FAITH CAPSULE: The name of God is a strong tower.

Daniel 6

Earn a place in the strong tower through constant and persistent prayer 
The Bible declared, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverb 18:10) 
The name of God is a strong tower to run to.
What a mighty God we serve! 
In His name, there is power to preserve and deliver anyone who runs to His name.
One of the most powerful ways to run to his name is to seek Him in prayer. 
Prayerfully, the psalmist ran to the strong tower asking, “Save me O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. (Psalm 54:1-2) 
Know to run to the strong tower by asking, seeking, and knocking for deliverance and preservation.
David testifies his running to the strong tower, “As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55:16-17) Again, David is also saying that prayer is what it means to run to the strong tower. 
He stated his prayer schedule as morning, noon, and evening times. Praying only during Sunday service will not serve one as praying constantly and consistently. 
It is worth making prayer as a way of life the character of one that knows the strong tower.
How are you responding to seeking deliverance and preservation in this challenging life?
The word testifies to the response of Daniel to the signing of King Darius’s decree that called for banning prayer in his kingdom. 
Daniel 6:10 states, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”  
Daniel had no reason to call around for a prayer partner at his challenge times because he was conversant, knowing to run to the strong tower.
Daniel adopted a lifestyle calling on the name of God, morning, noon, and evening time. 
As a result, Daniel could not be violated even in a den of hungry lions.
The name of God is a strong tower, and David could not be quiet from calling on His name in the face of his enemies. 
He stated, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” (2 Samuel 22:24) 
Work the word of God; have a place in the strong tower by constant and persistent prayer; engage in non-stop praising. 
How is your way of life?
God is a caring God. 
Let it be a way of life running to the strong tower.

Prayer for today: Ask that running to the strong tower shall be a way of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: A choice to live out of God will be a mark of such.

John 8

In your confession, is He confirmed in you?
Jesus, in His journeying, arrived at a place He entered into the temple early in the morning. 
While He was in the temple, all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them. 
While Jesus was in the temple, scribes and Pharisees were also present, and Jesus taught them.
In His teaching, they tested Him so that they might have something to accuse Him. 
In response to the people in the temple, He stated, “…I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) 
The Pharisees responded to the statement of Jesus, “The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.” (John 8:13) 
The Bible also identifies it that in the same temple, there were also people who believed.
In the documentation of the temple, what is your response to Jesus? 
Whose side are you in the temple?  
Are you on the side of the scribes, the Pharisees, or those who believe? 
Jesus, having engaged all, responded to all, “Then they took stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (John 8:59) 
Is your response in alignment with the Jews?

Are you in an attempt to stone Jesus?
Have you unknowingly been throwing stones at Jesus? 
The Jews at that time picked up stones to throw at Him, but He hid himself and slipped away from the temple grounds. 
If you have confessed Christ and your confession does not demonstrate the way of your life, then you are on the side of stoning-throw at Jesus. Do you know if you are throwing stones at Him? 
Jesus left the temple to move forward, and the Bible records, “Now Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.” (John 9:1) 
Jesus could not look away from meeting the blind man and healed him. Which side are you on? 
Are you on the stone-throwing side (destructive end) like the persecutors or the healing side (receiving end) like that of the blind man? 
Ask God to help you to no longer live a deceptive life. 
Have you confessed to Jesus, but Jesus is not confirmed in your life? 
A choice to live out of God, deception will be a mark of such.
Jesus made a way to pass by stone-throwing ones. 
He came to give sight to those that cannot see. 
His coming was not for destruction but to deliver. 
He came to give hope to those who have lost hope. 
Be on the receiving end, and He will not pass by you.
Do not be a stone-throwing one, but become one seeking Him.

Prayer for today: Ask God for His grace to deliver you to the receiving end. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Be awake and know that you are to gain the presence of God.

Luke 22:1-46

After the institution of the Lord’s Supper, the disciples contend about Greatness (attempting to know which of them should be considered the greatest).
Jesus predicted the denial of Him by Peter.
The disciples followed Jesus to the Mount of Olives. 
Luke 22:40 records, “When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  
By the disciples’ experiences with Jesus, one would have expected a vigorous prayer from the disciples, but they fell asleep instead of praying. 
Luke 22:45 records, “When He rose up from prayer and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.”  
In the face of the wickedness of this world, a believer that replaces prayer time for sleeping is sleeping for sorrow. 
Does that sound like you?
To be locked up is not the time for sleeping but for praying.
Paul the apostle and Silas did not go to sleep but were praying at the time of being locked up.
Paul and Silas could not be quiet while awake but prayed and sang hymns to God. 
They did not sleep from sorrow, and heaven attended to them for their deliverance. 
As a believer, when praying becomes the custom, sleeping from sorrow sleep shall have no place. 
Peter had a sorrowful sleep.
Having a death sentence carried out by the enemy is not the time for sleeping. 
Peter slumbered and slept when he was supposed to be praying. 
Thank God he had people praying for Peter.
Peter could not afford to sleep,
It is not good to be sleeping while you are still in battle. 
How long have you been sleeping? 
Now that you are awake before the trumpet sounds, do you know where you are going or how to move? 
There is a need to be awake, not sleeping in the wicked world.
Acts 12:11 records, “And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectations of the Jewish people.’ So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” 
Life is not a place of sleeping off from God but awake spiritually.
Be awake and know that you are to gain the presence of God.
Peter knew where to go after his sorrowful sleep. 
He went to a house of prayer before he could think of any other place to go. 
It is after sleep for you. 
Do not go back to the sleeping ground again. 
After sleeping, Peter went to a place of prayer to retain and gain an escape route.

