FAITH CAPSULE: Praying the word of God is prevailing in this continual wicked world.   

Acts 12:1-19

Apostle Paul stated, “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4) Truly, there is nothing like giving self to prayer and to the ministry of the word of God. Daniel gave himself to prayer as a vivid prayer. Daniel’s wicked world served him as dinner for hungry lions, but lost appetite became the portion of hungry lions. Daniel survived from hungry Lion’s den with no single scratch.
Praying the word of God is prevailing in this continual wicked world. Daniel prayed in the face of his wicked world as it is written, “…in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” (Daniel 6:10) A vivid praying believer’s character is giving self to praying before God.
A vivid praying believer are ones that will ask, see and know to receive from God.
God was set to take the children of Israel to the Promised Land while the Wall of Jericho took a stand to deny the Israelites’ passage. It is written, “Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.” (Joshua 6:1-2) God commanded Joshua to see victory when victory was yet in place. Joshua’s encounter demonstrated the need to give self to praying and be able to see, know and to receive what God has put in place for break through.
Giving to constant prayer by church, before God is a prevailing church. The Bible recorded in Acts 12:1-2, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” The hand of Herod which went out against James, took the life of James. It was the same hand that was raised in direction of Peter with attempt to kill Peter, “So when he had arrested him, he put him in a prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.” (Acts 12:4) Herod had evil agenda for Peter.
Is there any evil agenda against your life or your church brethren? Peter was to experience evil agenda like one that took the life of James but, “…Constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.”  (Acts 12:5) Giving self to prayer is prevailing in this continual wicked world.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace and strength to increase in the altar of prayer.

FAITH CAPSULE: Are you sure the Lord is asking you to go and hide or is He asking you to go ahead?

Acts 9 

Are you called by God’s precise word or you are called by self? The Bible says, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24) It does not matter who you are; where you are; what you have done or what you are doing in the Lord. If He did not call you precisely, you will be deflated like a balloon at God’s appointed time. If He has not placed, you on a hide-out ground you will be exposed and be on your own.
Once, Elijah approached King Ahab and prayed to cause rain to cease. After his prayer, “Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.  And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” (1 Samuel 17:2-4) What God says do is a done deal. The whole land suffered from the drought because of Elijah’s prayer, but Elijah did not suffer, he was backed up by God. God commanded him to go into hiding where provision is least expected. Elijah obeyed God’s command and lack or exposed him into hunger in God’s calling over his life.
Are you sure the Lord is asking you to go and hide or is He asking you to go ahead? Are you running when He has not called you to run? Are you walking where the Lord did not call you to walk? When He has not called, you to run and you do, you will be replaced. Running or walking where He has not commanded will be short of strength that is rooted in God’s powered word. The book of Isaiah 40:31 document what it takes to run or walk with strength, “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.” God’s word is always precise; His word is perfect to perform. He constantly and consistently honors His word. Can you wait on God for a precise direction?
Those who know to wait will not waste.
Jesus called Ananias in a vision to go and baptize Saul at the time Saul was persecuting disciples. Ananias responded to Jesus, “…Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” (Acts 9:13-14) Jesus gave Ananias word of strength stating, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16) Ananias went and delivered as commanded because he waited on God for a precise direction. With God’s precise direction failing, falling or faltering is not possible.

Prayer for today: Ask God to open the eyes and the ears of your heart.

FAITH CAPSULE: Pay attention and know that one that wavers is one that falters.

1 Kings 18

What happens in the place of waver? Isaiah 21:4 testified, “My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.” Wavering heart is the evidence of fearful soul. As an acclaimed believer, are you dealing with fearfulness? Romans 4:20 identified Abraham as example to encourage against wavering, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.”
Pay attention and know that one that wavers is one that falters.
By all standards, anyone who claims to be following the Lord should not be patterned to falter. Are you claiming to follow the Lord, attending fellowship of believers but prone or actively falter/waver in face of challenging situations? Giving self to falter instead of having faith is the evidence of not following God fully.
Before Elijah’s victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, Elijah asked the children of Israel and the prophets of Baal that gathered on Mount Carmel, “…How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ but the people answered him not a word.” (1 Kings 18:21) All of the people failed to answer Elijah’s question because they were not faithful in following their God fully. In your challenging situation how long will you falter? Man can be deceived but God cannot be deceived, “For the Lord does not see as man see, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Answering yes or no is the determinant of where you stand in the Lord. Do you have enough relationship with the Lord not to doubt Him? Is your challenging situation questioning about how you trust and hope in God?
Faltering has its root in the spirit of doubt, and doubt is a demonstration of lack of faith. It is written, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) Faltered soul is not faithful and without faith God is not please. Those who diligently seek God constantly follow Him fully and will be rewarded by God. Obviously, one who falters cannot follow the Lord fully and will serve two masters at the same time. Following God fully is the evidence of the fear of God. The Bible declares that, “…the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.” (Psalm 33:18) God is true to His word, know and set mind on God. In your way of life take to Hebrews 10:23 as stated, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Give self to God’s word, be faithful and not be a victim of this wicked world. One that wavers is one that falters.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from the spirit of wavering.

