O Lord, Open a Door for the Word!
In Isaiah 61, God opens doors for the gospel in response to earnest prayer, and this text gives us strong hope that God will open a door for the Word next week if we pray steadfastly this week, with wakefulness, and expectant thankfulness.
The Story of Duncan Campbell
Duncan Campbell was a minister in the United Free Church of Scotland in the 1950s and 1960s when he received a call from the Holy Spirit to go to Berneray, a small island in the Hebrides. Wesley Duewel on Duncan Campbell: “When God has people who prevail in prayer, there is no limit to what God can do.”
Urging You to Pray
Paul exhorts the Colossians to pray, just as he exhorted the Berneray elders to pray, but for what purpose?
What Are We to Pray For?
Paul tells the Colossians to pray for an open door and a powerful word because when Christians pray, God changes circumstances and attitudes for the Word. Instead of hitting a brick wall, the Word becomes unusually effective. Pray the locks off people’s hearts. Paul says that prayer is the key to opening the door of God’s blessing. What we pray for is the preacher’s clarity and boldness.
What Are We to Pray Like?
Paul encourages the church to pray with steadfastness, watchfulness, and thanksgiving. “Steadfastness” refers to consistency and devotion. “Watchful” refers to being vigilant, as a sentry on duty outside the camp at night. Next Sunday’s message will be given in the context of a Thanksgiving Festival.
Pray with Thanksgiving for What?
Paul asks us to be thankful for our own salvation in the Sermon on the Mount, as well as for what God will do in response to prayer, thanking him in advance for what he will do and praying with expectant faith.
A Closing Invitation to Pray
Give us more women like Mary Slessor, who said, “My life is one long, daily, hourly record of answered prayer,” and more men like Robert Murray McCheyne, who knew enough Hebrew to converse with European Jews.
What the Bible says about opening doors?
“And without faith, it is impossible to please him,” says Hebrews 11:6, “for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.” An “open door” from God often allows our faith to be stretched and strengthened.
When God open the doors?
We may not understand what God is doing at times, but if we are willing to do His will, we must walk by faith, not by sight. God’s timing is perfect, and when He opens a door, He is providing a path to accomplish His purpose in your life.
When God closes a door and opens another?
When God closes one door, he opens another, unless you’re me, in which case he closes all doors, bars all windows, and sets the house on fire.
Does God have a open door policy?
That is when God established his “open door policy.” We know that only the high priest could enter the Holiest of Holies once a year to offer the sacrifice to atone for the people’s sins. Jesus is the way to the Father, as He said in John 10:9, “If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.”
What do doors mean spiritually?
Transitions: A door or doorway represents the transition and passageway from one place to another, and is frequently used to symbolize the passage from one world to another in religion, mythology, and literature.
What does an open door represent?
Locked doors can represent protection or privacy, keeping us safe ‘inside’ from the threat from ‘outside’; doors were once daubed with an ‘X’ to symbolize the presence of plague; or they can represent imprisonment, even entrapment, enclosure, or control.
What happens when God closes a door?
When God closes a door, it simply means that God is telling you not to go in that direction, that God is warning you that the next step you’re about to take will lead you to trouble. God frequently places blocks and barriers in our way.
How do I know if God is opening a door for me?
Here are a few indicators that God is indeed preparing a pathway for you:
- A God-given Opportunity is backed up by scripture.
- A God-given Opportunity may be an answer to your prayers.
- The Opportunity is backed up by wise counsel.
- The new opportunity provides you with a way out of your current predicament.
Who said when God closes a door he opens a window?
u201cWhen God closes a door, he opens a window,u201d says Jeannette Walls.
What is the meaning of when one door closes another opens?
The expression ‘one door closes and another one opens’ is often used to encourage someone to keep trying after a disappointment or failure. It means that if one thing you do fails, you will soon have an opportunity to try to succeed at something else.
When the Lord closes a door somewhere he opens a window quote?
u201cWhere the Lord closes a door, He opens a window somewhere,u201d says Julie Andrews.
When a door closes another opens?
When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully at the one that has closed for us that we miss the one that has opened for us.