5 Days of Prayerናሙና

PRAYER DELAYED, NOT FORGOTTEN

If you’ve followed Jesus for any length of time, you’ve probably experienced a prayer that seemed to go unanswered. You kept asking and asking – begging God for this one particular thing – and it seemed like he wasn’t doing anything. Either he was saying “no” for some reason, or he was just taking his time answering it. What’s up with that?

Well, God is fully in control and all-knowing, so if he doesn’t do exactly what we want him to do right when we want him to do it, we can still trust that it’s for our own good. But, sometimes God’s timing is just different than ours…he thinks in terms of eternity and we think about the next five minutes. A perfect picture of this is the New Testament couple of Elizabeth and Zechariah. Their whole lives together, they were unable to have a child. They begged and begged God for a little 8lb. 6oz. bundle of joy to brighten their lives, and it seemed God was just saying “no”…until Luke chapter 1! 

Without getting into too many details, Liz and Zach were old at this point…like super-old. If God had given them a child back when they first asked, they’d certainly be grandparents by now. In all likelihood, they had given up praying that prayer years ago. Then one day, Zach was doing his job in the temple, and an angel shows up and says, “God has heard your prayer!” If you look at Zach’s reaction, it’s clear he doesn’t know which prayer the angel is referring to…he’s probably thinking, “I wasn’t just praying anything…what are you talking about!” The angel’s message stretched way beyond the present moment: “God has heard your prayer…the prayer you prayed over and over all those years ago…it just wasn’t the right time until now.”

The baby that God miraculously gifted this old couple with was to become John the Baptist – the bold and powerful man of God that prepared the way for Jesus. This was part of God’s plan from the beginning, and he needed to hold off on answering their prayer for a baby until the time was right for the much bigger, eternal picture that was unfolding. I don’t know what you’ve been praying for (or what you’ve maybe given up praying for), but don’t assume that God has forgotten you or your prayer. Trust in his will and his perfect timing, and keep praying…when the time is right, he’ll either change your heart or answer your prayer. And either way, you’ll be filled with joy and your faith will be strengthened.