God’s Word to you today, you who pray and praise him ceaselessly, is that before you asked Him anything in prayer He knew you would because He knows you and all your desires. This maybe stating the obvious but we often tend to forget.

Therefore do not be discouraged if your prayers do not get answered immediately as in the case of Hannah when she prayed and sobbed continuously before the Lord for a child. It took a while, but she persevered and did not give up. So don’t give up on the Lord as He never gives up on you. What you are seeking from the Lord could actually be His divine will such as in the case of Hannah.  Even before Hannah travailed in prayer, the Lord had planned to give her a child. Her son was not only given to her for her pleasure but also for the sake of God’s people, Israel.  This is because at the time the Word of the LORD was scarce, in other words, God could hardly find anyone through whom He could speak. Also the priests were corrupt. Samuel, Hannah’s son was predestined to be the prophet and priest Israel needed at the time.

Even before Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to Him while in prison (Acts 16) and the church prayed ceaselessly for Peter (Acts 12) while he was in prison, God had declared these men would be freed. The miracle of breakage of chains and release of Paul and Silas as well as other prisoners was heard by many and involved the salvation of the prison guard, so their prayers and praise resulted in testimonies and salvation to the glory of God.

Do not underestimate the power of your prayers and praise to affect individuals, families, communities and nations. Do not stop! Someone’s healing or their salvation and a nations’ restoration could depend on your praise and prayers as the Lord may have commissioned you alone or you among others to be His instrument.

This is why the apostle Paul encouraged the church to “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thess.5: 16-18)

If you are praying for something that may not be God’s will for you, He is merciful and gracious and will honour you because you sought Him in the first instance. He will instead outwork what He has predestined for you although it was not exactly what you prayed for. The fact is that He created you so as your Heavenly Father He knows even better than you what is good for you.

There may be several reasons why your prayers may appear to be taking forever to get answers, but here are two

1. God is molding you into the type of person who would be ready for what you are praying for. Perhaps you are praying for marriage or your church or ministry to grow. The question is are you ready spiritually, emotionally or with the necessary skills and knowledge? You may think you know, but only He knows the reality of whether you are ready or not.
2. God has planned an appointed time for you to have what you have been praying for in the way in which he knows is best for you. This is because certain things have to happen in the wider scheme of things before your specific prayer is answered or answering your prayer is part of a chain of events that must happen at the same time.

God is sovereign and can choose to do things this way.

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8 KJV).

What may appear as delay to you is actually God’s perfect timing. The manifestation is likely to come when you least expect it.

Meanwhile as you wait for God to answer your prayer, pray not just for what you want on a superficial level, rather tell the Lord how you will be committed to Him through whatever you are asking Him for or how it would help you glorify Him more. Hannah for instance made a vow that she would offer her child to the Lord and she fulfilled her vow (1 Samuel 1:11/22). Even if it is a prayer for someone else, promise God that the testimony of that person’s breakthrough is something you will share on their behalf to the glory of God. If you are praying for healing present God’s Word before Him by quoting what He says about His will to heal all sicknesses and diseases.

Pray for your future spouse in detail if you are praying for marriage, God knows who they are and when they will be ready for marriage.  As we pray, it is important to be aware of the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer, for He intercedes for us according to the will of Father as we often do not know what or how to pray.

Therefore brothers and sisters let us rejoice, be thankful in everything as we wait in prayer for all that God has planned for us because our Heavenly Father wants what is best for us and will bring it to pass according to His perfect will in His perfect time.

You are blessed, determine to stay blessed!

Deborah Esther X

For more on prayer, 3 part series: Prayer is Petition, Devotion and Intercession see Posts on (click) www.bearwitness-forerunner.org

©Deborah E. Nyamekye 25/11/2015