GOING HIGHER [PART 40]: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE – SPECIAL RCCG ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE, 5TH DECEMBER, 2021
SPECIAL RCCG ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE
TOPIC: GOING HIGHER – PART 40
MINISTERING PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE
DATE: 5TH DECEMBER, 2021
BIBLE TEXT: 1 KINGS 18: 42-44
Let Us Pray!
SONG
Glory be to God in the Highest Amen
Glory be to God in the Highest Amen
For His Mercy endureth forever Amen
For His Mercy endureth forever Amen
Hallelujah
… Repeat!
OPENING PRAYER
Father Almighty, we worship You, Ancient of Days we give You all the Glory, all the Honour, all the Adorations for yet another Sunday.
Thank You for Support, Thank You for Your Backing, Thank You for being there for us all the time. Father, Please accept our Thanks in Jesus Name.
Today, my Father and my God, as Your Children gather together to hear Your Words; we Pray that You will send Your Words to each and everyone of us and heal us Physically, Mentally, Spiritually and in every facets of our lives.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!
Well, we are continuing with our Series on Going Higher as we move to Part 40.
And our Bible Text shall be taken from 1 Kings 18: 42-44
- So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the Earth, and put his face between his knees,
- And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
- And it came to Pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy Chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
On this Part of our Study, it is going to take us quite a while.
We have already learnt a bit about Elijah “Going Higher” Still – Going to the Top of the Mountain; we have learnt a bit about him putting his face between his legs to Pray.
But now, we are discovering that when he Prayed the first time and there was nothing, he asked his Servant to keep going until the 7th time before the Servant said now I can see something.
The first thing that we want to look at from this Section of our Study is: What exactly are the seven (7) Prayers of Elijah because he Prayed seven (7) times before the Rain fell.
Well, the Bible has not recorded for us what he Prayed the first, second, third, until the seventh time but we could put two (2) and two (2) together and then be able to get at least a very Pretty accurate guess of his Prayers.
- Without any doubt, I am confident that his first Prayer was a Prayer of Thanksgiving because some Miracles had just happened.
And in any case, the Bible says in Psalms 100:4 – We are to enter the Gate of the Most High with Thanksgiving in our heart.
And we should learn a Big Lesson from this because many of us have the custom of going straight into the the house of God, into the Presence of God demanding from God – Do this for me, do that for me et cetera et cetera. What about Thanking Him first for what He has done for you.
What is Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is appreciating God for what He has just done for you.
In Exodus 15: 1-21; when the children of Israel came out from the Red Sea and they looked back and they saw all their enemies drowned; they Thank God.
… They Thank Him for what He has done.
In Luke 17: 11-19; when Jesus Christ cleansed ten (10) Lepers and one (1) came back to say Thank You. It is clear that the Lord Himself was Pained that only one (1) came back because He commented: Were there not ten (10) cleansed? How come it is only one (1) that came back to say Thank You? Where are the other nine (9)?
My Prayer for you is that from now on, when you come to the Presence of God, you will approach Him first and foremost with Thanksgiving so that He will not look at you and say: Who do you think I am? Your Househelp? You just badge into my Presence and begin to Command me: God I need Promotion, God I need a Breakthrough, God I want You to heal me.
Am I your Househelp? Have you said Thank You for all what I have done for you thus far?
… I think we should learn that Big Lesson from the Prayers of Elijah.
- I am almost Hundred Percent certain that he followed his Thanksgiving Prayers with Praise.
This could follow straightaway from the Passage we read earlier on, Psalms 100:4 – Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving and His Court with Praise.
You begin by Thanking Him for what He had already done for you and then you Praise Him.
What is Praise?
Praise is as it were, rolling out the things that God had done in the Past.
As it were, you are going through the CV (Curriculum Vitae); the Records of what He has done
Praise will be like saying:
I. Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
In Genesis 1:1, it says: In the Beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth.
II. Or you might say: Almighty God, the One who said let there be Light and there was Light.
That is in his CV (Curriculum Vitae) – Genesis 1:3.
III. Or you could say: He is the One that darkness heard His Voice and fled
IV. You can talk of Him and say: You are the Lord who Breathe on the Red Sea and the Red Sea Parted – Exodus 14: 1-28.
V. Or you can say: You are the One who turned “Bitter Water” to “Sweet Water”.
That is also His CV (Curriculum Vitae) – You know the Story in Exodus 15: 20-26.
