FAITH CAPSULE: Prayer does not have to be in multitudes of words.

2Samuel 10:6-14, Matthew 6:9-13

Prayer can be likened to a labor and the evidence of its manifestation cannot be hidden nor be denied. Among many believers, prayer is not often engaged because it is a sacrifice that demands more of commitment and less of convenience. Proverbs 14:23 stated, “In all labor there is profit…” Evidently prayer is profitable for those that constantly engage in praying. Prayer does not have to be in multitudes of words. A prayer is not limited to time or to location. Prayer dose not have to be in repetition; it does not matter if prayer is loud or if it is quiet. Simple prayer that is backed with power is the prayer that is rooted in the word of faith. Faith has its source in the Word of God. Throughout the Bible, many mountains were moved by prayer of faith. Jesus taught about prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. He spoke about the power of prayer in Mark 11:22-24, “…Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Is your mountain being moved by your prayer? Do you wander why your mountain is not moving? Are you holding to the word without full obedience? Indeed Jesus mentioned more than prayer of faith as the force that moves mountain when He stated in Mark 11:25, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.” Stand in prayer after forgiving those that have sinned against you, then the mountain in your life will be moved. Among the simple prayers of faith that resulted in great deliverance was prayed by Joab. Joab was a commander of the army of Israelites under King David. Joab was caught up in the line of battle having Ammon before him and Syrians behind him. In the case of Joab and the Israelites army, there was no where to turn but to God in prayer. Joab prayed in 2 Samuel 10:12, “Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD do what is good in His sight.”  This prayer of Joab delivered the Israelites army from their enemies. The Lord is a good God and His thoughts for us are peaceful and good. They are not of evil (Jeremiah 29:11).

Prayer for today: Pray that the Lord will do that which is good in His sight in all your goings and comings today.

FAITH CAPSULE: Engage the right word at the rough time.

2 Kings 4:8-37

Every word of God is a declaration not a decoration to hang on and not produce after its purpose. Bible was not playing with word when it declares that, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) Are you speaking positive or negative in the face of your challenges? What you speak is what becomes of you. Jairus’s daughter was sick to death and Jesus was approached for healing. Luke 8:50, “But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” Jesus’ response was a positive confession. Jesus then spoke to the child and the child rose from dead. For the children of Israel, the bondage of over four hundred years and Pharaoh failed to deny the promise of God. The negative confession of their mouth denied them from getting to their Promised Land. In their complain were negative confession that caused God to respond, “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.” (Numbers 14:28) The children of Israel had nothing positive to say when the journey seems to be challenging but negative such as calling for death. A barren Shunammite woman was in a location where she positioned herself to be a blessing to the Man of God Elisha. When Elisha decided to return to her with favor, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, suggested that she was barren and her husband was old. Elisha prayed for the woman and she conceived and had a son. The child grew and one day he had a headache while he was with his father and the father sent him to his mother, “When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.” (2 Kings 4:20) The child died and the Shunammite woman decided to go and look for Elisha and her husband said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It is well.” (2 Kings 4:23). Knowing fully well that the child is dead, she did not confess any negative. When she approached Elisha, Elisha sent his servant, “Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she answered, “It is well.”(2Kings 4:26) The Shunammite woman repeatedly confessed positive, she had the right word at the rough time; she refused to allow her challenge to take over her. Always confess positive in the face of every negative challenge.

Prayer for today: Ask God for a quickening mind to always confess positive.

FAITH CAPSULE: Complaining instead of complimenting could cause greater pain than what you are complaining about.

Numbers 14

Are you complaining about what you have not yet received this year? Regardless of what your challenges are, know for sure that complaining does not settle well before God. Complaining is sin and God will not overlook sin. He did not overlook it when the children of Israel complained against Him then, and He will not overlook it now. Complaining instead of complimenting the work of His hand could cause greater pain than what you are complaining about. For the children of Israel, a journey of eleven days went on and on for forty years. It was not forty hours or forty days. Neither was it forty weeks or forty months, but forty years. The children of Israel were to travel through the wilderness to their Promised Land for eleven days, but the journey went on for forty years. Are you experiencing a time of wandering around in a wilderness situation? Have you been complaining in any way that you have taken? Wilderness is a route to pass through, but not to live like the children of Israel did. Wilderness journey is not a journey that you plan for but a journey that puts you in the plan of God for your life. Wilderness journey is a journey of trial and temptation and it is the only avenue that leads from the promise of God to getting to God’s Promised Land for His children. It is a process ground for the promises of God. An attempt to avoid the wilderness journey will make a believer become a wanderer and not a wonder in the area of divine calling. In the wilderness journey, a failure to progress by faith will lead to a passing on to termination. The complaining of the generation that came out of Egypt caused them to live, wandered and died in their wilderness journey. Acts of complaining are acts of rebellion, self-destruction, and termination. Are you complaining about your situation? God responded to complaining in Numbers 14:22-23, “Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.” God promised to take them to the Promised Land. He showed them great and mighty signs in Egypt, and on their way out of Egypt. Can you count your blessings so far this year? If you cannot, begin to meditate on the testimonies of God. His testimonies are more than enough to transport and bring you out of your challenges to the promises of God for your life. 

Prayer for today: Ask God for deliverance from the spirit that causes one to complain.

FAITH CAPSULE:To fear God should not only be in word memorization.

Psalm 112

Having being blessed with wisdom and knowledge from God, King Solomon was able to enjoy all the finer things that life had to offer. Despite God’s blessing, he turned from God’s commandments and later came to this conclusion, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is man’s all.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Without a doubt and by virtue of Solomon’s report, keeping the commandments of God can be impossible without fearing Him. Also fearing God is all that matters to live a blessed life. To fear God is to love God; to love God is to know God; to know God is to wait on God. Isaiah 40:31 stated, “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” In fearing God, there is more to gain and nothing to lose. In this world of wickedness, the wisdom to navigate successfully and the wisdom to run and not walk where situation demands running is inhabited in the fear of God. Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” To fear God should not only be in word memorization but word meditation which brings forth manifestation. The word of God is consistently true, “The fear of Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil.” (Proverbs 19:23) Fearing God is not a fake-able task, those that truly fear Him shows the evidence by their day to day actions. Blessing to fear God cannot be emphasized enough as mentioned in Psalm 112:1, “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.” Fearing God is a blessing, it is not a thing of determination. Determination failed Peter when he denied Jesus three times as predicted by Jesus. Where there is a desire God is the one that will deposit what it takes to fear Him. God spoke in Jeremiah 32:40, “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” As an acclaimed believer desire the fear of God and it will be deposited in you. Are you (speaking of others) a gossiper? How about switching from gossiping about others to gossiping about the Lord? The Bible encourages gossiping about God when it states, “…those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.” (Malachi 3:16) Indeed there is nothing to live for but the fear of the Lord.

Prayer for today: Ask God to put His fear in your heart.