In John 16:23-24, Jesus encourages us to ask God in prayer with the assurance that He will answer so that our joy may be full. What a promise! Quite often however time goes by before the answer comes. Here are a few perspectives that might help:
Rise up boldly. Hebrews 4:15-16 tells us to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence not reticence. Having experienced human weakness himself, Jesus answers our prayers because of grace and mercy not because we are deserving and worthy. He answers us because he loves us and because we belong to Him.
Reframe delays. Rather than denials delays are often pauses meant to grow our faith in God’s faithfulness and our trust in God’s providence. They are meant to draw us close to him and keep us close to him. He wants us first to want Him before we want something from Him. This is why the Lord’s Prayer begins with “Hallowed be Your Name” - the language of worship. Prayer beings with God not with us.
Remain relentless. Translated more literally Matthew 7:7-8 implores us to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking and to knock and keep on knocking. Apostle Paul put it more simply when he said, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). His life validated that practice through astounding answers to prayer, a testament to God’s amazing grace. Remember, before coming to Christ, he tried to destroy those who followed Christ.
Rest while restless - Pray the best you can and leave the particulars in his hands. He will respond in his way and time in response to our trust. Rather than obsess, resolve to rest while continuing to pray. Philippians 4:6-7 teaches us to turn worry into calm by praying for everything. The result? An eventual peace that transcends our understanding. When we come to this place we feel like we can stop praying and start praising Him because the answers are already coming.
Years ago we were seeking to buy a home on an attractive piece of property on the condition we could purchase the fee simple rights to what was a leasehold parcel. An investor group in Washington D.C. denied selling it to us numerous times over a three month span. We felt strongly that we were to keep asking God for it in prayer while continuing to ask the investors to sell. My realtor Danny questioned our resolve. I asked him to ask one last time in concert with our prayers. They finally relented.
The difference? Agitated, they asked, “What is it about your client that he doesn’t understand the word ‘no’? What does he do?” When told I was a minister they decided to release the property immediately saying: “We don’t want to get in trouble with the man upstairs. You should have told us this from the start.” Additionally, we ended up paying over 60,000 less than the original asking price.
Today, the home has been paid for in full. Never a week goes by that I don’t think about the fact we live in a place procured by God’s amazing grace. Stay in prayer. Stay in faith. God is always at work on your behalf. Your answer is coming.