When the children of Israel got to Marah and they found out that the water was bitter and could not be taken. He was the One who gave Moses the Instruction of taking a Branch of a tree that was nearby; throw it into the water and the water became drinkable.
VI. Of course, you can also say: You are the One who can bring “Something” out of “Nothing” because you brought Water out of the Rock.
And He did it before! – In Exodus 17:1-6.
So, when you are Praising God – You are not just Thanking Him for what He has done for you (Thanking Him for what He has done for you is Thanksgiving). Praising God is rolling out His Track Records – You are the One who did this, You are the One who did that, You are the One who made a Way where there was No Way, You are the One who brought “Something” out of “Nothing”, You are the One who can change “Bitter Water” to “Sweet Water” et cetera et cetera.
- Then he moved on to Worship.
Now, worship is different from Praise.
In Praise, you are talking about what He has done while in Worship, you are talking about Himself. You are now describing Him as a Person – Not His Acts now, not His Doings but Himself!
For Example:
I. In Psalms 91:1; He is called The Most High and the Almighty.
Psalms 91:1 says: He that dwelleth in the Secret Place of the Most High, shall abide under the Shadow of the Almighty.
II. You are the One Higher than the highest – Ecclesiastes 5:8.
III. Genesis 17:1 says: He is Jehovah El-Shaddai; The God who is More Than Enough.
IV. You are the “I Am that I Am” – Exodus 3: 13-14.
V. Or you can go on and roll out His Names – Isaiah 9:6 says: You are the One who is Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
… God loved to be Worshipped.
He said clearly in John 4: 23 and 24 – That God is a Spirit and they that worship Him (Not those that Thank Him or they that Praise Him); must Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
He says that He is seeking for Worshippers.
So, Thanking Him (God) is Good and it’s very necessary – You need to be Grateful for what He has done for you.
Praising Him is even better still because you are now not just talking what He has done for you, you are now talking about what He has done since the beginning of the world.
But in Worship, you are actually drawing Him Close because as you begin to eulogise Him as you begin to tell Him who He actually is. You are Practically Preparing Him for whatever it is you want to ask for.
- Then I believed that Elijah moved on to the Prayer when he started reminding Him of His Promises.
I believed that he started to remind Him about Psalms 119:89 – Forever Oh Lord, thy Word is Settled.
I heard the Sound of Abundance of Rain, You spoke to me before I left the house of the Widow of Zarephath that if I go and show myself to Ahab, You will send Rain.
And Lord, I know that forever Oh Lord thy Word is Settled – Reminding Him of what He has Promised.
Numbers 23:19 – God, you are not a Man that You should lie, neither the Son of Man that You should repent. When You speak, you do it.
Lord, You are the One who told me that it is going to Rain – I’m reminding You.
And in Psalms 33: 8-9; the Bible says clearly: Let the whole Earth fear before the Lord because He speaks and it is done.
… Father, I know that once You speak, it is done!
And then those of us who are Christians; we know that in 2 Corinthians 1:20; that all the Promises of God in Jesus Christ are Yea in Him Amen.
So, you can see how you can be Progressive as it were; Set Up God for the Miracles you are about to ask for – Thank Him for what He has done, Praise Him for His Track Records, Eulogise Him and then you remind Him of His Promises!
- And then I believed at this Stage that Elijah moved on to the Prayer to “Call on God to Arise”.
Psalms 68: 1-3 tells us: Let God arise and His enemies will be scattered.
Oh Elijah wasn’t unaware that there were Forces of Darkness that could want to hinder the Promise of God that there will be Abundance of Rain.
I believed that he was Clever enough to know that the devil will say: Okay, I lost the First Round in this Competition; I am not going to lose the Second Round.
I am sure that he is fully aware that should in case the enemies decided to Stand in the Way (But they might try). But he called on God and say: Arise Oh Lord, and your enemies will scatter.
In Psalms 44:26; the Bible says: Arise for our Help, for Your Mercy sake.
In other words, even if I don’t qualify for this Miracle, even if it is only for Your Mercy sake; arise I need Help!
Remember that this is the 5th time now that he is Praying – He has sent the servant the 1st time, no Rain, 2nd time, no Rain, 3rd time, Nothing, 4th time, Nothing and so the 5th time, he says: Almighty God, You have to Arise!
Afterall according to Psalms 24: 7-10 hopefully, he had included in the Prayer Number 3 (Prayer of Worship) – You are the Lord of Host, You are the King of Glory, You are the Lord Strong and Mighty, You are the One Mighty in Battle.
