“…While He prayed, the heaven was opened.” (Luke 3:21)
 
Among the different ways that prayer can be defined 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 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. 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. 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. 8 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. A church that prays will prevail while a prayer less church will remain in vain.
 
“A church that prays will prevail while a prayer less church will remain in vain.”
“And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up.” (James 5:15)

“… But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain.”(Isaiah 57:13)
 
 
Psalm 125:1-2, “Those who trust in the LORD Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
 so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever.” The word of God is true to perform and that is why it commands a great deal of paying attention to each and every Word. It is clear and true that trusting Him makes one to abide forever. Trusting in Him was not limited to only the people of the old but to all generations. The Word of God also likens those that trust Him to Mount Zion. What is it about Mount Zion that is special and rewarding for anyone that trusts Him? The same word of God pointed out in the book of Joel 2:32, “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance…” Deliverance is surely the portion of any believer that trusts in the Lord. Those that trust in God, who are likened to Mount Zion, should not only be seen as having deliverance as their portion but also be seen as agent of deliverance because it is written in Obadiah 1:17, “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness…” The point is, any one that trusts in God is like Mount Zion and has what it takes to be an agent of deliverance. Do you really trust Him? It is all about trusting and resting in the name of God. Years, months, weeks or days can pass, but God will not forget His own: the ones that have taken a position of trust in His name. When waiting and trusting on God seems to be taking forever, and when it can be seen that time is clearly not in your favor, the Word of God encourages us, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8) God will never run out of time, and there is never a “late” in His timing, because the timing of God is different from the timing of man. All that Gods expects from those that believe and trust in Him is to call and cry to Him when the need calls for it. Isaiah 58:9, “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am…’” King David, because of his trust in the Lord, declared in 1 Samuel 22:4, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” It takes the heart that trusts to remember to call in the midst of unbearable challenges. King David is an example of someone who did not hesitate to ask when the need called for it. David did not go to war without seeking God first. Twice in 1 Samuel 23, verses 2 and 4, he repeatedly went and inquired from God before going to war against the Philistines. David knew to ask God rather than assume before making a move against his enemies. When there is a cry, He will move His hand of deliverance. The children of Israel, in bondage of over four hundred years cried to God, “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. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians…” (Exodus 3:7-8) God is consistent with His word. When you ask by calling on Him, He will answer; when you cry to Him, He will show up on your behalf.However, there are some questions you want to ask yourself when asking. Have you actually been begging, when you have been told to ask? In your asking have you been asking amiss? James 4:3, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” God is not a partial God, but He is a faithful God. He is a God of order and demands complete obedience to His Word before the Word can work for anyone. When there is confidence to wait and receive, do not ask amiss, but trust in the name of the Lord God; call on His name and He will answer. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower…” (Proverbs 18:10) Personalize the Word of God and trust in Him, and the peace in His Word will be your portion. Remember, they that trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. Consider yourself to be Mount Zion, which cannot be moved.
 
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
“Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him.” (Psalm 32:10)

“…I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)

When Joshua took over the challenging and confrontational leadership position of leading the children of Israel, he was backed by a convincing and powerful promise of God, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5) Believers often quote the promise of God to Joshua by personalizing it “The Lord will not leave me nor forsake me”. Indeed, God will never leave His own, except if His own disown Him by living outside of His command. It is a great blessing to have God on our side; however, God’s blessing is rooted in conditions that have to be met before the blessing manifests itself. It would not have happened for Joshua if he had failed to operate under the conditions that were laid down for the manifestation of God’s promise. The conditions for Joshua were for him to, “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” (Joshua 1:6) This same condition applies to any believer who wants to personalize God’s promise to Joshua. Without being strong in the Lord and having courage rooted in trusting God, Joshua would not have entered into the promises of God. Being strong and courageous is what will make any believer to be able to observe the word of God. Observing the word of God is in meditation just as it was laid down for Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it…” (Joshua 1:8) It is clear in the word of God that meditation will generate the ability to observe the word (Observe: to regard with attention, so as to see or to obey, comply with, or conform to). Without meditating on the word, nothing will be in place to observe. A believer can only be strong when the joy of the Lord is present inside of him.  Nehemiah 8:10, “…For the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Joy that is rooted in the heart, not laughter or a smile, is a direct access to the presence of God. The Psalmist stated, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy…” (Psalm 16:11) With the presence of God, a strength that cannot be shaken will make it impossible for any man to stand against a believer that is in the word of God. Having joy in the Lord is the evidence of fully trusting. Courage is to shut fear down and open up to faith. Faith is what provokes the move of God’s, hand not fear. With strength and courage, the grace to observe the word will lead to doing what the Lord had said. The word that He spoke to Joshua is also speaking to us, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7) Evidently, being strong and courageous in the face of undeniable challenge or overwhelming pressure will make a believer prevail. When crossing the Red Sea, the children of Israel demonstrated great fear when Pharaoh and his force drew near to them. The Children of Israel cried unto God and Moses responded, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14:13-14) Being strong in the Lord (having strength in the joy of the Lord) enabled the children of Israel to stand still. The lesson is clear: having courage will terminate fear. Without fear, there will be that ability to see victory even when the victory is yet to be there. Most times quoting the word of God is easier said than done. It is easy to confess, “The Lord will not leave me nor forsake me”, but it can be challenging to hold on to His Word of grace that will keep us in His promise. The word of God has to be consciously activated before it can deliver unto us the promise. Challenges might persist, it might present itself unexpectedly, however, standing in the word of God will make us to become victorious. As a final point: it is important to know and accept that the word of God is living and it is deliverance for those that choose to live in the word of God and not in the word of this world.
 