FAITH CAPSULE: Clean up your God given temple and not get whip of cords.

John 2:13-25

Bible recorded what you ignore and not knowing about who you stating, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) Today, identify yourself, get to know the type of temple you are. People’s perception about you will not influence what God knows about you. Who you are counts before God. As a temple, the kind of business that transpires in you is the evidence of the kind of temple you are. The bible records that when the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus visited Jerusalem. He does not make a careless move just as He divinely went to Jerusalem to correct an anomaly.  It is written, “…and He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.” (John 2:14) Christ found businesses in the temple that were not of God.
What is Jesus going to find in you when He shows up without warning? Jesus reacted to what He saw in the temple, “When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (John 2:15-16) Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has not changed, and he will not change.
If you are one with anomaly in your temple, if you are the same kind of temple which Jesus reacted to with whip of cords, be expectant that Jesus will visit you your temple with a whip of cords.
As a temple of God, what transpires in your temple and what needs to be cleansed? After kicking out all that needed to be kicked out of the temple, the disciples “…Remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten me up.” (John 2:17). Evidently, until the zeal of God eats up a believer, then the possibility of having a clean temple is almost impossible. When there is zeal for God, Jesus will move into man’s life. To be zealous for God, the temple of God must not be of anomaly and temple shall be full of Christ’s presence. God is watching, and man should continually watch out by keeping his temple clean to avoid reaction of God with whips of cords. Clean up your God given temple and not get whip of chords.

Payer for today: Ask God for the grace God to be keeping you as His temple that is clean from anomaly.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do you lack boldness and character which is Christ rooted to deny enemies from threatening you?

Acts 4:1-31

Man’s responsibility before God is giving self to prayer and ministering the word of God. With prayer and ministering the word of God, boldness and character is certain to become man’s identity. Believers such as Apostle Paul, Peter and John had boldness and character as their identity. They conveyed power of God operating in the name of God.
As a believer that conveys the power of God, when you operate in His name, do not expect the cooperation of the enemy. The enemy will stand against you, but you shall prevail if you do not compromise your stand in the Lord. Once, the enemy planned and purposed to silence Peter and John because they spoke healing into the life of a lame man. Also, Peter and John preached what the priests, and the Sadducees did not want to hear. While Peter and John were preaching, “…They saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.” (Acts 4:13-14) The boldness of Peter and John was intimidating to the persecutors and attempts were made by the persecutors to figure out the source of Peter and John’s boldness. It was not long for the persecutors to identify in Peter and John as ones with Jesus. The character of Jesus was written all over while boldness was glaring in the conduct of Peter and John.
While, Peter and John were joined by healed man persecutors conferred among themselves, “saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.” (Acts 4:16) Do you have the boldness or character as identity which cannot be denied? Are you an empty loud believer or a believer that gives self to prayer and ministering the word of God? Are you pretending to have boldness and character? Man can pretend, but God cannot be deceived.
With true combination of boldness and character, it is certain that testimonies will follow believer everywhere with undeniable miracles through Jesus Christ. When Peter and John were eventually let go they did not wonder around, rather they went to their own companies to report their experience. Having reported their experience, they also prayed, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.” (Acts4: 29) Boldness comes with character and any character without boldness is not complete. As an acclaimed believer, do you lack boldness and character which is Christ rooted to deny enemies from threatening you? Obviously, living word of God is the source of boldness and character for man. Paul revealed, “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4) Take to revelation in the word by giving self to prayer and ministering the word of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to give self to prayer and ministering His word.