Frankie Mazzapica - Identifying Doors God Is Opening
The title of the message is «Identifying God’s Open Doors,» and we’re going to dive right into it. This is how we’ll approach it: we’ll discuss the scripture from which the entire message was birthed. It’s in Revelation 3:8, where the Lord says to you, «I know everything you do; I know everything you’ve done; I know everything about you. I have opened a door for you that no one can close.» It goes on to say, «I know that you have little strength, but you have kept my word, and you have not denied me.» I have three major points for you. The first major point is that whenever we can tell that the Lord has opened a door for us, there are certain earmarks—certain things that you can identify and clearly see when God opens a door for you. We’re going to talk about that.
The second major point is this: «Am I opening this door? Am I causing this opportunity to open, or is God opening the door?» We’ll discuss how to decipher that. The third major point is how to ensure that we don’t miss God’s opportunities. So we’re diving into that. Those are my three major points, but I want to highlight a couple of things from that verse, as I don’t have time to preach every single part of it that came alive to me while studying.
For a quick sidebar to address those other sermons I almost preached, it says, «I know everything you do.» I don’t want you to dwell too much on it, but think back on all parts of your life. I, too, have those moments where things weren’t your best hour—you weren’t making the best decisions in those seasons, and you wouldn’t tell anybody. The Lord says, «I’ve seen those seasons; I know everything about you.» And when you look back and say, «You know what? I made some good decisions back there. That was one of my finest moments,» the Lord replies, «I see your rough patches; I see the decisions that you regret; I see the high moments of your life where you made great choices. I look at all of it. I know everything you’ve done, and I’m still opening a door of opportunity before you.»
He goes on to say, «I’m going to open that door even though I know that you’re weak.» The reason for that is because you have obeyed me. Now some of you may think, «Well, I haven’t done very well at obeying Him.» The Bible says in John 6:44, «No man, no woman comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.» God gives you a desire to come to His house; He places a desire to love Jesus deep in your heart. What’s funny is, even when you decide, «I’m not going to church anymore,» God remains in the back of your mind; He won’t leave you. He keeps pulling you, drawing you, compelling you. Look where you are right now—listening to the word of God. He knows that you love Him! Come on! He knows that you love Him! When God looks at you, He sees your deepest desires; He knows that you love Him more than anything else in the world. And because of that, the Holy Spirit draws you to the Lord, and God continues to open doors of opportunity before you. He knows you’re weak, but He’s still opening doors because He loves you. You are His prized possession! Don’t you love God for that?
Let me jump into the first point: earmarks—ways you can tell God is opening a door for you. I don’t know what door it is, but I can tell that He’s opening one because I see the earmarks. The first sign is when God begins to shift your relationships. There are relationships you may have had for years, and all of a sudden, for no apparent reason, they begin to drift out of your life. I grew up playing basketball, and I was the kid who played outside because we didn’t have video games or screens. Does anyone remember that? So, I started as a kid who played basketball with friends, and we grew up through middle school and high school, even after. For some strange reason, some of my close friends began to drift out of my life. Some moved to another city, but even then, I stayed close to some friends. What I noticed is that out of nowhere, some of my closest friends just left, sometimes getting mad at me over trivial things. I can say careless things; I know how to be insensitive.
When people leave my life or stop talking to me over small things, I think, «You know me; we’ve been friends for years.» When God starts shifting relationships, on the flip side, new relationships begin to come into our lives. You may not have even known that friend two months ago, and all of a sudden, they start coming into your life! This is how God begins to shift seasons. In Daniel 2:21, the Bible says that God starts and stops seasons. He looks at you and says, «Okay, you’ve been in this season long enough; it’s been tough, but now I’m going to shift your relationships.» Another way you know God is changing seasons is when the things that used to excite you no longer do.
I remember early in my ministry, as a youth pastor, I would jump in front of a train for those teenagers. I loved those kids. But out of nowhere, nine years later, I started craving another ministry. I began to see myself as a pastor, and my affection for the teenagers wasn’t quite as strong. It wasn’t that I didn’t love them, but I could feel my passion for them fading. Those moments are very scary, but this is how God starts changing seasons and begins to open doors.
