Open Heaven 1 May 2026: The Mighty Hand of God
MEMORISE: And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. 1 Kings 18:46
READ: Nehemiah 2:1-18
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass
15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
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Years ago, I sat for a mathematics examination, and when I was handed the question sheet, I discovered that I could not understand any of the questions.
Even though I was really good at mathematics, my mind had become totally blank. By then, I was sweating profusely.
I looked around me, and I saw my course mates writing earnestly. Since I knew that any student who failed an examination would be allowed to retake it the following year, I decided to leave the examination hall after awhile.
As I was about to stand up, I felt a mighty, though invisible, hand pin me to my seat.
After another 15 minutes of wondering what to do, I decided to go through the questions again.
Suddenly, I realized that my understanding had returned to me, and I could now answer all of them.
I started answering the questions, and I was able to finish answering them within the stipulated time.
By the grace of God, I passed the examination with flying colors.
Several years after the incident, I realized that it was God’s mighty hand that kept me on my seat during the examination, restored my understanding, and gave me supernatural speed.
Even though I started slowly, His hand made me catch up with and even overtake some of my course mates who had started writing before me.
In today’s memory verse, the mighty hand of the Lord rested on Elijah, and he outran the king’s chariot, which must have been pulled by the fastest horses in Israel at the time.
God’s mighty hand gave him supernatural speed. Likewise, in today’s Bible reading, when Nehemiah wanted to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it, the mighty hand of God gave him great favor before the heathen king he worked for and also before the leaders in Jerusalem.
He experienced supernatural speed in rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem because of God’s mighty hand upon him.
Beloved, if you are a child of God, you can also experience the mighty hand of God upon you by spending quality time in prayer and studying His word daily.
You must also humble yourself before Him and commit all your ways to Him so that you can receive His grace that births supernatural speed (James 4:6).
I pray for you today that the mighty hand of God will rest upon you and give you supernatural clarity and speed in all areas of your life, in Jesus’ name.
PRAYER POINT
Father, please let Your mighty hand rest upon me and grant me supernatural understanding, speed, and favor, in Jesus’ name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
Open Heaven 1 May 2026
