Discerning Between Closed Doors and Contended Doors | Acts 12 Inspirational Christian Sermon | John Giftah

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Tonight's Episode

When GOD Says “No” vs “Not Yet” | Discerning GOD's Guidance for your life

In this message, John Giftah shares a powerful revelation from Acts 12 — how the early church discerned between closed doors and contended doors. When James was killed, the church did not pray for his resurrection because that was a closed door, but when Peter was imprisoned, they prayed earnestly for his release — and GOD opened that contended door. Through this sermon, you’ll learn how to:

Recognize when to let go of a closed door.
Persevere and pray through a contended door.
Avoid confusion and discouragement when facing delays or losses.

Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist and founder of John Gifta International Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

Speaker 2: One of the questions a lot of people ask is John, how do I know this is a door that is closed and I need to learn to move on from it? Or is this a door that's a contented door? It is closed right now, but I need to fight for it. I need to pray about it, and I need to stay in faith and God will honor it by opening that door. See, I want you to understand. In the Book of Acts, chapter twelve, there's a moment when the King Herod has killed Apostle James and he is now in a place where he has taken apostle Peter, and he wants to do the same.

Speaker 2: So the Bible says in verse five that while Peter was in prison, the church prayed for him earnestly. See, I wanted to understand something here that, you know, the church has just freshly seen that there's par in prayer, there's you know, there are miracles happening. Jesus raised people from the dead. But here's the thing, none of them actually thought about praying for the resurrection of James. You think about this, They did not pray for James's resurrection, but they prayed for Peter's release.

Speaker 2: Even if you've see in the later chapters of Acts, there's a moment when they oppositively raises a dead man back to life, which means that resurrection and those powerful miracles were still happening those times. So I wanted to think about this. What made them realize that James was a closed door, but Peter was going to be a contented door. So when you think about this, when we see about James he dies, Jesus had already prophesied about the kind of death, and the thought sure that the James and John actually the sons of Gebety will actually have.

Speaker 2: So they kind of knew that, okay, things are going to be bad. And you see that the church did not pray for his resurrection. The church knew this was a closed door, and they started moving forward. Whereas when you look at John chapter twenty one and in verse eighteen, Jesus speaks to Peter, and Jesus says something where in a phrase he says, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you to where you don't want to go. And verse nineteen says Jesus indicated the kind of death that Peter would have which will glorify God in a sense.

Speaker 2: What I wanted to understand is there was the word called old, which means that there was a word that God had prophesied or spoken or a promised over his life, saying that Peter will die as an old man. So because of that word from Jesus, they knew that this was not the end of the story. They knew this was not the closed door. That's why they started praying earnestly till that door which was closed, opened up and Peter was miraculously released. So this is the way I want you to discern between a closed door and a contented door.

Speaker 2: A close door is something that you know that God has spoken and God has positive in your spirit, knowing that this is not going to happen anymore, just move on. Whereas when you look at a contented door, you know God has promised and shown you visions and you know you need to fight against it and you will eventually see that that close is going to open up at the right appointed time. In Jesus name.

Speaker 1: You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta, we hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the John Gifta YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, interviews and more. Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts, and don't forget to check out the best selling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I which will help you understand your identity and the latest number one best seller Unveil your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it.

Speaker 1: Make sure to leave a rating and review and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description. And if you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www dot John gifted dot com. See you on the next episode of The Fuel for the A Soul with John Gifta. God bless you, M