FAITH CAPSULE: In asking, be specific and exact before God.

1 Samuel 1

When blind man Bartimaeus received information that Jesus was passing, he knew to cry out for his need. 
Luke 18:38-39 records, “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!”
To know to ask is different from to know about asking. 
Bartimaeus asked for mercy with the assumption that Jesus knew his problem. 
Jesus knows all problems, but He wants all to know for asking what is needed.
Do you know to ask, or do you only know about asking? 
Jesus wants all to know and ask. 
Luke 11:9 states, “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.” 
Without a doubt, Jesus knows the need of all but engages Him by asking for the demonstration of faith.
Bartimaeus made a noise of asking for mercy, and 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) 
Making a noise without asking is not enough to gain the attention of God.
In asking, be specific and exact before God.
When are you going to start asking rather than making noise? 
Hannah could have died barren until she asked for a son from God instead of being quiet under the comfort of her husband. 
Elkanah, the husband of Hannah, gave preferential treatment to make Hannah comfortable with her barren situation. 
However, on one miracle trip, she received her breakthrough when Peninnah (the second wife of Elkanah) provoked her. 
1 Samuel 1:10-11 records the response of Hannah to the provocation of Peninnah, “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.” 
The bitter heart of Hannah urged her to ask for her need before God.
All the while, Hannah was going to Shiloh with nothing to show off until she knew to ask, and her story changed from a barren woman to the mother of Samuel. 
Hannah testifies that she asked for Samuel from the Lord by the meaning of Samuel, “…Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”(1 Samuel 1:20)
Do you know to ask, or do you only know about asking?
Bartimaeus and Hannah asked, and all should know to ask. 

Prayer for today: Ask God for your need, and also ask to be surrounded with songs of deliverance.

FAITH CAPSULE: The time for all is in the hand of God. 

Jonah 1, 2

God alone is the Master Planner with details in His hand. 
Time is in the control of God, but man can only interfere with the clock. God will call all to His attention regardless of how one avoids God. 
Jonah attempted to avoid the calling assignment of God, but he could not run away in the sight of God. 
Jonah 1:1-3 records, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” 
Under heaven, no one can avoid the calling of God. 
Jonah ran to avoid the calling of God but was exposed and could not hide from the eyes of God. 
When it was time for God, the running and hiding of Jonah ended in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
What is encouraging your running from your creator?
God does have a way of calling to get the attention of all.
When it was time for the calling of Moses, there was no way for ignorance to avoid God. 
Exodus 3:1-3 states, “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” 
In the place of your ignorance, are you willing to turn aside and give attention to the calling from God?
The calling of Joseph was through his dream.
His dream states, “There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” (Genesis 37:7) “Look I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” (Genesis 37:9)  
His dream was not well received when it answered the hearings of his brother. 
Jacob, the father of Joseph, rebuked him for his dream. 
His dream was his divine assignment, the calling of his life, with no information to get to the center of the calling.
The time for all is in the hand of God. 
Man controls the clock, but the control of time belongs to God. 
The dream of Joseph at age seventeen became manifested at age thirty. Who can be like God?

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you in His righteousness and not fail to answer His calling.

FAITH CAPSULE: Mockery to miracle demands attention with expectation. 

Acts 3

The grace of life is not by right but a privilege of God.
To be alive today is not a merit but a mercy of God. 
Gracious God will turn frustration into celebration, stagnation into motion, and God alone will convert mockery into a miracle. 
God alone is the healing healer, the eternal surgeon, and He is the providing provider. 
Only God inhabits eternity, and His mercy endures forever. 
God cannot fail, not fall or falter but attends to one that waits on Him.
Above all, the word of God is not breakable.
The servant of Elisha could only see stagnation crowding him and Elisha in the face of the enemy.
2 Kings 6:14-15 records about Elisha and his servant, “…horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
The servant of Elisha saw fear when he reported to his master when he could not see an escape from the enemy. 
The servant of Elisha gave himself to fear.
As a prophet of God, Elisha only knows to behold God in times of challenges. 
Elisha responded to his servant in fear of the enemy, “So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:16-17)
The prayer of Elisha caused the servant to see that they were not in stagnation but in motion to overcome the hands of the enemy. 
Are you in a situation causing you to behold the enemy?
Lameness can be a mockery. 
A lame man that is limited in motion needed a miracle in the place of his mockery. 
Acts 3:2 states, “…certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple.” 
Begging for alms was the portion of a lame man. 
The lame man desired to come out of lameness. 
Mockery to miracle demands attention with expectation. 
The lame man gave attention with expectation as Peter said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.”(Acts 3:6-8)
God is yesterday, today, and forever. 
For your miracle, behold with expectation for manifestation.

