yet, deep inside, we will know exactly what we need to do.
• We must not reason things out with our minds, but we must listen and obey Him by the Spirit.
B. If We Obey … ‘The Lord Will Open The Heavens.’
Deut. 28:12 – 12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.
There are thousands of promises in God’s word that are available to each and every one of us, if we would just learn how to lay hold of them.
• However, thinking that we can just name it and claim it, and everything will be all right has deceived some of us.
• There’s more involved in this process than just speaking words that have not taken root in our hearts. His word must be made a reality to us.
• We must learn how to appropriate His word into our lives.
If we truly want to see the heavens opened over our homes, our churches, our schools and our nation, it’s going to take more effort than just saying a lifeless quick prayer in the morning before going to work.
• It’s going to take a genuine commitment on our part.
• Are we ready to start pressing in to what God has prepared for our lives?
3. SACRIFICIAL GIVING
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(A) Acts 10:1-6 Cornelius 2… and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!" 4 Cornelius 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.
Cornelius’s prayers and giving had come up to God as a ‘memorial’ unto God. Strong’s concordance no. 3422 – a ‘reminder’ (memorandum), i.e. ‘record’-memorial.
His prayers and generosity brought salvation to his household!!
Have you been walking in obedience to God and been faithful
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19).
• We’re on the verge of something big and exciting!
many of you, although you’ve been praying passionate prayers, have yet to see your breakthrough come. The Bible talks about this:
• “And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron.” (Deut. 28:23).
• This describes limited access to the blessings of Heaven…
God wants us to live under an open Heaven, where we have free access to His abundant blessings!
“Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.” (Psalm 78:23-25).
• The open Heavens here symbolically represented blessings from the Lord. Isaiah prayed:
• “Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down…For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him” (Isaiah 64:1,4).
• Notice the key to receiving all of these abundant blessings, and living under an open Heaven: Obedience to God’s commands! This is a conditional promise!
“Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 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 will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chron 7: 12-14).
SCRIPTURES ABOUT OBEDIENCE:
Important note: Our obedience does affect whether or not we experience God’s blessings on the earth.
• John 14:21 - He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him
• James 1:25 - But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does
• Deut. 5:29 - Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
• Joshua 1:8 - This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
• Matt. 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
What do these Scriptures teach us?
• Prayer isn’t a magical formula; it’s about being in right relationship with God.
Finished 460 years before the birth of Christ It took 220 years; built of shining marble; 342 feet long by 164 feet broad; supported by a forest of columns, each 56 feet high; and each colums over 6 feet in diameter. At this location it was called 'the safest bank in Asia,' nations and kings stored their most precious things.
This was none other than the temple of Diana. One of the 7 ancient wonders of the world.
She symbolized the generative and nutritive powers of nature, and so was represented with many breasts
On her head was a mural crown, each hand held a metal bar, the lower part was a rude block covered with mystic inscriptions and animals. The image was believed to have fallen from heaven,
As Ephesus was the capital of Asia, Diana of Ephesus was naturally the idol "whom all Asia and the world worshipped." Games were celebrated at Ephesus in her honor, and her worship was the uniting political power of Ephesus and other cities. Diana was said to be the mother of all life
The ritual of the temple services consisted of sacrifices and of ceremonial prostitution,
Paul had been preaching that there was reallyno gods thathave been made by human hands. Demetrius a silversmith thatmade silder Diana shrines had become wealthy. He was now worried that Pauls preaching wad affecting his wealth.
He said that all of asia worshipped Diana.
Act 19:27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.
Act 19:28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
Act 19:34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
Why would some mommas and daddys take their little boys and girls to this sexually charged so called temple for them to see rituals of temple prostitution? Why would all of asia and all of Ephesus worship this sex goddess?
The answeris found in
Act 19:35 And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
The whole of Ephesus had become worshippers or neōkoros which simply means temple keepers.
They swept they cleaned they stood guard they gave sacrifices offerings and even gave there very children to this temple of diana