A third sign is when you suddenly feel compelled to pray. It’s kind of crazy because just a few weeks earlier, prayer didn’t cross your mind, and now you’re compelled to talk to the Lord, worship, and listen to preachers or worship music. This pulling in that direction signifies the Lord saying, «Hey, I have an open door for you.» You may not even realize there’s an open door until you’ve already walked through it. Point number two addresses when you’re unsure if you’re kicking the door open or if God is opening it for you. I’ve told God, «If there’s a door you don’t want me to walk through, you need to make it impossible for me to take another step forward.» I know myself—I will go the wrong direction!
If I kick a door open and say, «God is with me,» I’ll drop the God card and assume, «God told me.» I remember I had an incredible business idea and thought, «Why don’t more people do this? I’m about to be rich!» I told my wife I was going to buy all these tools—drills, screwdrivers, saws—all the tools everyone needs in their home. I was so convinced it would work that I arranged for an 18-wheeler to come from California to a mini-storage unit to unload those tools. I prepared them on little pallets and sent them off to Houston for people to bid on. I was sure that this bidding war would bring me money; I thought I could sell just 20 pallets out of the 80 I had, and I would break even, making the rest profit.
Instead, I ended up with those 80 pallets for a long time, finally losing not only my money but also going thousands of dollars into debt. I didn’t even have that kind of money to start this business! When I told my wife how much we lost, there was a comma in that number. I had lost so much money! I looked back and realized that wasn’t a God idea; it was mine. When you don’t get what you want, sometimes you gain experience instead. Are you with me? Now, I know what you’re thinking: «I have enough experience, and I’m ready to get what I want!»
When you’re kicking a door open, your anxiety is usually higher than your prayer frequency. If you find yourself worrying more than you’re praying, it’s a sign that you may be forcing something. Conversely, when you’re praying more than you’re worrying, doors seem to open. When God is opening a door, it becomes evident something begins to happen that you couldn’t have arranged yourself; it goes beyond your imagination.
I remember early in our marriage; my wife and I tried to buy a house. I would walk around the block freaking out, unsure if we could afford it, but I was declaring, «Devil, get behind me!» Thankfully, the deal fell through, and I was relieved. A few months later, God opened a door for us to buy another house at 75% off. We bought it for only 25% of its value! The bank wouldn’t even give us a loan for that amount—they said something strange was happening, and I had to go to a friend in banking who facilitated the deal. He said if it weren’t for my relationship with God, he wouldn’t have signed it.
I remember when I was around 22 in Rockford, Illinois. I had moved out of my house at 19 for Bible College, making only $51 a week, which had to stretch! I quickly learned that a 99-cent hamburger from Wendy’s was a bargain. The pastor’s wife was invited to speak at a conference in Vancouver, Canada, and one of the girls driving her around came back and told me, «If I’ve heard the Lord correctly, this one’s for Frankie.» When I saw her, I simply knew, «I’m going to marry that girl.»
We ended up getting married two years later. I could not have imagined that the Lord would look at the entire country and realize that no woman would say yes to me. So, He brought me to another country altogether! When God opens doors for you, there’s minimal effort on your part; the opportunity flows to you. David was anointed to be king as a young boy but never pursued the crown. He honored King Saul so much that he fled and hid in caves, even had opportunities to kill the king for the crown, yet he never did so. Eventually, King Saul died on the battlefield, and someone brought his crown to David, saying, «I believe this belongs to you.»
He could never have imagined that was how he would become king! When God opens a door for you, you’re not fretting or pushing. When God opens that door, it’s something unforeseen that was simply brought to you. Does anyone love God for that? Let me summarize—though I’m not done. The first point is that to notice when God is about to open a door, He begins to shift things in your life. The second point shows that when you’re unsure if it’s you or God opening the door, the blessings come to you; you’re not chasing them down, they’re coming your way.
When blessings arrive, the most challenging part is discerning which is a promise from God for later and which you’re supposed to act on now. This knowing comes from prayer. This transitions us nicely into the third point: How do you ensure you don’t miss the will of God? Like you, I want to complete what God has called me to do—to not walk away from an open door to pursue my own desires. How do you ensure you walk through those doors?