Prayer for today: Ask to enable beholding God in all situations.

FAITH CAPSULE: God alone was in the beginning; He is the same God that will be beyond forever. 

Exodus 6

Without any doubt, God shares a name with none. 
He is the Almighty, the King of kings, the eternal rock of ages. 
Exodus 24:17 describes God, “The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.”
Hebrew 12:29 buttresses, “For our God is a consuming fire.”
Pharaoh, with the stone of heart, rejected the request of God for the release of the children of Israel as he turned to Israelites with extra labor. 
The expectation of freedom became dim as Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters to inflict more labor on the people. 
Moses wanted to know why God added trouble to the children of Israel. God responds to Moses with the assurance of His strong hand that the Israelites shall become free to go. 
God introduced His name to Moses, “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ’I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.’” (Exodus 6:2-3)
Asking, seeking, and knocking is the unfailing way to gain the attention of God when a situation mounts up.
Are you asking, seeking, and knocking in times of trouble? 
Are you the one that is attempting to lead the Spirit of God or allowing the leader of the Spirit of God over your life?
The word admonishes all, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)
Concerning challenges, call the name of God by asking, seeking, and knocking. 
Asking, seeking, and knocking is approaching with expectation. 
All should know asking in the name of God is the all-inclusive way to become an over-comer. 
God answers to redeem the caller from bondage. 
A caller of the name of God shall be delivered and become preserved, one that calls to wait on Him.
To call on the name of God will cause God to visit with salvation.
Do you know His name? 
Knowing the name of God is different from knowing about knowing Him. Today, know that “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.”(Proverbs 18:10)
The name of God brought the Israelites out of the bondage of over four hundred years. 
God alone was in the beginning; He is the same God that will be beyond forever. 
Psalm 148:13 records, “Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.”
His name is the LORD!

Prayer for today: Ask God for the understanding to be calling on His name indeed and in truth.

FAITH CAPSULE: One that is spiritually asleep becomes spiritually at risk. 

Acts 12

As an acclaimed believer, what is keeping asleep in the place of being awake?
The enemy of man is here to kill and destroy.
Sleeping gives a privilege for the enemy to sow pain and cause sudden or untimely death. 
All should become awake to watch and pray to deny the enemy from sowing evil into life of sleeping ones.
In the parable of the wheat and tares, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” (Matthew 13:24-25) 
The point is that sleeping gives the enemy the privilege to sow tares (wickedness). 
One that is not asleep but awake makes it difficult for the enemy to sow tares among the wheat.
In this wicked world, to be alive demands being constantly awake physically and spiritually.
As an acclaimed believer, are you awake or are you asleep? 
Just as it is possible to be asleep physically, it is also possible to become asleep spiritually. 
One that is spiritually asleep becomes spiritually at risk. 
For one who is asleep, prayer will cease for the enemy to gain entrance. 
Sleeping can be when the eyes and mind shut or goes to bed at night.
At the time of wickedness of today, when sleeping takes over and challenging situations, invitation becomes answered for the wicked one. 
When James, the brother of John, was killed by King Herod, the church was asleep.
Acts 12:1-2 records the seed of the violence of Herod to the church, “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 same hand of Herod sent Peter to prison. It is written, “…but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.” (Acts 12:5-7) 
The deliverance of Peter from the wickedness of King Herod was awake of constant prayer by the church. 
It is possible that the same church was not constantly praying but asleep at the time of the death of James at the hand of Herod.
The enemy will sow evil seeds only in the sleeping church.
As a temple of God (church of God), are you sleep active or awake active? 
Can you afford to sleep when you need to be awake?
Watching and praying is to be sleepless spiritually and be physically attentive. 
A church that is not awake in prayer does not prevail against the enemy.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to become awake spiritually and attentive physically.