Teachings on faith and faith confession were rife in Nigeria in the early ‘80s. We learned quite a great deal that time, but not without some excesses and unbalanced presentation of the subject. It took several years of exposure before we could tell the important difference between what we might call faith claim, presumption or outright foolishness. Unfortunately, even till today many of God’s people do not know the difference; so when they are walking in presumption or are just being simpletons they think they are walking in faith. Many think faith is a tool to help them satisfy their greed, and lay claim to anything that appeals to their fancy. There is no shorter route to disappointment than that.

Finally, faith works best when you are in your domain. There are boundaries in God and in the kingdom. You can reign and rule as King as long as you respect boundaries.

In our text, Caleb was asking Joshua, the new leader of Israel, to “give me this mountain”. Caleb was not just asking for any mountain. So it is important on the first count to keep in mind that faith is not arbitrary in nature. When Caleb asked for the mountain, it was in the context of what God already promised. By demanding this, he was cashing in on what God said over four decades earlier. Faith is potent where there is a prior commitment from God. It is a misconception to see faith as a way of arm-twisting God. When you come to demand what God has already purposed, nothing shall be impossible. Finally, faith works best when you are in your domain. There are boundaries in God and in the kingdom. You can reign and rule as King as long as you respect boundaries.