The Heavens Will Open
Wade E Taylor

Adam and Eve were formed from dust (created to be dependent) and placed in a very favorable environment (Garden of Eden).  The Lord came regularly to walk and commune with them, as they had been created for this purpose.

Their being “dependent” required the opportunity to become “independent.”  Therefore, they were given a command that they were required to obey.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it.”  Genesis 2:17a

This was the only thing they had to remember, and they failed.  Now, as a result of their transgression, they are “hiding” from the presence of God.

“And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”  Genesis 3:8a

“They heard the voice of the Lord.”  The Word tells us that this voice was “walking.”  It was not “while they were walking, they heard the voice,” but they heard the voice “walking.”  Voices do not walk, but the voice of the Lord does indeed walk.

From this, there are two foundational and extremely important things that we can learn.

The first one is that “they heard His voice,” even though they were hiding from the Lord.  No matter how far we have progressed in our spiritual life and walk, or, no matter what problem we may have, the Lord is speaking to us.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”  Revelation 3:20

Our part is to listen and respond.  At times, we may feel that the Lord is hiding from us, and not speaking to us.  This is not because we are incapable of hearing His voice.  Rather, it is because we are not spending time in His presence, or, we are unwilling to wait in His presence long enough to become “quiet,” so we can hear.  We are hearing more than we may realize, but the enemy has kept us so busy that we are not able to separate His voice (spirit) from all the other sounds we hear (soul).

We usually have a preconceived idea as what we desire the Lord to say to us, and we are listening for that.  Instead, the Lord may be saying something quite different, and as a result, we do not respond to His words as we should.

The second one is that the voice of the Lord is “walking.”

This tells us that there is a progression in what He is saying (His voice is walking).  He has something to say to us today, which is beyond what He said yesterday.  And tomorrow, He will have something to say that is beyond what He is saying today, which will take us beyond our present spiritual understanding and experience.  If we are still living on our past experiences, we need to recognize that there is more.

The Lord came in the “cool of the day.”  This “cool of the day” is in the evening.  It is a “special atmosphere” at the end of the day, where, in the beauty of the sunset, the dew begins to rise and produce a sense of purity and cleansing of the air.  The Lord was not only particular about “where” He came (the garden He had prepared), but also, “when” He came (the cool of the day) – He desired a particular atmosphere that was conducive to communion and fellowship.

“But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.”  Matthew 6:6

We should carefully prepare the place where we meet with the Lord.  We are to push back all powers of darkness, and sanctify this “set apart place” so the Son (Jesus) can brightly shine upon us (an open heaven).  In this especially prepared atmosphere, the Lord will come to fellowship with us and speak into our lives.  If we have ever experienced an “open heaven,” we will have been ruined forever, and can never again be satisfied with information about the past, or future.

A spiritual atmosphere (open heaven) does not just happen, we must contend for it.  A key to our having an open heaven in our devotional place, or our meetings, is the quality of our worship (the unity and harmony of our hearts and voices flowing up to the Lord).  When the harmony of our worship penetrates heaven, heaven moves into our presence.

The presence and glory of the Lord being manifested in our places of meeting with Him is the result of our taking time to prepare the atmosphere to be as “the cool of the evening.”  Now, the Lord will come and speak a fresh word to us, as we commune and walk with Him.

Many years ago, the Lord spoke that we were to meet in a particular room.  There was a larger room in another area, and because we could no longer fit in the room of the Lord’s choosing, we moved.

After a short time, I noticed that we had moved, but the Lord had not.  Fortunately, we had folding chairs.  One morning, I said to everyone, “Pick up your chair, we are going back to the room where we belong.”  Someone said to me, “Oh no, it does not matter, as God is everywhere (omnipresence).  However, the Lord desires to make Himself personally known (localized presence).  This requires obedience on our part, as there are specific locations that are honored by the Lord.

When we recognize and respond to this, the heavens will open over the “set apart place.”  Therefore, we went back and the Lord was there, waiting for us.  He moved marvelously in the meeting that day to let us know that we were in the place where He intended us to be.  It does matter where we are.

There are certain places that are “marked” by the Lord.  Not so much because of external things, but because there is something that relates to this chosen place.  It may be that the place had been dedicated to the Lord, or unknown to us, special prayer had gone up to the Lord from there.  Our part is to hear and obey.  When this happens, the heavens will open.

We are living toward the end of man’s time, and approaching the time of the Millennial Kingdom, which will come through direct divine activity.  The Lord’s voice continues to walk.  He is calling those who are responsive and obedient to His voice, to come apart into the “garden” that they have prepared to meet with Him.