FAITH CAPSULE: Allowing the word of God to be fulfilled in our life is fitting and it is also our heaven-opener.Matthew 3

Matthew 3
 
Fulfilling all righteousness is doing the will of God. In doing His will, there is no exception or compromise but to fulfill all that is required as commanded by the Lord. At John’s reluctance to baptize Jesus, Jesus responded to John, “But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. ’” (Matthew 3:15) Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, fulfilled all the commands of God. Fulfilling the word or command of God will always bring fulfillment into the life of a believer. However, not fulfilling the word is what will hunt and hurt any of His creation. Failing to fulfill the command of God is a passage unto sin, and with sin come consequences. What is the will of God? The will of God is to fear God. It is written,“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is man’s all.”(Ecclesiastes 12:13)Is your life centered in the fear of God? Jesus’ demonstration of obedience is evidence that there is nothingto lose but more to gain by obeying God’s word. After Jesus told John to fulfill God’s command during Jesus’ baptism, and after John obeyed, heaven was opened in response to full obedience. Matthew 3:16, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and Hesaw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.” Allowing the word of God to be fulfilled in our life is fitting and it is also our heaven-opener. Heaven was opened as a result of Jesus’ obedience. Obedience that provoked open heaven also prompted the voice of God to sound. It was a sound of confirmation and a sound of love. “And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) God demonstrated that when obedience is in place, He will open heaven as a blessing. Could it be that there are some unfulfilled requirements that continue to keep your heaven shut? God has never compromised His word and He will not compromise His word. In obeying God, there is blessing; in disobeying, there is curse. God was pleased with Jesus when Jesus told John not to violate the word of God. If God could be pleased with faith, it is also true that without faith God is not pleased. Please God and provoke your open heaven. Without the fear of God, walking in His commands will be impossible.
 
Prayer for today:Ask for the grace to be consistent in obedience to the word of God.

FAITH CAPSULE:Are you attempting or not wanting to move in the direction of God’s word?

Genesis 19:1-26, Luke 1:1-38
 
Linger is defined as: To remain or stay on in a place longer than is usual or expected, as if from reluctance to leave; to dwell in contemplation. Going by the definition, it is safe to consider lingering as lack of faith.
A certain priest named Zacharias subjected himself to lingering because he did not believe. His wife, Elizabeth was barren and they were both well advanced in age. When it was time for God to answer his prayer, an angel of the Lord appeared to him. At the visitation of the angel, Zacharias was troubled, and fear fell upon him. (Luke 1:120) The angel spoke to Zacharias, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” (Luke 1:13) Despite the good news, Zacharias, questioned the validity of angel’s message. The angel responded, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” (Luke 1:19-20) Zacharias could have received the message and move on waiting for its manifestation rather than questioning in doubt. Evidently, his lack of faith kept him to linger in the temple while people waited for him outside.
The same angel that visited the priest Zacharias also visited Mary with the revelation of the birth of Jesus Christ. Mary, a virgin, had a reason not to believe but she responded with question stating, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34) The angel answered Mary’s question by letting her know that the Holy Spirit was going to come upon her. Unlike Zacharias’ lingering reaction to the revelation, Mary reacted with haste. The Bible recorded that she arose and went to into the hill with haste, to where Elizabeth was. (Luke 1:39)
The point here is that lingering is attempting or not wanting to move in the direction of God’s word. It is a demonstration of lack of faiththat leads to self-destruction. The Bible makes us to realize that God is not pleased without faith.
When God revealed His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah to Lot, Lot and is wife had trouble moving in direction of their escape. It is written, “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.” (Genesis 19:16) Could have been that the lingering spirit eventually prompted the wife to look back against the command and became a pillar of salt.
 
Prayer for today:Pray against lingering in every area of your life.

FAITH CAPSULE:In these days of spiritual wickedness, for every acclaimed believer, there is no substitute for prayer.

Psalm 109
 
God is a prayer answering God if His children will take the time to call unto Him in prayer as Jesus demonstrated. How is your prayer life? At times prayer requires simplicity; other times, persistency, intensity and fervency. However, prayers always need to be effective and consistent. James 5:16 encourages prayer with hope of getting answer by stating that,effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Prayer is like a battleground a place of violent confrontation against the spiritual wickedness. Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” Prayer can be the violent weapon in the hand of any believer that wants to take the kingdom of heaven by force. Prayer is the delivery room for every believer that wants to receive undeniable proof of God’s hand. In these days of spiritual wickedness, for every acclaimed believer, there is no substitute for prayer. God is very much in the business of answering prayer just as He was in the beginning. He promised in Isaiah 58:9,  “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am …’”God is caring; He will not look away from His children when they cry unto Him. Exodus 3:7-8, “And the LORD said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them…” God heard their cry and He moved for their deliverance. Can you think of any situation where you have been in bondage as the Israelites under the Egyptians? It is time to cry unto the Lord for your own deliverance. David said in Psalm 109:4, “…But I give myself to prayer.” The disciples stated in Acts 6:2, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” As a believer, how is your prayer life? A prayer-less believer is like a vehicle driving in the dark without the headlights turned on. It will only take a moment before disaster happens. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:17-18) Can you imagine that of Elijah? Be encouraged in engaging prayer. A church that prays will prevail while a prayer less church will remain in vain.