Prayer for today: Ask that you will live by staying awake and not to miss the place of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not allow failure to have its way. 

Acts 9:1-22

The Bible records how Saul (before he became Apostle Paul) was breathing threats and murder attempts against the disciples of the Lord Jesus before he encountered his calling.
Saul was to go for his destructive act against the disciples at the synagogues of Damascus, with permission from the high priest (Acts 9:1-2). 
Acts 9:3-6 records, “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  
Paul the apostle received his calling trembling and astonished. 
Jesus gave him direction for his calling, which changed his story forever.
When God calls you, He will back you up. 
God called Saul.
God is always looking for someone whose heart is ready to receive His calling. 
Are you looking forward to the calling of God over your life? 
Wait on the Lord. 
God will call you at His appointed time.
In the calling, there is a preparation by Him for His process time. 
Every growing process is the time of training for where His calling will send you. 
When God calls, and there is the answer, He will establish you. 
Before He establishes you, stay focused and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. 
In your training, give Him all the attention; do not force anything that He did not deposit in you. 
Do not fake it, and do not fight a war that is not yours. 
You have been doing the work of the Lord for quite a while, and He will establish you. 
Remain focused on the Lord, and His hand to establish you shall not fail.
The focus of Samuel enabled him not to miss the calling of God. 
1 Samuel 3:20 states, “And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD.” 
The establishment of Samuel was the process time of God, a divine schedule, not his world that announced him. 
Anyone that God established does not have to campaign. Introduction by having a business card or advertisement shall not be relevant. 
Be patient in the Lord, and let Him see you through with preparation that answers to the process time.
So many could not wait and fell before they went very far in where they were going. 
Do not allow failure to have its way.

Prayer for today: Over your life, ask that your faith to answer will not fail.

FAITH CAPSULE: Shiloh is a ground to remain persistent.  

1 Samuel 1

Despite opposition, obstacles, discouragement, and mockery, you continue to have hope in God for your breakthrough. 
Despite the delay and abandonment from the loved ones, your trust does not waver. 
Does any of the above describe your situation? 
If yes, you are not alone but know God is with you. 
It seems so very long that you have been waiting with no answer. 
Know that as long as you remain persistent, you insist on the visitation of God by waiting.
God promised in Isaiah 64:4, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him.” 
A believer of the word should trust and hope that God acts for those waiting on Him.
Keep the testimony of Hannah, seek God, and you shall see His act manifested in your favor. 
Elkanah, Hannah, Peninnah, and her sons and daughters attended Shiloh yearly to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts. 
Every year they went, nothing changed in the story of Hannah. 
She was barren and coming. 
Hannah does not complain or fight anyone despite no answer to her barren challenge.
Hannah was the neediest and probably the quietest. 
Hannah kept on going with her family with no excuse. 
She was barren but trusted God for intervention, and she was persistent. You may be wondering what happened in your case. 
Are you questioning God?
Remain trusting and hopeful, continually wait and patiently, the character of persistence.
Keep calling on God without doubt, and be consistent.
Know that delay is not denial.
God is a good God. 
He is a God of the eleventh hour to make a way where there is no way.
Persistency demonstrates that you have faith that pleases God.
God is not pleased when there is no faith. 
The situation with Hannah was that God had closed her womb. 
Elkanah gave his best to make up for Hannah.
1 Samuel 1:5 records, “…Hannah a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb.” 
Elkanah cannot be in the place of God.
Persistency often provokes the hand of God to open a closed door. 
The Lord God remembered Hannah, “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.” (1 Samuel 1:20) 
The time of preparation is the process of time.
The Lord blessed Hannah more than she expected. 
Know today that God is God. 
Let nothing seal up your open door by confessing negatively.
Go the way of persistence and understanding that God can choose to open or close the door. 
He alone is God.

Prayer for today: Ask God not to withhold His tender mercy from you. 
Ask for His loving kindness to preserve you continually.