Here’s an analogy: When someone is ahead of you in a restaurant and opens the door for themselves and then holds it open for you, you didn’t ask them to, nor did you beg for that opportunity. It’s the kindness of their heart. Now you see the door open in front of you. How do you actually walk through it? You simply walk forward! It’s not a trick question—what do you do? You walk forward!
When God has an open door for you, and you feel it in your spirit without pushing, the opportunity is coming to you; you feel compelled to pray, and recognize the shifting taking place. The practical ways to walk forward?
Number one: In Philippians 3:13, Paul advises to forget what’s behind. Don’t dwell on past mistakes or even the great things you’ve done. The enemy will use past mistakes to slow you down from moving forward or will try to fill you with pride to hinder your progress. Instead, forget the past and look ahead at what lies before you; press on toward the goal for the prize God has for you in Christ Jesus.
The second point for moving forward is found in Psalms 34:1, which says, «I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.» So, whether you’re in your car or walking down a hallway, declare, «I love you, Lord! You are great and mighty!» When you are praising God, you are pursuing Him.
Now, I’d like everyone to stand with me, please. For five years, at this time in the service, we’ve played videos of people being physically healed, as every Sunday, people experience physical healing. Not everyone we pray for gets healed, but this happens regularly. However, I feel the Lord is shifting seasons in my life, saying, «I don’t want you to play videos every Sunday.» We might do that from time to time, but I want to build faith in the room so those who need physical healing will be healed.
I also want to extend this to those who don’t need physical healing but do need healing in their hearts. If you’re feeling discouraged, that voice of discouragement is the enemy. The Lord can fast-forward your life!
Let me give you this example: In 1 Corinthians 11:23, Paul says, «On the night Jesus was betrayed, He broke the bread and said, 'This is my body, broken for you.'» He then held up a cup, saying, «This is the blood I shed for you.» It’s fascinating because Paul wrote this; he wasn’t one of the twelve disciples. He wasn’t even in the room with Jesus during communion. In fact, at that time, he was hunting Christians to have them killed.
You have to ask, «How did he know?» When he was converted to Christianity, one of the first things that happened was that the Lord drew him to the desert of Arabia for three years. Jesus had a public ministry for three years during that time, but He took Paul aside to teach him. In Galatians 1:12, Paul states that he received his teachings from direct revelation from Jesus. Eventually, Paul wrote more than half of the New Testament.
Let’s consider Paul as a case study. He seemingly wasted three years while Jesus did miracles. But then Jesus said, «I’ll catch you up!» Come on, put your hands together for that! I will catch you up!
So for every time you think discouraging thoughts, remember that’s the enemy. If God doesn’t remember your past, then you don’t need to either. When your past comes to mind, you should tell the enemy, «I know that’s you; you’re a liar.»
Now, I want you to hold both hands up to the Lord. Think about what you want God to do in your life. Every single person in this room needs a miracle. Keep your eyes closed and let me pray for you.
Holy Spirit, come into this room right now and move. You’ve already been here, but I ask that you move more powerfully and confirm in their hearts, allowing them to know that they’re being touched right now. Holy Spirit, do that work!
I speak freedom into your life. Every single demonic stronghold must leave. We command every addiction, fear, and disbelief to be rebuked now in Jesus' name. Lord, touch every heart in this room and draw them to You. I speak freedom and peace in its place right now.
If you’re in this room and know that if your heart were to stop beating in the next five minutes, you don’t know where you would spend eternity; you are the most important person in this room. It’s time to lay down your ego, pride, and persona. Enough is enough!
The Bible says that if you are ashamed of Him before people, He will be ashamed of you before God. Holy Spirit, begin to touch every heart in this room. I say, «Enough is enough!»
Now, I’d like our prayer partners to come down. If you feel like the Lord is touching you in any way, please come out of your seat and pray with someone. Ushers, need you at the bottom of each row, so as people come down, you can direct them to the first available prayer partner.
There’s no official dismissal; you can leave whenever you’re ready. We’ll sing this song one time through before anyone goes. Young lady, I’d like to pray for you—if it’s okay.
May the Lord bless you; may He keep you; may His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May His countenance be lifted up on you and bring you peace in Jesus' name. Amen.