Prayer for today:Ask for the mercy of God to hold you up in all areas of serving Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Prayer is the key for opening up the doors of heaven.

Hebrews 11
 
Among the different ways that prayer can be described is talking and listening to God. Prayer is an intimate fellowship with God. What prayer requires is faith and to be in right relationship with God. Without faith or right relationship with God, prayer could be like attempting to wash a dirty cloth in dirty water. God will not answer when the relationship is not right; neither would He be pleased when there is no faith. The right relationship starts with asking for forgiveness. Among the different types of prayer are: Interceding, thanking God, praising God, and confessing before God. Above all, if there is anything that will certainly open the windows of heaven, it is prayer. Luke 3:21, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.” Jesus, in His entire earthly ministry, was showing us how to walk the walk. When Jesus came to be baptized, He took His time to pray, and heaven opened. This is a clear demonstration that prayer is the key for opening up the doors of heaven. It is also clear through the Bible that prayer opens heaven not only at the point of baptism but also at every juncture of life. When heaven opened in response to Jesus’ prayer, different things happened. Luke 3:22, “And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ’You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’” Prayer is a heaven-opener. The prayer by Jesus is a testimony to the fact that when a prayer finds the door to heaven, the Holy Spirit, which represents the presence of God, will come down and descend on the one praying. With the Holy Spirit descending, the voice of God will then sound in the direction of the one praying. With the heavens opened, the voice of God will speak direction if the one praying has the ear to hear the voice of God. We need the grace of God to hear His voice when it sounds in our direction. Again, with the heavens opened, Jesus heard the voice from heaven saying to Him, “You are my beloved Son: in You I am well pleased.” Hebrews 11:6, “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.” The voice that sounded as a result of prayer also pointed out that prayer rooted in faith is what pleases God. For without faith God is not pleased. Receive the word, believe the word and behave the word to please God.
 
Prayer for today:Ask God for the grace to be increased at your prayer altar.

FAITH CAPSULE: God expects from us patience for His response.

Psalm 40
 
It is absolutely impossible to wait on God and not get result. A failure to wait will result in waste. However, every waiting comes with the price of being patient for God’s appointed time. For a result-oriented waiting, one must be exceedingly patient. Jesus pointed out that when we wait in prayer we must be persistent. King David testified, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.” (Psalm 40:1) Truly and without any partial treatment, God expects from us patience for His response. The testimony of David demonstrates that without waiting patiently for the Lord, He would not have been inclined to hear David’s cry and he would have missed the response of God. With God, there is no short-cut, but only passing through as prescribed in His unfailing Word is what will deliver unfailing response from God.
King David did not mention in his testimony the time or duration of his waiting on God. Evidently, getting an answer for waiting on God can take a longer or shorter time than expected, but God is never in a rush nor gets intimated in responding.
King David went further in his testimonies by stating, “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.” (Psalm 40:2)
David’s testimonies points out that three things happened when God answered. David was brought out of his trouble (horrible pit; out of the miry clay). He must have been in a situation where stagnation reigned in his life; a challenge of not being able to stand or move forward. However, God brought him out.
Secondly, David’s feet were set on the rock. He gained his footing where he could no longer fall or remain stagnated.
Thirdly, his steps were established. The third stage granted him all that it took to do what he needed and to move forward as desired.
Clearly, David’s deliverance went through a process. Regardless of how long David’s waiting process was, David recognized when he became established. David acknowledged God by singing a new song to praise and glorify God. By virtue of waiting longer than expected, one who is waiting on God may not be able to identify when the answer comes to manifestation. Are you one who is waiting and not able to recognize that your answer is in place? As you wait on God, pay attention and be able to recognize the manifestation of your waiting.
David trusted in the Lord. He stayed through the process of manifestation and he was established. If you have started in waiting because of your trust in the Lord, stay through and be able to recognize God’s manifestation. God will perfect that which He started.
 
Prayer for today:Ask God to attend to you and hear you.