Life Capsule for Today Date: 22nd October, 2023
Theme: Basic Elements of Effective Prayer (1)
Topic: Faith
Memory Verse: Matt 7:7-8
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. NKJV
Text: Heb 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 NKJV .
Words of the Ministry
This week’s capsule would be centered on the basic elements of effective praying, we would not be considering prayer in its entirety but the things that makes our prayers effective, by effective we don’t mean getting our request met but our prayers regardless of its outcome should meet God’s standard and plan for us as individuals and corporately as a Church of God.
First off, I like to emphasize that even before we approach God, it has always been God’s intention to have fellowship with man. The head of every race in the Bible starting with Adam is a good example, we see God visiting Adam in the Garden, God had fellowship with Noah, he walked with Abraham, Moses and our Lord Jesus during his earthly walk also confirms this, same was the experience of the other saints in the bible in both the new and old testaments. It gives God joy to have fellowship with man and to answer our prayers.
The situation is even more glorious under the new covenant because unlike the old, where God visited man once in a while, in the new covenant, God through the sacrificial work of Christ now dwells in us, we can therefore enjoy the most intimate fellowship with the almighty in our Spirit, what a privilege.
Our Text in verse 7 and 8 gives a great assurance of answered prayers, ask and it will be given…., everyone who asks receives…, many joyfully read this but after a few years or even weeks of walking with the Lord begin to realize that their experiences and the word concerning answered prayers isn’t as straight forward at the verse, while we cannot doubt God’s word because its ever true and consistent, we need to probe ourselves a little to know exactly what the challenge is. Our today’s text highlights the first problem which is Faith.
Faith is a must for effective praying, without it we can’t even please God talk more of getting answers to our prayers, we must believe that God exists and a rewarder of diligent seekers, the statement may sound funny but check with your experiences, have there not been times in your walk with God that you almost doubt at least within your heart not necessarily telling anyone if God really exist considering the prevailing situations, if he does, does he still answer prayers, and if he does, does he even hear my prayers? Many believers at one stage in their lives may experience this, it is not unusual as we grow in the knowledge of God. We then begin to see that faith is not a magic wand neither does faith change God.
We come to realize that faith may not give us the answer now as at times may need to be stretched. Like the woman in Luke 18, we see that faith as defined there is to persist and wait on God for as long as it may require. Do you have faith, is your faith rock solid, is your faith towards the will of God being done or your will, how has your faith changed you? Shalom, please keep in mind our October Peniel encounter which comes up on Sunday the 29th, by 4pm.
Bible in One Year: Luke 4-5
For further fellowship send us an email on godmanvideos@gmail.com or visit our youtube channel: @godmanmedia. You can also interact with us by dropping your comments on our facebook page. Our physical meeting, Word feast comes up every Wednesday by 5pm and Prayer Gym every Saturday by 7am while PENIEL comes up once a month, every last Sunday of the month from 4pm to 6.30pm at Suite A10, Ahser Office Complex, beside Living Faith Church, Opposite Hassan Stores, Arab Road, Kubwa Abuja.