GOD’S TIME IN PRAYER

© Carlos Padilla, September 2020

 

What do we do when God seems not to answer our prayer? Many think that God has separated from their lives, their faith weakens, they get depressed, or simply they are not praying in His will. But, what if we know that our prayer is God’s will?

Jesus disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, and He taught them to pray “Our Father” in Matthew 6:9-15. One phrase stands out for the matter we are dealing with, about the time of God in answering prayers: “Your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven” which is an acceptance from the one who prays that God’s will shall be done, including answering prayers that are His will, in His time and not in ours. However who prays must ask that the Holy Spirit lay in his heart that which pleases God in our life, and to take away what does not, so that we, as His disciples, pray in accordance to His will and desire, not of the influence of the world in our temporary humanity.

God has established a time to answer prayer, according to His sobering authority, according to His plan for us, which He shares in our heart. This is the base and foundation of why, sometimes some think that God has forgotten their prayers. Is it that God is no longer sobering? Does He not know better than us what is best for us? Isn’t trust in God a proof of our faith in Him? The Bible says: “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God”, Romans 8:27. Don´t stop praying for what you know is of God for your life, even if it takes long according to the clock of your soul; wait for the time in the prophetic clock of God.

There are prayers that receive immediate answer, but there are others that do in mid or long-term, even years or decades for us to see God’s answer. Many ask why God takes long to answer. Can it be that we ask what we ought not to? The salvation of a loved one, healing of an illness of our child, the blessing of a relationship, of a marriage, to come out of debt, to be part of a healthy church, to win souls for God, etc. But the believer must prevail in prayer if he thinks that what he asks is of God, because He makes him see it that way. The believer must analyze if what he asks if holy or not, as we read in James 4:3-5: “You ask and not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures”…Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? ¡In such way God loves us!

God promises to us things that sometimes come very fast and others take long. As I said before, sometimes God’s time includes weeks, months, years, decades or an entire life. Again faith is what anchors our conviction and perseverance when we pray knowing that is something of God. Therefore let us not become desperate and trust God and persevere in prayer, and in good deeds.

The attitude of who prays is the key of those who have faith like the mustard’s seed. Remember Jacob who fought with the angle of God to be blessed: “And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”, Genesis 32:26. This is the attitude that the Lord appreciates, the true fight for an intimate relationship for His love.

Some Bible Texts that encourage us to persevere in prayer:

“O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come.” Psalm 65:2.

“Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore”. 1 Chronicles 16:11.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints”. Ephesians 6:18.

“Pray without ceasing”. 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

You may read a Biblical study dedicated to living by faith at:

https://www.yahshua.net/LivingbyFaith.htm

 

CONCLUSION

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you”. Matthew 7:7.

I would like to close mentioning the lives of some heroes of the faith that encourage us in our lives of prayer and faith: Noah built the ark by the promise of God of the flood, and he did it with faith, and waited until the rain came, Genesis 6. Sarah conceived her son Isaac, an entire life sterile until her old age, but God gave him to her, Genesis 18. Moses delivered Israel from Egypt and drove them 40 years in the desert to take them to the promised land, while they complained, until he saw the promised land, and did not enter it, Deuteronomy 32:48-52. The old man in the temple who blessed baby Jesus waited all his life the promise of the Lord that he would see the Messiah before he passed away: “…Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel”, Luke 2:25-32.

If all the saints of the Lord have lived and prayed, and many times have waited all their lives for a promise ¡how are we not going to pray always, with faith and trusting in the Lord who always answers prayer to His beloved people, when they pray with faith and all that is of God, giving fulfilment in His time!