FAITH CAPSULE: There is no substitute for prayer.

Luke 3

God is the Lord God that reigns forever. 
With prayer, one possesses the key that opens heaven.
Prayer is a key, while faith is the ignition.
Faith is crucial because, without faith, God is not pleased. 
Hebrews 11:6 confirms, “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.”
Are you praying with expectation for an answer? 
Does your prayer have faith?
Word points out that without faith, God is not pleased. 
When with faith, God is pleased to reward one praying before Him.
Jesus demonstrates to all that with prayer, heaven opens. 
Luke 3:21 records, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.”
Jesus prayed with faith for an answer from heaven, and the answer came from the open heaven. The bible records, “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.’”(Luke 3:22)
The prayer by Jesus is a testimony to the fact that when a prayer finds a 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. 
The voice of God shall speak direction if the one praying has the ear to hear the voice of God. 
There is a need to have the grace of God to hear the voice of God when it sounds in one praying before God.
When heaven opened for Jesus, He heard the voice from heaven saying to Him, “You are my beloved Son; in You, I am well pleased.” 
Remember, it takes faith for one praying to please God.
God is a prayer-answering God.
All should know and understand taking the time to call unto God.
How is your prayer life?
The word pointed out what it takes with prayer. 
Psalm 109:4 of David states, “…But I give myself to prayer.”
Just as stated by David in Psalm 109:4, the book Acts 6:4 says, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 
Are you a believer with a prayer life or an unbelieving believer with no prayer life?
As a believer, how is your prayer life? 
A prayer-less believer is like a vehicle with headlights, driving in the dark without the headlights turned on. 
With such, it will only take a moment before a disaster happens by driving in the dark without light (prayer).
In these days of spiritual wickedness, there should be no substitute for prayer.

Prayer for today: Ask for understanding and strength to increase prayer time before God.