The combination of strength and courage makes a winning believer.
Strength is the testimony of character; boldness is the evidence of courage.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

A Journey will take a course of route and a process of time, but those that trust the Lord through it all will have no regret at the end of their journey. Everyone under heaven are in a journey from the time they take their first breath. It is a journey that can be compared to that of the children of Israel coming out of bondage over four hundred years. It is a journey that is full of ups and downs; a journey that giants and Goliaths are set to upset every footing that is to be taken or that has been taken. God promised to take the children of Israel to the Promised Land but it will have to take a process of time. That process has to be consciously and consistently rested on trusting God. Trust is easier said than done among the believers and even non-believers. Trusting God is not to rush, but rather to rest on the promises of God that never fails. Trusting God in the absence of abundance can be challenging, and trusting God when time is absolutely not on our side can be exhausting. Trusting on God for a way where there is no pathway can be exceedingly stressful. However, in the journey of life and through the wilderness of life, the only way out to the expected end is rooted in trusting God to show up at every juncture where there is no sign for survival. Caleb and Joshua were the only survivors among the thousands Israelites who left Egypt going towards the Promised Land. Both Caleb and Joshua were able to survive because they saw hope where there was no hope. They remembered what the Lord had done and that provoked in them what the Lord was and is capable of doing. As a result of their conviction, they took an odd stand among their brethren who failed to see hope. Purpose in your heart today that it will not matter if you are the only one who takes a stand, even among thousands, on the promises of God to bring to manifestation the Word of His mouth. Caleb stated in Joshua 14:7, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.” In these words of Caleb, it cannot be confused that trust is heart-activated and mouth-driven. If it is not rooted in the heart, it will not stand no matter how loud or consistent it is being voiced out. The people who went to spy the land with Caleb and Joshua failed to trust from the heart. Caleb testified, “Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God.” (Joshua 14:8) Trust will not only deliver needs, but it will also bring preservation. Because Caleb was able to trust, it became possible for him to wait and not waste in the promises of God. He was kept by God based on the level of his trust in what God can do. Joshua 14:10, “And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old.” Caleb was able to testify to the grace of preservation because he trusted in God. There is no other way out to the expected end but only through trusting in God. Until trusting God graduates from your mouth to the heart, you are only operating in your own understanding. “…But he who put his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain.” (Isaiah 57:13) Caleb trusted God and he was able to posses his Promised Land When it was time for Caleb to inherit and possess all that the Lord had promised him, he was as strong as he was when the promise was made mention by God. After forty years, Caleb was so sure of his strength that he testified, “As yet I am strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both going out and coming in.” (Joshua 14:11) After forty years, nothing was on ground to rob Caleb of the Lord’s promise of blessing, neither was there any reason for him to receive what the Lord had for him in pain or grief. The word of God is true and His promises always come without sorrow. Has the Lord promised, but no fruition? He is a faithful God and He will never fail to deliver unless there is a failure in your receiving department. Play your part and God will do His part. Trust in the Lord.
 
“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool…”(Proverbs 28:26)
“…But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround them.” (Psalm 32:10)

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“And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum…” (Matthew 4:13)
 
Pray and ask God to take you to your Capernaum. Capernaum literally means Village of Nahum. Capernaum was the city on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was the place where Jesus moved to at the beginning of His ministry. Matthew 4:13, 17, “And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Nazareth was where Jesus grew up and when it was time for Him to begin His ministry, Jesus had to move out of Nazareth. Nazareth was in His beginning, but it wasn’t His end according to God‘s purpose. Have you been considering your place of growth as your route for direction? Has it become your comfort zone? Think of this: your place of growth might be your place of rejection and not of election. As much as Jesus was often referred to as Jesus Christ of Nazareth, He could not have started His ministry any other place better than Capernaum. Matthew 13: 54, “When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?’” The Bible was talking about His coming to Nazareth where he grew up. Jesus’ teaching was too much for them to handle because truth is threatening and truth can also be bitter to taste or take in. “So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.’ 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”(Matthew 13:57-58) Jesus, the One that was in the beginning, sees the end from the beginning. He left Nazareth for Capernaum for Him to get in tune with the Father. Nazareth was not the place for Him and Nazareth could have replaced His assignment for Him. Whether you like it or not, where you are disrespected, you will also be unappreciated for who you are or what you do. It is the anointing you appreciate that will work for you. They did not appreciate Jesus; they gave no honor to Him. The Bible testifies, “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” They did not appreciate the anointing in His life. However, it is the anointing that is appreciated that works for a believer. There is always a need to cue into the beginning so as to get started and continue as the Lord purposed it. Jesus’ arrival at Capernaum set in motion where He was going and, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ’Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 4:17) The purpose and plan for every believer is to be preaching the news of the kingdom that is at hand. Any other business outside of it is on the side. When are you going to move to your Capernaum? The calling of God is not to be comfortable where you have been spending all your life, neither is it about continuing to do what you like, the calling of God is to move you to His ordain strategic location. When there is a failure to move, God will move you to a place that will set in motion His plan for your life. Jonah failed to move in God’s direction but God put him in a place where Jonah could respond to God’s plan. Jonah 1:17, “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” You have two choices: take the Jonah’s road, or Jesus’ road. Jesus did many miracles in Capernaum, but it was evident in Jesus’ statement that few followed Him when He said in Matthew 11:23, “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to hades; for if the mighty works were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.”
 ~Your journey’s end~
As a final note, Capernaum represented the headquarters of Jesus’ ministry because it was where he began His ministry, but it was not His final destination. Just as Capernaum wasn’t the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, so Capernaum is not the end of your journey. It is only the beginning, a starting ground that must be in place to get you to where He is taking you. Be sensitive to the move of the Spirit of God in your life and you will get to where He is taking you.
 
Pray before you plan and not plan before you pray
When you fail to take your plans to Him in prayer, your plans will fail to prevail.
‘Tunde