FAITH CAPSULE: When are you going to start asking rather than making noise?

1 Samuel 1:1-24, Luke 18:35-43

When Bartimaeus the blind man received information that the Healer was passing by he cried out for help, “And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”(Luke 18:38-39) The blind man knew what he wanted, but did not ask for what he wanted instead he was making noise, asking for mercy, assuming that Jesus knew what the problem was. Jesus knows our problem but He wants us to ask for what we want. Have you been asking or you have only been making noise? Luke 11:9, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” There is a difference in asking and assuming that Jesus knows. Asking is a demonstration of faith. After Bartimaeus’ noise making of asking for mercy, Jesus decided to remind him to ask, “Saying, what do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” (Luke 18:41) When are you going to start asking rather than making noise? Hannah could have died barren, until she asked for a son from God; she was under the comfort of her husband. Elikanah was giving Hannah a special treatment to make her comfortable with her barren situation. In one miracle trip, she received her breakthrough when Peninnah, the second wife of her husband provoked her. 1 Samuel 1: 10-11, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” Hannah’s bitterness of heart provoked her to ask for what she wanted. All the while, she was going to Shiloh and nothing was happening. But the day she actually asked, her story was rewritten from barren woman to mother of Samuel. Hannah testified that she asked for Samuel from the Lord. 1 Samuel 1:20 “So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel,saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.” What do you want from Him? Bartimaeus asked, Hannah asked, and now it is your turn to ask.

Prayer for today: Ask God to surround you with songs of deliverance.

FAITH CAPSULE: Half knowledge could be more dangerous than having no knowledge.

Mark 8:22-26

To be full in the knowledge of His word and having wisdom with spiritual understanding is what it takes to walk worthy of His calling. It is written in John 8:12, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”Indeed and in truth Jesus is the Light of the world that no darkness will ever be able to comprehend. Jesus is also identified as the word of God that came to us. John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” A blind man in Bethsaida encountered Jesus, the Light and the Word of God. The blind was brought to Jesus while Jesus came to Bethsaida. The blind man that was brought needed sight to see Jesus, the Light that was in his presence. The blind man had light, but there was no sight for him to see the Light, the Living Word of God. How long have you been carrying the Word of God without sight to actually see through the word? In attempt to give the blind man another sight, Jesus led him out of the town away from every kind of distraction. Having been led away from distraction the agent of discouragement, Jesus spit on his eyes yet he could not see. How often have you been out of distraction unto separation and yet nothing happened? The blind man was blindly blinded. Jesus spit on the blind man of Bethsaida’s eye yet there was no clarity of sight. An eye without clear sight is like half knowledge in the word of God. Half knowledge could be more dangerous than having no knowledge. After Jesus has spat on the blind man of Bethsaida’s eye, the blind man could not see clearly. Instead, he could only see men walking like trees. Jesus knew that the blind man of Bethsaida needed to see clearly, so He could not release him on his own as a result there was an extension of Jesus’ hand for the blind man of Bethsaida, “Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made Him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” (Mark 8:25) The blind man of Bethsaida eventually gained the sight that enabled him to see the light. There should be no pretending of having sight where there is no sight to see the light. Attending to prayer for an extension of God’s hand in our life in every area of physical or spiritual blindness is what is best. Jesus moved the blind man of Bethsaida out of town to his healing ground before he could gain sight for light.

Prayer for today: Ask God to move you to your healing ground of deliverance.

FAITH CAPSULE: There are some delays that are meant for God to measure our faithfulness.

