OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: THURSDAY 27th AUGUST 2015

THEME: WEAPONS FOR GOD'S SERVANTS

Memorise:
And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
1 Samuel 3:19

Read: 1 Samuel 3:19-21
19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

Message
There are some principles of God that can be used as weapons by everyone, regardless of their faith. Divine principles relating to the natural world are given to all to harness the power inherent in them. For example, the principle of sowing and reaping falls into this category. However, there are some weapons of God that are exclusively for those who have believed in Jesus Christ. In this subset, there are some weapons designed for the use of God's servants; one of which is prophecy. The Bible in Amos 3:7 says,
"Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

God attaches great importance to the words of His servants. In fact, if you walk closely with God, He will personally honour your word, just as He did with Samuel (1 Samuel 3:19). If only you can work on your relationship with God as His servant, He will become the backbone of your words. In other words, whenever you speak, people will tremble because they know God will back you up. In Ezekiel 37:1-10, God asked Ezekiel if dry bones could live, and he replied that only God could tell. Thereafter, God told him to prophesy: to make simple pronouncements from his mouth. He did, and God backed up his words. The result was a mighty army raised from dry bones.

Another weapon available to God's servants, closely linked with prophecy, is decrees. Job 22:21-28 reveals that if a servant of God can satisfy certain conditions, he will decree a thing and it shall be established. When you go through Scriptures, you will discover that those who skilfully used this weapon were mainly prophets of God. A heavily indebted widow ran to Elisha in 2 Kings 4:1-7, and he gave her certain instructions, decreeing that the little oil she had would continue to multiply until all available vessels she had were filled up. It happened just as he decreed. Notice that He did not say "Thus saith the Lord". Similarly, a very rich, elderly and barren woman who had consistently taken care of Elisha was told "Madam, nine months from now, you will have a son." She did not believe it, but it happened as Elisha decreed (2 Kings 4:16-17). When you hear a prophecy, you need faith in order to receive it and see its manifestation; but when it is a decree, even your doubts cannot stop it. As a servant of God, have you been using these weapons that God has made available to you?

Action Point:
After worshipping God today, decree good things into your life, family, workplace, ministry, etc.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: GENESIS 43-44 and JOHN 21:15-25
AUTHOR: Pst. E. A. ADEBOYE