“Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1

Delays

Recently I’ve had conversations with some of you about the delay in seeing answers to some of our prayers. It can be frustrating, disappointing, and can cause us to give up hope when we don’t see answers to the prayers we are lifting up to Him.

When we petition God for things, He may say “yes.” He may say “no.” Or He may say “wait.” I think the answer we find the hardest to deal with is the waiting! We live in a time when everything is instantaneous. We’re not used to waiting—and we often don’t do it very well.

We have been faithful in asking God for some things, for healings, for miracles. Many have prayed! We haven’t given up. So why aren’t we seeing more of the answers we’re asking God for? I certainly don’t have all the answers. But there are a few things that have helped my heart in looking at this.

I think one reason is we don’t see things from God’s perspective! We see things through our “finite” eyes. God sees the big picture. He may already be answering our prayers, but we just can’t see it yet. The delays aren’t because God doesn’t care, and they’re not because He can’t answer. The delays are for our good—even if we can’t see or understand the delay.

His timing is often different from ours, too. There may be some important reasons why our prayers have not been answered yet. God may be doing things in the interim. He may be preparing for the answers. He may even be planning to answer in a different way.

It’s so important that we don’t allow our trust in God to be undermined through delay in the answers to our prayers. The enemy would love that! God is good and faithful! He loves us, He cares, He suffers with us. The circumstances don’t change who He is.

I find it important to thank Him for things He IS doing! I’m surrounded by them. I need to thank Him for those things while I wait for the answers to prayers that I’m still lifting up to Him.

I hope someday that God can explain some of the delays to us…but I’m convinced that one of the things He is teaching me, and all of us, is perseverance. In this day and age of everything being “instant,” we can forget what it means to persevere. Perseverance is one of the ways of God that are found all through the Word. It’s an important character trait for us to have in our walk with the Lord. Being willing to persevere in prayer, and in other ways, is often a test for us.

I’d love to see the miracle answers that we’re praying for. I’d love that encouragement for everyone who is praying. But the delay is where our faith comes in. I don’t understand the delays, but I trust our wonderful Lord. He’s faithful. He’s brought me through. I’m ready for whatever He’s going to do. I won’t stop praying now!

“Father, You are not upset with us for continuing to ask You for answers to our prayers. You’ve given us an open door to come to You with our petitions. You love for us to ask. You want us to persevere. You have answers in store for us—in Your perfect way and time. Amen.”