FAITH CAPSULE: Giving oneself to prayer with understanding.

Matthew 25

Prayer is labor and is rooted in expectation for manifestation. 
Prayer is not a funfair or an engagement to impress, but a means to gain the attention of God.
Jesus demonstrates praying with labor as Luke 22:44 records, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Prayer engagement is labor with earnestness, sweating profusely, the evidence of expectation that God will not ignore one.
Trust and know that God answers prayer.
Yes, no, or wait are the options of answers to prayer.
Ask God will enable you with the strength of prayer, so that you will not be a victim of evil occurrences.
Prayer is always the answer to challenges.
Are you giving yourself to prayer?
Giving to prayer demands consistency.
Giving oneself to prayer with understanding will unfailingly get an answer.
The word of Apostle Paul encourages stating, “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4)
What is your prayer like during challenging or non-challenging times?
In times of challenge, are you giving yourself to praying or sleeping?
Matthew 25:1-3 documents the case of sleeping, “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
The majority answered that believers are flooding in the name of God as they please, sleeping or awake. 
Also, they are equipped with things of God or not.
The ten virgins in the parable are composed of five who are well-equipped with lamps and oil, while the five foolish are without oil for lamps.
As the bridegroom delayed (but not to deny), all were slumbering and slept at the place of watching.
Which speaks to you? 

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you not to be shut out from missing His presence.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not become faith failure, think about identifying what stops you from becoming humbled before God.

2 Chronicles 7

Being humble will enable one to run the race of life without becoming a vessel of faith failure.
One who knows God will be humble, not a vessel of faith failure. 
Are you humble?
God knows all.
God pays attention to how all conduct themselves in the life journey. 
James 4:10 testifies that God pays attention to humble ones, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” 
One who is humble is one with a meek spirit.
The Bible identifies the meek ones:
Psalm 37:11, “But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “
God is consistent and committed to His promise as 2 Chronicles 7:14 records the promise of God for humble ones, “…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Are you humble and glaring by your way of life?
With the desire, give yourself to become humble, to claim the promises of God over the life of the humble one.
Be humble in this challenging trouble and not become a vessel of faith failure. 
Philippians 2:3-8 identifies several ways to be humble, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” 
The way to live life for the glory of God is to be humble.
Jesus, our Lord and Savior, humbled Himself and was obedient to the point of death on the cross. 
What stops you from becoming humbled and living life for the glory of God?
Numbers of people in the Bible were humbled to walk with God. 
Paul was humbled.
Moses was humbled, and Numbers 12:3 testifies, “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.” 
Make it your way of life to be humbled, keep your eyes on God, and not become a victim of faith failure in this challenging trouble of today.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to become humble before Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: The self-centeredness builds against God.

Genesis 11:1-9, Psalm 24 

Without a doubt, creation cannot maneuver God, the Creator.
If you are surviving by telling lies to deceive or manipulate your world, know that God, the Creator, alone, sees all.
Watch it and know that telling lies can build you up for years to move you forward, but just a day is certainly enough to bring you out as a liar, a deceiver, and a manipulator to bring down all the years built up in lies.
You can maneuver your world with lies, but not the Creator, the God of all.
Isaiah 40:28 records, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.” 
The one and only Perfect God does have the world in His hand. 
Psalm 24:1 states, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.”  
Under heaven and above, no one is in place to outmaneuver God. 
Can you imagine a creature attempting to outmaneuver the Creator of all?
The God that spoke to Jeremiah is the God that created heaven and earth and all its fullness. 
He spoke to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) 
Many, by the wickedness of their heart, are destroying others to build for themselves. However, when the building is outside God, it becomes an effort to outmaneuver the only Perfect Creator.
The building of the Tower of Babel was not in line with God.
The building was evidence of an attempt to maneuver God.
Genesis 11:4 records, “And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
Self-centeredness, which seeks to take charge instead of focusing on God, wants to maneuver God. 
Are you looking away from God? 
The construction of the tower of Babel failed to consider that God was in control.
The land and its fullness belong to God. 
God does not tolerate selfishness; He is not a man who acts like a man.
Self-centeredness represents arrogance and pride.
God saw where the people were coming from and knew where they were going as regards the Tower of Babel.
The self-centeredness that builds against God will provoke the response of God. 
Genesis 11:7-8 states, “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So, the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.”   
Stop building outside of God, which is an act of maneuvering God.

Prayer for today: Ask that you be enabled to live life for the glory of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: No one should believe in God and give themselves to doubt.

Matthew 14:22-36

Whose word do you believe?
The word of God demands faith and no doubt.
Power to heal and deliver is in the hands of God.
Pray not to be a victim of doubting the word of God.
What holds one down from experiencing the hand of God is doubt.
Isiah 59:1 confirms the hand of God, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save…”
Give to the word of God.
Know that the unfailing hand of God is for healing and deliverance?
Hear from Numbers 11:23, to stay focused that God does not fail, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
Trust and hope in God that any hand that points against you with an evil agenda shall be permanently withered for the glory of God over your life.
With doubt, faith will drown.
Jesus encourages all, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (John 14:1)
Faith is a key to asking and receiving from God. 
When believers operate faith like a floating balloon, doubt can deflate to become grounded. 
The word of God demands faith and no doubt. 
James 1:6 records encouragement against doubt, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”
Once, the disciples of Jesus were on a journey on the water ahead of Jesus. 
While the disciples were in the middle of the journey on the sea, the boat experienced waves. 
Jesus could not abandon His disciples when He walked on the water. 
Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and was asked if to walk.
The Bible records, “So He said, ‘Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:29-30) 
Jesus was not a stranger to miracles, but Peter became an estranged disciple of Jesus through the miracles. 
With belief, there should be no room for doubt.
No one should believe in God and give themselves to doubt.
Peter should not give in to doubt in the place of faith. 
Just as Peter was sinking instead of walking on the troubled water, Jesus reacted, “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.” (Matthew 14:31-32)
Peter failed as fear rose, and his faith began to sink in the troubled water.

Prayer for today: Ask God for deliverance from the spirit of doubt.

FAITH CAPSULE: Living obediently to God is not to be far from God.

Genesis 3

Get to know God, not to live a life far from God.
There is always a need to be close to the presence of God.
One who does not will walk far from God by living a life of disobedience to the word of God.
The sin of Adam and Eve made them far from the presence of God. 
Genesis 3:6-10 documents how Adam and Eve took a far distance from God, “So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
God creates all with His care to keep all near Him, but the sin rooted in not knowing God keeps all far from God.
Sin kept Adam and Eve far from God, not never far from them.
Are you living obediently or disobediently before God?
Obediently, give self to the word of God, walking in His presence and not far from Him. 
God is near, always.
The disobedience of Adam and Eve led to sin, and with sin, no one can reach God.
Failure to give regard to God will lead to sin.
Knowing that God is near at all times, the majority take the position of distancing themselves from God as evidence of disobedience to God’s word.
Disobedience to God is evidence of sin before God.
One with sin, consciously or unconsciously, cannot hide from God to see but keeps a distance from God.
Romans 3:23 buttressed, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 
With sin, all will be short of the presence of God, not being in His presence that is always near.
Consciously or unconsciously, are you living in sin that keeps you far from and not near to God?
One who is disobedient will hide from the presence of God. 
The creation of God is the word of God.
The word of God is God.
Often, the choice to be far from the word of God is to be far from God.
The work of God is the evidence that God is near. (Psalm 75:1-2)
Do you know if you are near to God or far from God?

Prayer for today: Ask that the spirit of disobedience shall have no place in your life.