Perry Stone - Opening the Gates of Heaven: Walk in the Favor of Answered Prayer and Blessing

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OPENING THE GATES OF HEAVEN by Perry Stone
Published by Charisma House
Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group
600 Rinehart Road
Lake Mary, Florida 32746
www.charismahouse.com

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are from the Amplified Bible. Old Testament copyright 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright 1954, 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission.

Cover design by Justin Evans
Design Director: Bill Johnson

Copyright 2012 by Perry Stone
All rights reserved

Visit the authors website at www.voe.org.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Stone, Perry F.
Opening the gates of heaven / Perry Stone.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-1-61638-653-5 (trade paper) ISBN 978-1-61638-721-1 (ebook) 1.
PrayerChristianity. I. Title.
BV220.S76 2012
248.32dc23

2011044343

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication.

DEDICATION

I consider myself highly blessed to have been led by the Holy Spirit into full-time ministry, having witnessed three other generations of ministers before me. I am also highly honored to be the son of Fred Stone, the son of a West Virginia coal miner, converted to Christ in the 1949 Coal-field Revivala little-known revival that lasted for forty-two months, birthed in McDowell County, West Virginia, near the time of the outbreak of the Korean War (19501953).

I carry my dads name, Perry Fred Stone. However, with two people who had the same name in the house, to prevent confusion Dad was always identified by his middle name, Fred, in our home. His closest West Virginia friends and family affectionately called him, Brother Freddie. Dad was the greatest example of demonstrating the power of prayer, the joy of worship, and the blessing of giving that I have ever known. He prayed prayers that were answered! I often said, It seemed he walked under an open spiritual window and could access the throne at any moment and see results almost instantly. During his lifetime, when I encountered any type of difficulty, he was the first person I would call, as I always felt he had some type of a hot line that connected directly to God.

He taught me how to pray by example and not just by quoting a scripture. In this book, among many important keys, I will also share twelve things my father taught me about prayer, which I believe will inspire you and assist you in your prayer life. I will also dig deep into the concept of financial blessing through obedience and prayer and the subject of Gods favorwhat favor is and how it works. It is my goal to teach you about opening the gate of heaven, but not just opening the gate, but walking under an open window. Dad is in heaven now, but his example will be taught to hundreds of thousands of future intercessors and prayer warriors!

A PROUD SON OF FRED STONE,
PERRY STONE JR.

CONTENTS

I T MAY COME as a spiritual surprise to some that after more than thirty-five years of full-time ministry, including meeting and preaching to hundreds of thousands of believers, I have discovered that it is actually possible to pray prayers that, although heard by people sitting in the same pew, are not heard in heaven! It is also possible to offer God words of praise and even financial offerings that are accepted by earthly ministers but are not recognized in the heavenly temple, the dwelling place of the Almighty (Rev. 4). In some cases, the prayers, praise, and financial gifts become a systematic routine-based ritual that may make the participant feel better about himself or herself, but eventually it gives birth to frustration. Weeks or months may pass while the participants life remains void of answered prayer with no demonstration of any major financial, spiritual, or personal breakthrough. The outward worshiper may appear healthy, but a growing, gnawing void exists inwardly. For some, the heavenswhere all spiritual blessings originateare figuratively covered in brass, preventing any heavenly blessing from being released to the earth zone.

Throughout the inspired Word of God the Almighty occasionally sent rebukes and correction to the spiritual lives of His covenant people, Israel, including the priests ministering daily at Solomons temple. By the time of the prophet Malachi, the daily rituals and sacrificial offerings had become mere routine, and there was a boredom and weariness overshadowing the minds of the priests (Mal. 1:1213). At that time, what men were offering God was not being received by God (Mal. 2:13). The religious routines seemed outwardly right but were inwardly wrong, because all prayer, worship, and giving must come from a righteous heart and pure motive.

Too many believers are stuck in a weekly routine where you enter the church smiling as you grip the greeters hand, but privately you know you will endure ninety minutes of inner boredom in a performance that many call a worship service. Others, when inviting friends to attend church, brag on the new facility or talk about the good music or inspirational speaker instead of telling their friends that the service will change their lives as they experience a God encounter and enter the very presence of the Lord. It is quite possible to promise living water to thirsty souls only to discover the river has gone dry in the Sunday morning service. In many places, the former days of vibrant spiritual fire have cooled to mere embers of holy smoke!

The lack of breakthrough occurs not just in the realm of meeting spiritual, emotional, and physical needs, but it can also be seen in the area of tithes and offerings. Today there is more preaching from pulpits and during a combined twenty-four hours of Christian television programming on the subject of moneysowing offerings and giving tithesthan at any time in the previous six thousand or so years of mankinds existence! Thousands of sincere believers have consistently and in faith planted their best seed offering in hopes of receiving the promised hundredfold sixty and thirty return (Matt. 13:23), only to find that three years later they are still receiving the same amount in their weekly paychecks.

One older believer told me that he gave almost eight thousand dollars over a period of two years in hopes of getting a major financial breakthrough that had been promised on a telecast. He came to a crisis point where he could not pay for his wifes needed medication. When he contacted two ministries, asking in honest sincerity why he had not received the predicted blessing that had been announced by the minister, one responded in a letter by saying, You do not have enough faith. The second letter said, There must be some sin in your life! This older gentleman and his wife had served God for many decades, and his moral and spiritual life was an example of purity to others. He wept and fell into self-appointed condemnation, not from the Lord, but from the piercing words of the two ministers who wrote to him.