An Open Heaven January 26, 2009

John 1:51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth. NLT

A common expression in the church today speaks of an open heaven. Frequently used as a part of our prayers – we pray to the God with the view in mind that the heavens are open and He will hear our prayers and grant us our requests.

Each year as we personally seek to hear God for the direction that the new year will take, we hear a word that usually provides us with a view of what we can look forward to during the year. In addition we listen closely to the prophetic words issued by those in the body of Christ that we respect, who have a proven track record of hearing the voice of God with accuracy.

This year it became clear to us that God is in fact providing an open heaven for the believer. That there will indeed be a difference between the Egyptians (referring to unbelievers) and the land of Goshen (referring to God’s people). If we can believe it, we will see a distinct provision of God’s grace as a result of answered prayer, that will be a testament to the hand of God, not to the shattered economy that we have too often trusted in.

Whether you seek to hear a prophetic word for the new year, or whether you flow in the prophetic yourself – or whether you;re unsure of both – one thing for sure is “we have a more sure word of prophecy.” That word is totally accurate – time tested – something that is true for every season.

Looking at our theme verse – we find that there are stairs to the open heaven, and those stairs are the Son of Man (Jesus) Himself! Yes, as we climb the stairs of prayer in Jesus Name we reach an open heaven that provides all that we need.

I like the way the Message Bible puts Ephesians 1:3:

3-6How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Yes we can believe in an open heaven and a Father who longs to bring us all the benefits of living in heavenly places even now here on earth. Jesus reinforced this in the Lord’s prayer when he told us to pray:

“thy kingdom come, thy will be done – on earth, as it is in heaven!”

This year, turn off the news report and turn on the heavenly report where you will find there’s more than enough and its’ available for you.

God Bless You,
Maria