UNLOCKING THE HEAVENS

[Dave Padmore Akokotu Eyowel]

  UNLOCKING THE HEAVENS

Then

hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servant

                         and of thy people Israel, that thou
teach them the good way

                         wherein they should
walk, and give rain upon thy land, which

                         thou hast given to thy
people for an inheritance [1 Kings 8:36]

 

Whatever any man
is on earth is the result of what has taken place in the spirit realm
concerning him. As a matter of fact as the scripture did say, it is the heavens
that do rule. [Daniel 4:25d-26]
Yes indeed, the heavens do rule. So whatever a man is on earth is exactly what
he receives from the spirit realm. John 3:27
says it all in a more graphic way:

 

                          John answered and
said, A MAN CAN

                          RECEIVE NOTHING EXCEPT
IT BE

                          GIVEN HIM FROM ABOVE

 

No one can
receive anything, yes no one, except it be given him from above. Yes, James,
the Apostle is exactly right when he stated that:

 

                          Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above,

                          and cometh down from the
father of light, with whom

                          is no variableness,

neither shadow of turning [James 1:17]

 

When the father
gives, we enjoy an open heaven but when he holds back, we suffer a closed
heaven. In point of fact, what anyone becomes on earth is determined by the
conditions of the heaven over his head whether closed or opened.

 

What then is
closed heaven, anyway? A closed heaven is the consequence of God turning back
on man. Deuteronomy 28:23-24 records a good description of a closed heaven.

 

                           
And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and

                            and the earth that
is under thee shall be iron. The Lord

                            shall make the rain
of thy land powder and dust: from

                            heaven shall it
come down upon thee, until thou be

                            destroyed.

 

If the heaven
over your head is brass, be sure you are in for trouble for the heaven is
closed against you and nothing would work well anymore. Favour would disappear,
and helpers would fly away. Those who hate you will increase in number.
Devourers will abound and their activities would go unchallenged and
unrestrained. Not only would you life be characterized by fruitless labour and
endless struggles at every turn you make but you would also be confronted with
an impossible door all because the heavens over your head is sealed up. Receive
an open heaven, in the name of Jesus.

 

                                       WHAT
CLOSES THE HEAVENS?

 

If the heavens
over us are closed, what could cause it? Anyone who wants to see progress in
his days must seek answer to this question and not fold his hands and watch his
world collapse on him. He must fight to open the heaven over his head otherwise
he would fade into insignificance and die unknown. The heavens over our lives
do not just close. Closed heavens are more often than not a kind of protest
from heaven against something we are doing which God’s word condemns, whether
we know it or not. This can be summed up in one word – DISOBEDIENCE. In short
the root of all sins is disobedience. Therefore, nothing locks up the heavens
as much as disobedience; king Saul is my witness. We present some areas where
we could be disobeying God and his word.

 

TITHES PALAVER: Many people are labouring under a closed heaven and so cannot see
progress in their lives because of their reluctance to release God’s due in
their finances - the tithe. The tithe is the seed embedded in your income to
guarantee your financial future. To eat the tithe, therefore, is to eat your
future.

 

Yes, your tithe
is like a seed and only a seed planted can multiply. John 12:24 puts it this way:

 

                             Verily, verily,
I say to you, EXCEPT A CORN OF WHEAT

                             FALLS INTO THE GROUND AND DIE,
it abideth alone:

                             but if it dies, it
bringeth forth much fruit.

 

The only way the
corn of wheat can multiply is for it to disappear from the hand of the farmer
into the ground. Should the farmer refuse to let go of the corn of wheat it
surely must remain alone. But the moment it falls from his hands to the ground
it would bring to him countless fruit.

 

Your corn of
wheat in this context is your tithe. Except it falls from your hand into the
ground of God’s work and dies, it won’t multiply back to you.

