Unlocking the Heavens: Release the Supernatural Power of Your Worship Read Online Free PDF Page A

Contrary to what popular critics assert, Jesus has never had a problem being relevant to the world; He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
    Jesus arrived at the well at the sixth hour (about twelve noon). This was not the normal time for women to fetch water, which was either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The disciples went into town to buy supplies while Jesus waited at the well. The Scripture says specifically that Jesus was weary from the journey and sat down on Jacob’s Well: “Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well: and it was about the sixth hour” (John 4:6). It was there that He encountered a woman whose life desperately needed a healing touch.
    Before getting any deeper into this story, a little-known truth about Jacob’s well must be established. Genesis 12:5-7 (KJV) records the following:
    And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him
.
    God had promised Abram (Abraham) a land; and as he moved into the land, he came to a place called Sichem (also known as Sychar). It was at Sichem that God confirmed His promise to Abraham; so Abraham built an altar to worship God there. It is interesting that Sichem is not mentioned at all in the life of Isaac, Abraham’s son; rather it was mentioned in Jacob’s life. Jacob was Abraham’s grandson. The Scripture skipped a generation. Then, in Genesis 33:18-20, we read that Jacob came to Sichem. There he built another altar.
    Then we read in Joshua 24:32 that Joseph, Jacob’s son, was buried in Shechem—which is the same place as Sichem—in a parcel of ground that Jacob bought for one hundred pieces of silver. Thereafter, the name Sicham, Shechem, or Sychar, is mentioned numerous times throughout the Old Testament. Then, in the New Testament, we read about Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman: “Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there” (John 4:5-6 KJV).
    The altar that Abraham had built when he first came to Sichem had evolved into much more than an altar. Fresh water had been found under the ground and a strong well had been built to serve generations of travelers and the people who had their dwellings nearby. Everyone knew it as Jacob’s Well. In other words—and this is significant—the altar that Abraham had built had become a well of resource.
    The fact that Abraham built an altar of worship created an opportunity for a much later generation to be resourced by revelation. Now, with Jesus’ visit, the well became not just a place to draw water; it was a place of worship again! This portrays one of the most powerful principles that you can ever learn: worship is a mighty resource.
    In fact, you can find this secret within the word
worship
itself. The origins of the English word
worship
come from the Anglo-Saxon compound word
weorthscype
. The first syllable,
weorth
, means “worth, value, or respect,” and scype means “to shape or to build.” Therefore, worship is by definition the creation of worth, value, and respect.
    Worship is vital because it builds something important. We see it again when we read: “You sit as the Holy One. The praises of Israel are your throne” (Psalm 22:3 NCV). When we worship, we are building God a seat to sit upon! Just as the Ark of the Covenant provided a Mercy Seat for God to sit upon, so also our praise creates a place for Him to sit.