So, if You will Arise, even the Everlasting Doors will lift Up their Heads including the Doors that could be keeping the Rain back.
So, I believed his 5th Prayer will be: “Arise Oh Lord!”
- And then after he has Prayed the first five (5) Prayers and nothing seems to be happening yet; I think that he will Probably be telling God – Prove Yourself again!
You Proved Yourself this morning by sending down Fire when I Called upon you; now I’m asking for Rain – Prove Yourself again.
Afterall, Malachi 3:6 has said that: You are the Lord, You Change Not.
You are Victorious before, You will be Victorious again – Prove Yourself again.
And we Christians, we can add to that – Jesus Christ, You are the same Yesterday, Today and Forever (Hebrews 13:8).
- Finally, he moved on to the Prayer to begin to Thank God in Advance.
… I have gone through these Steps Oh Lord; now I’m Thanking You because I know it’s going to Rain.
You know that it is something easy for you to Thank God for what He has already done. It takes a Man of Faith to Thank God even before the Miracle arrives!
Like in Joshua 6:20 – The People shouted before the Wall of Jericho fell.
In 2 Chronicles 20: 20-25; the People were singing Praises to God as they were going to Battle – The enemies were there but they are already Praising God as if they have already obtained the Victory.
In John 11: 39-44; Jesus already Thank God before He called Lazarus out of the Tomb.
He said: I know You always hear me. I am Thanking You because I know that You will hear me again.
So, let us learn this very important Lesson from Elijah – Follow his Pattern of Prayer:
- Start with Thanksgiving.
- Move to Praise.
- Proceed to Worship.
- Begin to remind God of His Promises.
- Call on the Almighty God to Arise.
- Call on the Almighty God to Prove Himself.
- Finally begin to Thank God in Advance.
And surely out of the “Clear Sky”; your Rain will begin to fall.
The Conclusion of the matter of course is that: You can’t apply these Principles and expect it to work if you are not on the Side of God!
Elijah knew that he has God behind him.
You are not on the Side of God until you have surrendered your Life to God!
ALTAR CALL
That is why I’m Calling on you – Those of you listening to me now or reading now on the Label of DMC and you have Mountains that must move.
Before you begin to apply these Principles, you must come to the Side of God.
He Promised: Come unto me all ye that Labour and are Heavy ladened and I will give you rest.
… You must come to Him first!
So, if you have not given your Life to Jesus Christ, I beg you in your own Interest; do so now and then you can begin to expect that when you Pray the way a Man of Faith should Pray, you can expect your Showers of Blessings.
So, if you want to give your Life to Jesus Christ, will you Please bow your head now even as we Pray.
Call on Him: Ask Him to Please save your Soul, ask Him to wash away your sins in His Blood; Promise Him that you will serve Him for the rest of your Life. Ask God to be Your Lord and your Saviour and things will Change dramatically for the better for you.
I’m going to Pray for you now and I trust God that He will save your Soul.
PRAYER FOR SALVATION AND CLOSING PRAYER
My Father and my God, I want to bless Your Holy Name for Your Words; I want to Thank You for “Revelational Knowledge” – For revealing to us the Great Steps that we could take to obtain Mighty Breakthrough.
But I’m Thanking You especially for those who are surrendering their lives to You now – Father, Please receive them, save their Souls, let Your Blood wash away their sins, receive them into the Family of God.
Oh, Almighty God I Pray that from now on, anytime they cry to You, You will answer them by Fire and I Pray that from now on, they too will serve You till the end.
And Please my Father and my God, as Your Children will follow these Simple seven (7) Steps – Both those who are just being Born Again and those who has known You all these days.
As they are following these Simple Steps – Thanking You, Praising You, Worshipping You, Reminding You and Lord God Almighty Calling on You to Arise for them, and to Prove Yourself to them and then Thanking You again in advance; let everyone of Your Children receive Mighty Outpouring of Blessings today.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!
I want to rejoice with those of you who have given your Life to Jesus Christ.
I want to Promise you that from now on, I will be Praying for you.
But I will advice you to go to the nearest Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and talk to the Pastor there – Tell him you just gave your Life to Jesus Christ and you want to know how to Proceed from there on.
And I’m sure that you will be having Testimonies from this day onwards in Jesus Name – Amen.
Congratulations!
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!!!
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