 

Your tithe as a
seed has great potential for multiplication. In short, its multiplication is
usually at exponential dimension. For instance, just imagine you have an orange
fruit in your hand, you can count all the orange seeds in the orange fruit but
no one can count all the orange trees in an orange seed. But all the orange
trees in a single orange seed are all locked up within it. These countless
orange trees within the single seed will only be a reality when the seed is
planted. Should the farmer eat that single seed, it means he has eaten
countless generations of orange trees and innumerable fruits and seeds. When
planted, however, it would release the wealth of orange fruits, seeds and trees
locked up within that single seed. But to eat that single seed is to destroy
countless generations of oranges that would have accrued to the farmer.

 

Ten percent of
your income is the seed put there by God to prove your obedience and to give you
divine acceleration in your pursuit of financial progress. Because many do not
understand this, they rebel against God’s command, eat the seed and wallow in
poverty. Progress is a law of life which responds to certain set conditions and
principles which when obeyed by faith would work for us.

 

 

Now hear this
faith story:

 

A traveller in a
desert was dying of thirst. Then he caught sight of a water pump in the
distance. He mustard all his strength and was able to reach the pump. At the
pump was a bottle of water with a plaque containing this instruction: “Any
passer-by who wishes to have some water should empty the content of this bottle
into the opening of the trunk of the pump. Then move the lever up and down as
vigorously as he can several times and water would gush forth.”

 

So, suddenly,
some caution popped up in his brain. “Suppose I obey this instruction and no
water comes out, what would I do? I might die of thirst, he thought. Why not I
just help myself with the water in the bottle and not take some stupid and
dangerous risk as suggested in this plaque.” It was a real test of faith for
him.

 

Well, on a
second thought, he decided to damn all consequences and do what the plaque
instructed. He poured in the water, moved the lever with all his might but nothing
came out. He tried it again, the result was the same, and then he blamed
himself for acting so foolishly. “I should have quenched my thirst with the
water in the bottle and then continue my weary journey rather than obeyed the
stupid and clumsy instruction.” He thought regretfully.

 

Angrily, he
moved the lever again. Just then, his ears caught some low guttural gurgle deep
down the pump. This ignited some ray of hope in him and he pushed harder. Then,
suddenly, water came in mighty gush, flowing everywhere. He had his fill of
drink, had a good bath and took enough for his journey. Then he filled the
bottle back for the next traveller. It was a pleasant moment of pleasure for
him just because he obeyed some simple instructions.

 

You see, we are
all travellers. Everyone one on earth is. To make life easy for us as we
journey on, God provided us a manual – the Bible. The manual reveals that God
provided man with seedling which man must return to its ‘source’ [by planting
it] so he can have it back abundantly. God has no other way of multiplying our
seed back to us, therefore, we must comply with his laid down principle of
multiplication which is the planting of the seed.

 

God is the
source of all resources. Because he has our utmost good at heart, he built the
material world on the seed principle which when obeyed would cause great
multiplication. But he expects us to welcome this principle wholeheartedly so that
it can work for us. To refuse to apply this principle is to forfeit its
benefits.

 

                                               If ye be
willing and obedient, ye shall eat

                                              
the good of the land [Isaiah 1:19].

 

God expects us
to welcome wholeheartedly the idea of planting our tithe as a seed into his work
regularly in order to cause the heavens to open to us so our pilgrimage on
earth would be hassle free, struggle free and comfortable.

 

One-tenth of all
your income is the golden seed that guarantees a great financial future. Plant
your seed; do not eat it. Take your tithe to your regular place of worship and
pay it there. Do not take it just anywhere. Plant all of it where you receive
regular spiritual food, nurture and cover. That is how to plant your
tithe-seed.

 

                           Bring
ye all the tithes into the store house, that there may be

                           meat in mine house,
saith the Lord of hosts… if I will not

                           open to you the
windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing,

                           that there shall not
be room enough to receive it [Malachi 3:10]

 

As a matter of
fact, the tenth of all your income belongs to God. It is his portion in your
finances. It is sacred to Him. Just as God forbade Adam from touching the tree
of knowledge of good and evil, so also God forbids anyone who walks with Him
from tampering with the tithe. He will not negotiate the tithe with anyone.
Yes, one-tenth of your income is not yours but God’s portion in your income. To
spend it is to rob God.

