Open Doors

We have been looking at how to pray according to what Jesus said in Matthew 7:7 – 11. Jesus also instructs us on how to receive from the Father in prayer (Luke 11:9-13). Last week we looked at knocking. We saw that Jesus is the door that brings us salvation (John 10:7-9; Revelation 3:20). Today we are going to look at open doors.

Once we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we not only have access to the Father and eternal life, but we also inherit all the Blessings and power of God that Christ’s finished work on the cross has provided for us here on the earth, abundant life. Jesus opens the door to experience the kingdom of God now, His peace, joy, rest, etc.

Our asking God opens doors to receiving from Him and receive His Blessings. He won’t force His Blessings on us. We need to come into agreement with Him and what He has done if we want them, i.e., healing, provision, protection, deliverance, etc. The key is to ask Him, e.g., a door to preach, a door of utterance to speak the word with the power to transform, a door of favor, e.g., at work – Psalm 75:6-7; 1 Peter 5:6; (We can read of many instances in the Bible when God gave favor and promoted His people for His purposes and their good, e.g., Esther, Joseph, David, Daniel, etc.); to open wombs – Hebrews 11:11; Genesis 25:21; 30:22; 1 Samuel 1:11, 17; Luke 1:36-37.

We need God to open the door. We are dependent on Him, but we have influence with Him, who is all-powerful. Jesus is not only the door but also holds the key that opens and closes doors for us as well (Isaiah 22:22). When He opens a door, no man can close it.

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things say He who is holy, He who is true,’ “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts and shuts, and no one opens:” “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My Word, and have not denied My name.” Revelation 3:7-8 (NKJV)

He opens doors of opportunity in our lives. When God opens a door, it is a door of love and a door of hope (Hosea 2:15). What God is opening to us and is behind the door, is what we need and greater than we can imagine (Ephesians 3:20)!

We have a choice of whether to go through those open doors or not. Sometimes we’re not sure we want to go through the open door, because we don’t know what is on the other side. We need to trust that God knows what He is doing, that He is good, and has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). We are not to let fear stop us (2 Timothy 1:7; Joshua 1:9).

Sometimes we see a hindrance at the door, and we must overcome the hindrance to walk across the threshold. Sometimes the enemy tries to block our way through lies and fear. A hindrance may come in the form of an excuse, even a legitimate one, to convince us not to cross the threshold and not to go through the door that the Lord has opened to us. But we need to set our hearts on going forward where the Holy Spirit is leading us. He shows us the way that we should go, and has a blessing for us on the other side (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:25; Isaiah 30:21)!

We need to have the courage to walk through the door and to know that He will make way for us so we are not stuck at the threshold when we can’t see what’s on the other side of the door. We need to trust Him, and His timing fully and go forward in faith.

In the Bible, He opened prison doors to release imprisoned apostles, (Acts 5:19; 12:5-10; 16:26), and  He opened doors for the Gospel and ministries (1 Corinthians 16:8-9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3; Acts 14:7). Nothing is impossible for God. What He did for them, He will do for you! He is not a respecter of persons.

He has also given us keys that will open doors and bring answers to our prayers. The following are some keys that open doors so that we can receive answers to our prayers. Faith is a key that opens the door in prayer, believing that we will receive what we need (Mark 11:23-24; Luke 17:6). Another key to receiving answers to our prayers is to ask the Father to forgive our sins and to forgive others (Luke 11:4).

Our words will open doors in the spiritual realm. Death and life are in the power of our tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Our words matter (Proverbs 8:8; 16:23; 17:4; 21:23; 31:26). When we decree and declare (Job 22:28) or pray God’s Word in faith over our lives and situations, His power will be released to bring the answer and cause it to manifest in the natural realm. Jesus has given us the keys of the kingdom to open and close doors through binding and loosing (Matthew 16:19; 18:18). Whatever we allow, will be allowed, and whatever we prohibit will be prohibited.

Jesus is the true door to access the supernatural realm, and He gives us abundant and eternal life. We have access to the spiritual realm through the Holy Spirit (Revelation 4:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:11), and we enter by meditation on His Word, and through prayer, praise and worship, and dreams and visions.

There are false doors into the realm of spiritual darkness that we must not enter, e.g., astral projection, spirit guides, etc. Alternate spirituality or attempts to access or control the supernatural opens the door to evil influences in our lives through either our own or our ancestor’s participation in occult activities. Don’t have anything to do with any occult practices, i.e., astrology, horoscopes, tarot cards, fortune-telling, Ouija boards, spells, witchcraft, sorcery, palm reading, etc. These things put you in place to connect with a real evil supernatural realm, and it opens the door for the enemy to attack and influence your life or your family for evil even if you think it is just harmless fun.

We may have open doors in our lives that have given entrance to the enemy to bring oppression through our behavior (i.e., willful sin, disobedience and rebellion, pride, jealousy, envy, addiction, etc.); through someone else’s sin (i.e., abuse, control, and manipulation, etc.) or passed down generationally. These will need handling through deliverance and the doors closed by asking for forgiveness and repenting of our part, renouncing the spirits operating in our lives that are keeping us in bondage so that we do not partner with them anymore and asking the Holy Spirit to fill us.

I had to deal with a spirit of infirmity that was making me sick that I had allowed to oppress me by opening the door to it through pride. I didn’t know this until I asked the Holy Spirit how I ended up in this situation. I had to repent and ask the Lord for forgiveness for depending on my righteousness, strength, and wisdom and renounce that spirit, then close the door so pride and a spirit of infirmity can’t operate in my life. After I did this, then healing from sickness began to manifest in my life. I guard against the spirit of pride so that it can’t operate in my life again.

We should always ask the Lord for wisdom concerning open doors because not all of them is a door that we should go through. We need to make sure the open door has come from the Lord and is not a trick or a plan of the enemy to distract or mislead us from what God is doing in our life and ministry. Asking, seeking, and knocking, will also help us to learn to hear the voice of the Lord as we look for an answer to an open door.

 When I was looking to attend college, I applied to four different schools in four different states. I didn’t expect to get accepted at all of them, but I got accepted at all four. A door was open to me at each one with both pros and cons. I had to pray to ask and seek the Lord to discover which one to attend that was the best one He had for me.

We also need to recognize when God has shut a door that we should pray about it. We need to hear God’s assignment for us and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading (Acts 16:6-7). Sometimes it is a definite “no,” and we are not to go through that door. Maybe it is to protect us, or it isn’t for right now. We should not try to force it open or go our own way. We need to take it to the Lord in prayer because there are times when our prayers will open the door. God’s “no” is not always the end of the story (see Genesis 18 – 19: 2 Kings 20:1 – 6; Mark 7:24 – 30).

God’s presence opens the door to miracles, breakthroughs, deliverance, and is an invitation to receive His love, grace, mercy, peace, and joy, whatever we need. Worship Him and experience His presence!

Jesus got up early in the morning and went away by Himself to a quiet place to spend time with the Father. He spent all night in prayer before choosing His disciples. When you spend time with the Father in prayer and His presence, you will find Him and the answers you need.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV)