Happy New Year, friend! I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the year than to share some of my favorite keys for spiritual growth. Several weeks ago, my pastor announced that the prophetic direction of our church for this year would be “open heavens”. When I heard the phrase, my heart immediately latched on to it and I felt a peace about it spiritually. I knew that this wasn’t just a word for my church, but a directive from the Holy Spirit for me personally.

The concept of open heavens is taken from the Bible in Genesis 28:10-17 where it tells of the story of Jacob’s Ladder. In this story, Jacob lays down to sleep and during the night he has a vision. In the vision, he sees a stairway from the earth leading to heaven, and angels ascending and descending on it. Moreover, at the top of the stairway, he sees the Lord who speaks to him, promising Jacob an inheritance, blessing, and protection.

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

In a nutshell “open heavens” describes a state of unusual, unrestricted access to God that includes more intimate – even supernatural – encounters with Him. It entails supernatural favor, protection, promotion, and increase. Jacob’s life after this encounter reflected all of this. He was protected from his brother Esau who wanted to kill him. He prospered financially even though he was working for a man who unfairly changed his wages 10 times and cheated him. And he had a second even closer encounter with God in which he actually wrestled with the Lord and walked away with yet another blessing.

Open heavens, as great as it sounds, does require an investment on our part. We have a part to play in our own spiritual growth and in drawing closer to the Lord. Open heavens don’t come to the casual or lukewarm. No, this level of relationship with God requires we be serious about growing spiritually, So without further ado, let’s get into these 5 keys to spiritual growth.

Give greater priority to spending time with God in prayer, Bible study, and fasting

I’m a firm believer that you only know God as well as you know His word, and that’s not just my opinion. Jesus Himself says that all of the scriptures testify of Him (John 5:39) and in John 1:14 we are told that Jesus is the word of God wrapped in flesh. The easiest way to get to know Jesus is by spending time communicating with Him.

Prayer is a powerful means of having a dialogue with God. I like to pour my heart out to Him then get quiet so He can respond. After prayer, I like to open up my Bible and study. This is yet another opportunity for God to speak to me. Studying the scriptures also helps us learn more about God and His character and about who we are as His sons and daughters. The scriptures are literally full of keys to spiritual growth. Lastly, fasting is an important practice because it teaches us to quiet our natural desires in order to discipline ourselves to hear God more clearly. When we practice all three of these regularly, we position ourselves for closer encounters with God.

Increase your service to God.

If there is one thing I have learned in the 17 years since I gave my heart to Christ, it’s that He values and honors our service. When we seek to put Him and His church first, He takes care of what is important to us as well. Hebrews 6:10 ensures us that “God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do.” and in Matthew 6:33 we are told to seek God and His kingdom first, and then everything we need will be given to us.

This year I’m challenging myself to step up in my service to God. I noticed with the craziness of 2020 that I had pulled back from volunteering in church and just being there for people in general. This year, I’m renewing my passion for God by re-committing to serving in His house regardless of how busy I currently am. Spiritual growth calls for us to make serving Him and His people a priority.

Make giving financially to God a priority

This may be a bit controversial because the subject of money and church is always touchy. I personally don’t have any reservations about giving in church because I know that I am giving to God through the church. My responsibility is to the Lord just as the church leaders have a responsibility to steward what they are given well. I also chose to join a church that operates in integrity and transparency, so that helps. Moving along …

In Matthew 6:21 Jesus tells His disciples that you can tell where a person’s heart is by looking at where their money goes. It’s so true! We invest financially in the things we value. This year I am increasing my giving, not to buy a blessing from the Lord, but to show Him that my heart is in Him and the work He is doing through the church. I cannot expect God to open heavens over me if I will not even open my hands to Him.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” – Luke 6:38

Invest in learning

Although one of the benefits of living under open heavens is promotion, I don’t think promotion should be our main focus. Too often we focus on being promoted when we really should be investing in making ourselves promotable. What good is it to ask God to elevate us to a place that our character or skillset cannot sustain us?

Rather than bombarding heaven for promotion, I’m being intentional about learning and developing. I’m focused on developing more discipline and self-control (pro tip: fasting helps with this!). I’m taking classes on writing and blogging so that I can become excellent in my vocation. Just because God called me to write and gave me the gift to do so, doesn’t mean I’m ready to be paraded out to the world. This gift must be honed, practiced, and perfected. One of the reasons the Apostle Paul was so powerful and impactful was because he was a scholar. He knew what he believed and why and was skilled in his interpretation and understanding of the scriptures. He devoted himself to learning as much as he could about his calling. Spiritual growth doesn’t come without investing. We must put in the time and work to perfect that which God has given us to use for His glory.

Make room for increase

This is often overlooked, but it is one of the most important keys for spiritual growth. Could you imagine expecting twins but doing nothing to prepare for their arrival? Imagine knowing you were adding two babies into your family but not buying a single crib, car seat, or bassinet. We understand naturally the need to make room for increase but we oftentimes fail to do this for spiritual things.

If we’re to experience open heavens, we must get into the practice of making room for God and what He wants to do. For me, this looks like eliminating distractions (i.e. social media) in order to make room in my schedule so that I’ll have the time to actually do the aforementioned keys above. It doesn’t matter how much I’d like to fast and pray if I don’t intentionally set aside time for it in my schedule. We have to give God space and time for encounters to occur.

2020 was a rough year indeed but I truly believe that regardless of what happens this year, it can still be our best year ever if it’s our best year spiritually. I believe that God’s will for all of His children is for us to live under an open heaven – to have unrestricted, intimate, and supernatural access to Him that shows up in tangible ways in our everyday affairs. I’m not saying the year will end with you getting the job of your dreams, a new car, and a raise. Though material blessing can be a result, open heavens is about much more than that. It is about being in step with God so much so that He shows up for you in ways you could only imagine.

We can’t get there by being lackadaisical though. It’s going to require us to invest time to pray, fast, and study the word. It will require a sacrifice of our time, service, money, and talents. It requires us to hone the gifts God gave us in order to offer them back to Him better than how He gave them to us. Open heavens is about loving God enough to do whatever it takes to get as close as possible to Him. And after the year we just had, I think we can all agree that close to Him is exactly where we need to be.

Related Posts:

How to Show Up for Yourself: Reflections on my 30th Birthday

Are You Spiritually Starving?