 

                             And all the tithe of the land,
whether of the seed of the

                             land, or of the
fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy

                             unto the LORD [Leviticus
27:30]

 

Many Christians
labour under self-imposed curses just because they touched God’s portion in
their finances. When we touch God’s portion in our finances it provokes a
strong protest from heaven. The result is the locking up the heavens to stop
the flow of abundance.

 

                            Will a man rob God? Ye have robbed me,
but ye say

                            wherein have we
robbed thee? IN TITHES AND

                           
OFFERINGS. YE ARE CURSED WITH A CURSE

                            FOR YE HAVE ROBBED
ME, even this whole

                            nation. [Malachi
3:8-9] emphasis
mine

 

God says tithes
defaulters are robbing Him, so he voiced his protest. The protest of God would
result in a closed heaven. You are a robber if you touch God’s portion in your
finances. If you had the right to do with your tithe whatever you please, God
would not say you are robbing him. To rob is to take what belongs to others
illegally. It is to steal. Thus, you are a robber when you take what belong to
others without their consent. Look, whatever you think about it would not
change God’s mind on the issue. All he wants from you is obedience and
compliance to his word, “Bring ye all tithe…” and see God prosper you
exceedingly.

 

The heaven over
the head of many people is brass, and ground beneath their feet is iron. And
what can grow on an arid ground? When the rain of God’s blessing comes, it
falls on them as powder and dust just because they starve the work of God and
squander God’s portion in their finances on their lust. This is why God broke
out against them in a devastating protest. Where do you escape to after you rob
God’s temple? [Romans 2:22, NIV]. Refusing to pay your tithe is robbing God’s
temple.

 

After you have
starved his ministers, frustrated the work of the gospel by your refusal to
release God’s portion in your income, how would the heaven open to you when you
cry out for help? This is why your heaven is closed and the devourer is holding
a field day in your life. The only remedy is to come out of disobedience. Then
God will deal with the enemies of progress in your life and make you a wonder
to your world. [Malachi 3:11-12]

 

A woman dared
God along this line. In protest, God refused to heal her bad eye though God’s
healing virtue was overwhelmingly present. Here is the full story in R. W.
Schambach’s own words.

 

A woman came to
our crusade for days in a row. She was blind in one eye and she didn’t get
healed.

 

A. A. Allen said
to her, “you’re not doing something God asked you to do.” She said, “I know
that”.

 

“Well, why do
you want me to pray for you? Get on out of here and do what God told you to
do.”

 

She came back
the second night, still blind in that eye. “Did you do what God told you to
do?” Inquired Allen

“No!” She
answered.

 

“Go right on. I’m not wasting my prayers”.

 

Third night, she came again. The man of God said, “Did you do what
God told you to do?”

 

No! She was
trying to sneak by him in the healing line. She turned around, got halfway down
the ramp, and she stopped and said, “All right, Lord, I will pay my tithes” When
she said that, the blind eye opened. Nobody had to lay hands on her.

 

To cap it up,
R.W. Schambach stated that disobedience hinders God’s blessings from getting
through to us. And that if we don’t tithe, we are walking in gross disobedience
to God. Obey, so you can eat the good of the land.

 

                                And whatever
we ask, we receive of him, BECAUSE WE

                               
KEEP HIS COMMANDMENT, and do those things that

                                are pleasing in
his sight. [1 John 3:22] emphasis mine

 

Look, the
believer can overcome all anti-progress forces that war against his life if he
would serve God selflessly, diligently and obediently [Job 36:11].

 

Stop resisting
God and let him have his way in your life. Give him his due in your finances
and see him break out against anti-progress forces that closed the heaven over
your life.