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Scripture Readings:
Luke 1:5-20, Genesis 17:1-5

In the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, there was a minister of God called Zachariah, whose role was to burn incense in the temple. He had a wife, Elizabeth, who was from the lineage of Aaron. They both were blameless when it came to keeping the commandments of God. However, they were barren, even into their old age. They were both praying about having a child, but it seemed God was not answering their prayers.

One day as Zachariah was ministering in the temple, an angel appeared beside the Altar of Incense and gave the good news of what was yet to come. He told Zachariah that they would have a child, but Zachariah was in doubt. So, he told the angel, “How can this be possible when we are very old people?”. The angel replied and said he would be dumb until the child was born, because he did not believe the Word of the Lord, and so did it happen.

From the encounter of Zachariah with the angel of God, it can be deduced that Zechariah had a faith problem. He did everything right and kept the commandments of God, but yet he had no faith to believe his prayer. I suppose this was why the answers to his prayer were prolonged in the first place. This makes me wonder why he was praying about it in the first instance. Nevertheless, for the sake of fulfilling His Will, God took control and ensured that a child was born into this family.

Many Christians pray to God, but as soon as it seems the answer to their prayer is taking a while, they easily give up. Other times, they pray without faith, and expect an answer. Without faith in our prayers, no matter the righteous works we do, we will find it hard to receive answers, except by the mercy of God.

On the other hand, there was also a great man whose wife was barren. His name we all know as Abraham. Abraham had a covenant with God, that he would be the father of many nations, but yet he had no child, even in his old age. In Abraham’s case, faith was not his problem. A simple verse in the scriptures revealed that he needed to do certain things to ensure this promise was fulfilled: God wanted him to walk blameless before Him. So, when God appeared to Him, He told him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.” (Genesis 17:1-2).

When we compare the two scenarios, the former had no faith but was blamelessly doing the commandment of God, while the latter had faith, but was not perfectly blameless. Therefore, we can conclude that the demands of faith must be met to position ourselves for an answer. Simply put, Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).

Today, I pray that our faith aligns with our actions for a miracle answer, in Jesus name, Amen.

Other Scripture Readings:
Romans 4, James 2:14-26.
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DO YOU WANT TO GET BORN AGAIN TODAY?
If you have never been born again, you can do so now if you believe Jesus died and rose again for your sins. Then ask in a short prayer for the gift of eternal life which He made available by His death and resurrection (Romans 10:9).

PRAYER OF SALVATION
Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you died and rose again for me. Forgive me my sins and come into my life. I confess you today as my Lord and Personal Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and write my name in the Book of Life. This I ask in Jesus name, Amen.

If you said this prayer in faith, Congratulations! You are now born again! You are now a child of God! You now have Eternal Life! Kindly share the good news with us, so that we can guide you further. God bless.


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