Exodus 32:1-14

Whenever there is a failure to ignore delay there will be doubt in place. “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”(Exodus32:1) The children of Israel knew quite well by virtue of their exposure to different miracles through Moses that God could not have abandoned them, yet they gave into an unnecessary worry that did not have a basis. As a result of Moses’ delay from coming down from the mountain, an unholy gathering took over from where there was supposed to be holy gathering. When the children of Israel began to see delay they began to look for another god. There are some places you have started, but delay has made it look like you are wasting out. The fact is, when you wait on God you can never be wasted. Also, there are some delays that are meant for God to measure our faithfulness. Some delays are not of failure, but to actually make a way of getting to the expected end. When Moses’ delay became glaring in the sight of the children of Israel, they began to seek for a god to take over from God that cannot be substituted, a God that will not accept any compromise. A failure not to ignore delay can turn man quickly out of the way of God’s command. Are you experiencing any kind of delay? Your delay will turn unto deliverance in the name of Jesus. Why should there be any worrying when that He said He would be with us. Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Determination cannot hold off anxiousness that is generated from delay but the grace of God, by the Spirit of God, you can scale into not being anxious. A state of unexpected delay will definitely generate concern and there will be every reason to be anxious, but the word of God reveals here the antidote for anxiousness. Take all to God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and the peace of God will take over you. Instead of you seeing delay, see it as “deliverance on the way” God is in control of all and He will not delay any longer in Jesus Name.

Prayer for today: O Lord my Father, cause me to be focus on You in every step of my life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Uncommon move will provoke uncommon testimony.

Luke 7:36-39, 8:41-48

“And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.”(Luke 7:37-38) A woman who was a sinner in the city knew what to do to get what she desired of the Lord. She wanted to deliver uncommon service to Jesus. In approaching Jesus, she took an uncommon route; a route that perplexed all agents of denial and she could not be denied. She took the back route to avoid the multitude. The Bible said she stood at Jesus’ feet behind Him. If this woman had attempted to stand before Jesus in her attempt to deliver her service, she probably would have been denied from getting to Jesus’ feet. It was an uncommon move that provoked an uncommon testimony. The woman’s service became a service that could not be left out without being mentioned in the pages of the Bible today. Her service became an uncommon testimony. In your service to Him, make an uncommon move and deny every force of distraction that denies provoking uncommon testimony. Just like the woman with the alabaster oil, the woman with the issue of blood also made an uncommon move when she provoked an uncommon miracle that became an uncommon testimony. “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.” (Luke 8:43-44) Disease of twelve years took a back way approach to be terminated. The woman with the issue of blood did not have to come shouting or causing a scene before Jesus saw her. The woman with the issue of blood, just like the woman with the alabaster oil, did not do what every one did when they received their breakthrough. They both came from behind and approached Jesus where there was no distraction or frustration and where there was no way for attention seeking. They made a move that was purposeful in order for their purpose to be fulfilled. It was not an attention seeking approach but it turned out to be an uncommon approach that provoked uncommon testimony. God will give you an uncommon testimony as you serve or seek Him in Jesus Name.
 
Prayer for today: Teach me and instruct me; cause Your eye to guide me O Lord.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not force or fret God will have His way in your life.

1 Kings 1
If you know that God is in control of your life then you will know to rest in the midst of unrest. It will not matter when the enemy comes into place to upstage what God has planned for you; you will always overcome in order to get to where God has called for you to be. Today, lighten up as a child of God who does not fight by himself and let the peace of God that surpasses all understanding have its place in your life. God Himself will put people in places who you do not know and they will offset every set up of the enemy that is against your life. When David promised to put Solomon in place as king, it was confirmed in heaven and on earth at God’s timing. Adonijah, however, set up a plot because he realized that David was old and advanced in years and could go to sleep at anytime. 1 Kings 1:7-8, “Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.” Adonijah conferred with people who counted, but not with people that counted and mattered. He was set up for failure because of his attempt to answer what God did not call him to be. Solomon, who was to be king, was somewhere enjoying rest with no struggle when Prophet Nathan made a move that eventually terminated every plot of Adonijah. Take note of the fact that Solomon did not know that there was any plan in process for him to get to the place where God wanted him to get to. There was no struggle for Solomon, but there were people in place and in time who God had planted for him to get into his divine schedule of God for his life. Prophet Nathan’s move required Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, to play a role of bring the plan and purpose of God to life so he asked Bathsheba to, “Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then has Adonijah become king?’” (I Kings 1:13) Bathsheba reacted by Nathan’s word; Nathan responded by playing his role before David, God showed up and moved in David. As a result, Solomon became the king as God would have it. Do not force or fret God will have His way in your life.
 
Prayer for today: In the name of Jesus, God will raise someone who will go immediately on your behalf to bring into activation all God has in plan for your life and for His name to be glorified.