DON’T STOP PRAYING – BE PATIENT
BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore
he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord
is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
(Isaiah 30:18)
MEDITATION:
Many times the Lord will deliberately delay answers to our
prayers so that He may be gracious to us. When Lazarus fell
sick, his family sent for Jesus. Instead of coming immediately,
Jesus waited (see John 11:1-46).
He waited until Lazarus was dead. And if you read John 11:15,
you’ll see that He said, “I am glad I was not here” Why would
Jesus say that? It’s because He had something greater in mind
(He wanted to increase the faith of others). Jesus knew that they
were about to witness a miracle that would convict them that
He was the Messiah.
After making His promise, God waited four thousand years
to before sending the Lord Jesus Christ. But Galatians 4:4
says He came in the fullness of time.
“But when the set time had fully come,
God sent his Son, born of a woman,
born under the law”
God is never late, never ahead of time, and never in a hurry.
ACTION:
Are you in a waiting game? You’ve been praying days, weeks,
months, and even years for something, but for some reason
God hasn’t answered yet?
Satan wants to discourage us with thoughts like,
“Why waste your time praying, nothing has
happened yet, so don’t you understand that
your prayer is not going to be answered.”
We need to be aware of his schemes, ignore them and keep on
praying. If we quit praying, then we are implying that God
will not answer our prayer so prayer is useless. However, if
we stop praying about it, then what does that say about our
faith?
The next step in Satan’s scheme is to convince us that we need
to stop praying for others and anything else. But what do the
scriptures tell us?
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds
of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
(Ephesians 6:18)
When God’s Word tells us to pray, it is not just a suggestion,
it is a command and we are expected to obey. We should
never forget that prayer is not just for making requests,
but it is also a time for thanking the Lord for our blessings
and praising Him for who He is.
We can be a witness and have a positive influence on others
whenever we are not ashamed of our prayer life.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and
singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were
listening to them.
(Acts 16:25)
We can support and encourage others when we join them in
praying (we are doing that with our weekly prayer assignments).
I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus
Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in
my struggle by praying to God for me.
(Romans 15:30)
Praying for others is an important part of our prayers.
We can pray for others to be saved, for others to grow
closer to the Lord, for others to use their spiritual gift
to serve the Lord, for those who are out of work to find
a job, for others to know what decisions they need to
make in certain situations, etc.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind,
be alert and always keep on praying for all the
Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18)
Consistent prayer is good for others, but it also benefits us
as we establish a habit of having conversations with the Lord.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have
not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill
you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom
and understanding that the Spirit gives. So that you may live
a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the
knowledge of God, being strengthened with all
power according to his glorious might so that you
may have great endurance and patience, and giving
joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to
share in the inheritance of his holy people in the
kingdom of light.
(Colossians 1:9-12)
We have to be still and know that in the “set time” our request
will be answered. We need to learn to be grateful for God’s delays,
because they are for our benefit. Only a loving God would have
perfect timing in answering our requests. While we are waiting,
we should think of how He has blessed us, and thank Him for them.
We need to realize that we are being sanctified (set apart for
God, by God, to be used my God). Sanctification is something
that happens at three different times in our life.
First of all, when we are saved we are sanctified (it is a starting
point of sanctification for us, but it is not a one time event).
Secondly, we continue to be sanctified for the rest of our earthly
life. How do we know that we belong to God and as a result we
are being sanctified? We are not perfect which means we will
stumble and fall at times in our efforts to follow the Lord, but
we need to look at our lives today and see if we are growing
closer to the Lord each day.
Can we tell that we are eliminating the things in our lives that
displease the Lord? Can we see our desire to see others saved is
increasing? Can we say that we have discovered the spiritual gift
God gave us when we were saved? Can we say that we are actively
using the spiritual gift He has given us?
If we are not growing in our efforts to become more like Jesus,
then we must be moving backwards because we are not keeping
pace with what God has planned for our lives. God created us for
a purpose and in order for us to fulfill His purpose, we need to
come to Him for salvation and follow that with doing what He
expects us to do with what He has given us.
Lastly, our sanctification is completed when we step into eternity
to be with the Lord in a new body, soul and mind that will no
longer stumble and fall in our efforts to become righteous.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your timing
in answering my prayers. Help me to realize
that Your delays are for my benefit and to know
it is because You love and care about me. Thank
You for Your Word which reinforces my faith, by
showing me how Your delays benefitted others in
the past, by increasing their faith.”
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