The Day Heaven Opened

Social media is filled with prayer requests and promises of prayer. There are days when what I most want is for heaven to open and pour out a heavenly waterfall of answered prayer.

With that in mind, I've been pondering the possibility of being able to open heaven in search of answered prayers. One verse has occupied my mind. 

"Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, (Luke 3:21NASB)"

Ponder this for a moment: Heaven opened while Jesus was praying.

To be clear on the sequence, Jesus was baptized "to fulfill all righteousness." It was not for repentance of sin, but as an act of obedience to show us the way. 

He was obedient. He prayed. Heaven opened. 

The more I look at this heavenly opening, the more I'm convinced it was initiated by obedience combined with prayer. Jesus did what His Father asked Him to do, even when it was hard. Father God honored His obedience. 

We can't earn answered prayers by "being good enough" to deserve them, of course, but obedience is not optional. Jesus lived in right relationship with God, and we should, too. Love God. Love others. Those are the two laws that sum up everything else. 

Jesus said, "IF you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." John 15:7 esv

If we want answered prayers, we must abide. If we want to abide, we have to obey. It's that simple. It's that hard. 

Love. It's not optional.If we want answered prayer, obedience in love is a good place to start.
________
In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: The Prayer Primer that Broke My Heart 
If you'd like to help support this ministry, here's the link to give: Global Outreach Acct 4841 If you'd rather use a check or money order, make it out to Global Outreach. Remember to put "Account 4841" on the "for" line. Mail it to: Global Outreach, PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802
#prayer