THE DELAYED PRAYER DEPARTMENT

Have you ever found yourself lost and confused while you wait on God to answer your prayers? I believe that my unanswered prayers are in the Delayed Prayer Department. They are just wandering around in the Delayed Prayer Department. You have petitioned God and your request for that particular blessing has not materialized yet. You are so tired. So frustrated. So anxious. You are overwhelmed with waiting. Days have turned into weeks, weeks have turned into months, and sometimes months have turned into years. You find yourself wondering why is God making me wait so long? You may sometime feel, "Has God forgotten about me?"

Unanswered prayers are an issue we all will face at one time or another in our lives. What do we do when we have prayed and prayed and it seems there are no results? I don't know anyone that has never faced this issue of dealing with unanswered prayers which appear to be stuck in the Delayed Prayer Department.

The Bible is full of stories of people having to wait on God, such as Abraham, Job, Moses, Elijah, Joseph, and David, just to name a few, and there are countless others. They all went through some very trying and difficult times, but God always came through for them. The process of God and waiting on His promises appears to be a "Test of Faith." Sometimes God will allow us to enter into some very discouraging and traumatic situations, for the primary purpose of "testing our faith."

So what do you do while waiting on God to answer your prayer? While being in the Delayed Prayer Department, there are some things to do while you wait. One of those things is to wait for God quietly. "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord" (Lamentations 3:26). "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him" (Psalm 62:5). There are times when you can't find the right words to say to God. But you can go to God without words and simply let yourself have some alone time with Him. I have learned that I don't always need to talk to God to pray. I can simply wait silently for Him, and with Him. I discovered this way of communing or silently waiting for God, when I was so broken after the death of my husband. There was times when I couldn't find any words to say, I just wanted to be in God's presence. I needed Him to comfort me. So I would just sit quietly, focusing on Him and His awesomeness. I truly enjoy the silent moments I spend with God.

While being in the Delayed Prayer Department, you must wait for God patiently. King David said, "I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry" (Psalm 40:1). As we wait patiently for the Lord, the Lord assures us that our wait for Him will not be in vain. There are benefits from waiting on the Lord patiently. Waiting patiently on God means, trusting Him, depending on Him, looking unto Him for our help, longing for Him, counting on Him, thereby resting in Him. You will be blessed while patiently waiting on God, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord" (Jeremiah 17:7). You will receive His goodness while patiently waiting on God, "The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him" (Lamentations 3:25).

While waiting on God in patience, we need to spend time with Him and in His Word. Patience is a Fruit of the Spirit and it can only be developed under trials. God wants us to grow, so He stretches us and while He stretches us, He strengthens us. He comforts us, and He is with us giving us His grace to see us through. So while you wait, please do not worry, nor become frustrated. You are suppose to rest in God, through faith.

While being in the Delayed Prayer Department, you must wait for God expectantly. "Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him For the help of His presence" (Psalm 42:5). To wait for the Lord expectantly, is waiting in anticipation with assurance that something will happen. When a woman becomes pregnant, we say that she is expecting. She usually has to wait for nine months in expectation for her baby. She is assured that she will hold and love her baby. We wait on the Lord trusting His plan for our lives and His desire for us. We wait on the Lord in faith. We wait expecting God to answer our prayer in His own timing and in His way.

God is 100% trustworthy. God loves for us to wait on Him expectantly. This means that we have placed our trust in Him. When we trust Him, with expecting anticipation, He does "exceedingly abundantly" more that we could ever think of or dream of. He will answer your prayers in a way that you could never ever have possibly imagined. God truly knows how to exceed our expectations. Just wait and see!

The Bible says in 1 John 14-15, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Now look at 2 Corinthians 1:20, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory pf God." When the promises of God manifest, He gets the glory. Wouldn’t the same be true of answered prayers?

Do you see the words, "in him"? The word "in" paints the picture of someone being in a fixed, stable , or consistent position. It is a relationship word. Remember when Jesus said, "I and my father are one" (John 10:30) and "he that hath seen me hath seen the father" (John 14:9). Jesus agrees with the Father on everything.

When we have an intimate relationship with God (when we are in him) and pray for the things He would pray for if He were here (because we are in him), then we will know what Jesus knew (as we walk in him). He always answers our prayers yea and amen.

Remember what 1 John 5:15 says, "And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Are you seeing what I am seeing in this verse? When we know, without a shadow of any doubt, that our Father hears us, then we know that He will grant our prayer request.

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he prayed "Father, I thank thee that thou heard me, And I knew that thou hearest me always.." (John 11:41-42a). Doesn't this sounds like 1 John 5:14-15? "And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

Jesus was God's son. Who do you think that we belong to? We are God's sons and daughters. Did our Father "hear" Jesus when he prayed, but not us? He heard Jesus' prayer and He heard our prayers. Let this sink in.` Our heavenly Father always hear our prayers and it is His heart's desire to always answer them. We have to be like Jesus. We have to give God the faith He needs to answer those prayers.