FAITH PRESCRIPTION: The word of God is all that makes difference in life.

2 Chronicles 15

The word of God is God. The word of God is His spirit. John 6:63, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” It is written, “Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” (2 Chronicles 15:1-2)It is safe to say God came to Asa through Asa. The need for Asa to hear from God was huge and God came upon Azariah. Only God knows how often He has been coming to you through His servant but you are yet to listen and allow His word to have its way in your life. Azariah kept on with his exhortation while Asa listened. Azariah then concluded his exhortation by stating, “But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”(2 Chronicle 15:7) Exhortation that sounded in the direction of Asa turned things around for Asa, “And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the LORD that was before the vestibule of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 15:8)The word of God which came to Asa heard and engaged the word which came through Azariah. 
It is the same word He sent and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. (Psalm 107:20) Jeremiah 23:29 also testifies, is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Is there any rock of hindrance in your way that needs to be broken? You can ask for the hammer nature of the word of God to break it down. Jeremiah once found the word of God in his time of need for encouragement and he testified, “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)
Is there anything that does not represent God in your life and needs to be burnt off? Engage the word of God, for the word of the LORD is right, and all His work is done in truth.(Psalm 33:4)Remember, it is the same word that the Lord God used in the creation of the whole of heaven and earth. The word of God is all that makes difference in life.

Prayer for today: Ask that the same word which distinguished Asa will sound to distinguish you for His glorious name.    

FAITH CAPSULE: Open your mouth with a deep conviction; confess; trust God and speak out loud, “I am coming out”

Genesis 37

Joseph was acting on his father’s instruction to go and check his brothers when he ended in the pit. It is written, “Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming!  Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (Genesis 37:18-20) Are you in any situation which is representing pit of the wicked? The word of God admonished us stating, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) If you will open your mouth with a deep conviction; confess it; trust God and speak out loud, “I am coming out” You shall come out of every representative of pit in your life, in Jesus name. Be conscious and know that, what you did not confess with conviction in your heart will not convert you in your situation.
When Reuben heard the wicked intent of his brothers concerning Joseph, he came up with suggestion stating, “…Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.”(Genesis 37:22) Joseph did not go into an ordinary pit but into a pit in the wilderness.
Joseph went from his distinctive tunic to a destructive pit; a pit in the wilderness; a pit of no way out; a pit of every kind of life derailment and destruction from getting to his dream. Is your pit closer to that of Joseph’s pit of destruction? With God, no pit is too deep or destructive enough to deny man from getting to one’s center of divine assignment. For Joseph, the pit that was set for his termination was is avenue to God’s center for divine assignment.
The plan and purpose of Joseph’s brother was to make sure the dream was terminated and not come through just as they stated, “…We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (Genesis 37:20) Believe it today, as man proposes to destroy you and afflict you in their wickedness; God will dispose of them by extending His hand of deliverance. You have confessed your deliverance and you shall come out of every pit in Jesus name. Remember, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) God is faithful to deliver.

Prayer for today: Ask God to bring you out of every representative of pit in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Understand that the faith-generated praise is a vital spiritual weapon for winning impossible battles.

Acts 16:25-34

It is an understanding to know God. Ones that know Him fear Him. It is the fear of God that will make man not to depart from God. To fear God is to love Him. Obviously, you can only praise the one you love and the one that you have faith in. Fear God, allow faith to raise you, and praise Him with understanding. In praising God, understand that God will be there to raise you and make you an overcomer over confronting challenges. Understand that the faith-generated praise is a vital spiritual weapon for winning impossible battles in the journey of life.
Paul and Silas, in the prison of termination, stagnation, and destruction, prayed and sang praises to God. It is written, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” (Acts 16:25-26) Paul and Silas engaged praise worship, a weapon that never fails to deliver and deliverance became their portion. Making the choice to praise God instead plunge into fear is the evidence of faith and fear of God more than man.
Jesus spoke about fearing God rather than fear the wicked one stating, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) King David testified in his thanksgiving, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” (2 Samuel 22:4) Jehoshaphat could not have won the battle when he was confronted by Moab and Ammon. He sought the Lord for help and the Lord promised to take over the battle. (2 Chronicles 20:17) The Bible recorded, “Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.”(2 Chronicles 20:32) Today and in the coming days, weeks, months or years, only invest fear in God, reject fear that is not of God; call upon His Holy name just as David testified. In your calling, let Him know He alone is worthy to be praised and you shall be saved from all your enemies. When faith rises, fear will sink; when fear rises, faith will sink. Let your faith rise. Praise Him and fear will fail.         

Prayer for today: Ask God the Most High God; the King of kings; the ancient of days to put His fear in your heart.

FAITH CAPSULE: He will back you and not let you alone if you will not doubt.

Matthew 14:22-33

After the miracle of the feeding five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus made His disciples get into the boat. The purpose of getting into the boat was to send them to the other side. He made only His disciples to go before Him while the multitudes were sent away. Jesus knew what was ahead in the journey to the other side as a result He denied the multitude from going with his disciples. Is there any multitude in your company on your journey to the other side? Your journey to the other side is the journey to transformation while the multitude is the agent of discouragement and delay. The journey to the other side is challenging and needs no company of multitude (agent of discouragement or delay).  
It is written, “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. (Matthew 14:23-24) Without doubt, the One who sees tomorrow from today must have seen what was ahead before disallowing the multitudes company. The disciples needed to get to the other side where Jesus wanted them to be. Jesus knew what it would take to get to the other side and what the other side had to offer the disciples in order for them to continue in following Him.
Did He call and send you? Are you in any storm yet? If you are not yet in the storm, the storm will come. It came for the ones that He made to go before Him. The storm that went for the disciples was not in the beginning of the journey, but rather in the middle of the sea. The only way of escape while in the middle of the sea and storm is in the hand of Jesus. One thing is certain, when you are called He will back you and not let you alone if you will not doubt. To doubt is to be faulted with fear which is the personal withdrawal from His presence. He did not send them through the storm to sink them but rather to strengthen them. Do not be afraid in your storm. Faithful is He who called us and He will see us through. When the disciples encountered storm, they cried out for fear but Jesus did not delay in His response to their cry.

Prayer for today: As for the grace of faith to have a place in you as you continue your journey to the other side (a place of transformation to the glory of God).

FAITH CAPSULE: It is important to do as commanded to provoke His blessing.

DEUTERONOMY 28:1-14, Matthew 5:1-12

God does not bless anyone by accident. The blessing of God comes with condition. For example, God laid the condition for the Israelites before blessing them by setting them high above the nation. It is written, “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.”(Deuteronomy 28:1) God does have all of His word laid out to perform when there is obedient.
Jesus, when He saw the multitudes, gave the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). His Beatitudes encased what it takes for man’s life to be beautified when obedient is in place. Jesus stated in Matthew 6:6, “…When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Jesus was not giving a suggestion. It was not a request but rather it is a command that ask for “When you pray”. His command has to be done for the blessing of having prayers answered by God.
Among other commands that were laid out for the provocation of His blessing states, “…when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”(Matthew 6:2-4) Here, Jesus pointed out the blessing that comes for doing charitable deeds. It is not an option; it is a matter of doing and it will always be backed by blessing.
Jesus also commanded, “…when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” (Matthew 6:16-18) Following the commands of giving to fasting, praying and charity also provokes the blessings of God. It is important to do as commanded to provoke His blessing.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to understand and live by His word that His blessing may be provoked in your life.