answered prayer-why the delays

8/7/2019 answered prayer-why the delays

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ANSWERED PRAYER WHY THERE ARE DELAYS

It is not so true that "prayer changes things" as that prayer changes me and I

change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of

Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a

question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man's

disposition. - Oswald Chambers, Scottish preacher, author

Luke 18:1-8 (KJV)

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray,

and not to faint; [2] Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God,

neither regarded man: [3] And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto

him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. [4] And he would not for a while: but

afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; [5] Yet

because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming

she weary me. [6] And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. [7] And

shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, THOUGH

HE BEAR LONG with them? [8] I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.

Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

[Emphasis added].

In this parable, Jesus Christ contrasts the heavenly Father with the unjust judge.

We see the unjust judge delaying to grant the widow her rights for no reason. He

had no fear of God, neither did he regard man. Here was a judge who was

lawless, in the sense that he was neglecting his duty as an officer of the law. His

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responsibility was to ensure that those whose rights are encroached find redress

under the law.

Although this judge was unwilling for a while to do the right thing, he later yielded

to the womans incessant pleas. Our focus for this book is on verses 7 and 8 of

Luke chapter 18.

The Traditional View of Answered Prayer

We would first look at verse 8. For many of us, the traditional view we hold of

God is that of someone who bluffs us when we call upon Him. We see Him as

an unwilling person who chooses to do what He likes when we start to call on

Him for help. So far as prayer is concerned, our attitude is that if we call on God,

the situation will delay and the time for the answer to come will expire before you

see any sign of action on your case. We therefore choose to try various other

means for the solution to our problems before we draw near to God. This often

ends in our problems becoming compounded.

The Biblical View of Answered Prayer

We learn from Luke 18:8 that this traditional view runs counter to Gods true

nature. Gods attitude is to avenge us speedily. The word avenge, means to

vindicate or to give one justice. God gives us justice when He ensures that our

inheritance in Christ is not denied us by any devilish conspiracy of

circumstances. God is more in a hurry to answer our prayer than we are ever

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Therefore, whatever your situation may be, whether it has to do with sickness,

family or your marriage, be assured that God is in haste to correct the breach on

your rights and alleviate your suffering. He does not delay just for the sake of

delaying. He is Omnipotent, and that the devil well knows. One of the devils

favourite tricks is to whisper into our minds in times of suffering that God has

ignored us or is delaying to answer our prayer. He has promised never to leave

nor forsake us.

Hebrews 13:5-6 (KJV)

... for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. [6] So that we may

boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

This is not a prayer topic, it is His sure word to us. I do not need to ask Him to

continue to be with me. This gives us the assurance that He will come through at

all costs.

The Guarantee of Gods Character

We need to realise that God always acts in consonance with His character. God

is love1. A God who is love will not do anything to injure those He claims to love.

This is because love does not rejoice when someone suffers wrong2. Someone

said the knowledge of a person is the basis of faith. Surely, our knowledge of

God is a bulwark to our faith in times of difficulty. Gods character as revealed to

us includes His mercy, graciousness, sovereignty, omnipotence, omnipresence

and omniscience. He is also just, holy, good, and glorious. Others include

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faithful, changeless, eternal and caring. A study of these attributes from the Bible

will go a long way to enrich faith.

Moreover, it is clearly stated that as a just Person, He does not permit you to be

deprived of your rights. We see this in the book of Lamentations.

Lament. 3:35-36 (KJV)

To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, [36] To

subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.

Be assured that our God who is love will always be true to His word and defend

the cause of His own. This is especially so when Jesus Christ His Son has

purchased that inheritance with his own blood3.

The Almond Tree

We can obtain further instruction about Gods attitude to answered prayer from

the book of Jeremiah.

Jer 1:11-12: Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah,

what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the

LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

The almond tree is a native of Syria and Palestine. Its blossoms are of a very

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pale pink colour, and appear before its leaves. Its Hebrew name, shaked,

signifying "wakeful, hastening," is given to it on account of its putting forth its

blossoms so early, generally in February, and sometimes even in January4. This

amazing tree blossoms before the leaves appear. In addition, it is also the first of

the trees to blossom in Palestine. In Jeremiah 1:11 shaked is used as an

emblem of promptitude, a symbol of God's early execution of His purpose and

promise.

The almond tree therefore reveals again to us Gods attitude to answering

prayer. He says I will hasten my word Once our prayer is based on the word

of God we can be sure that God is literally in haste to perform it. He only

performs according to His word. Remember that all things were made by the

word, and without the word, God did nothing at all5. He is a God who works by

His word. The word is the law of His Kingdom.

Almonds in the Menorah

The symbol of the almond tree as a sign of Gods haste in fulfilling His promises

is further emphasised in such a way as to give us maximum assurance that God

will always respond to his promises. One of the pieces of furniture in the

tabernacle that Moses made in the wilderness was the seven-branched golden

candlestick, otherwise called the menorah by the Jews. It is a symbol of Jesus

Christ the Light of the world. It was the only source of light in the tabernacle of

Moses.

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You may see the description of this piece of furniture in Exodus 25:31-40. My

interest in this piece of furniture is the presence of bowls made like almonds in

the design God gave to Moses. I believe this tells us that in Christ, the promises

of God are yea and amen. He is the way, the truth and the life6. As the truth,

he is the reality of all Gods promises. His promises are faithful and true7. They

are forever settled and God is bound to honour them speedily like the almond

tree. The apostle Paul confirms this to the Corinthians:

2 Cor. 1:19-20 (KJV)

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by

me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. [20]

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of

God by us. [Emphasis added]

We therefore have every reason to have strong confidence that God will not only

answer our prayer, but that He will answer them speedily, even at the speed of

light, because His Word is light8. The following scriptures should add to your

confidence in the promises of God. Make an effort to memorize them.

1 Kings 8:56 (KJV)

Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all

that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which

he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

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Joshua 23:14 (KJV)

And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your

hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things

which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you,

and not one thing hath failed thereof.

Finnis Jennings Dake, author of the popular Dake's Annotated Reference Bible,

had this to say about the promises of God: The failure of God to keep any of His

promises in the Bible has never been recorded; nor will it ever be thus, for He will

always be faithful to keep His word and fulfil with anyone the promises when he

meets the conditions laid down in them. This much is certain and can be relied

upon.

Given all these assurances of the veracity of the promises of God, there must be

other reasons for which sometimes it looks like answers to our prayers are not

manifesting. To this, we now turn our attention.

Why Does God Bear Long with us?

We have realised in the last section that God is in great haste to answer our

prayers once we are walking in the word. In Luke 18:7, we see a picture of

Gods people crying to Him day and night. The thought given there is that

although God will answer their prayer, he bears long with them. That is how the

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King James Version puts it. Some modern versions avoid it completely because

of the difficulty in reconciling a God who would answer prayer speedily with one

who appears to delay his answer for some unspecified reason.

There is certainly a problem understanding this apparent contradiction of

characters. However, I believe the answer is right there for us to see. The word

bear long comes from the Greek word makrothumeo, which means to be

longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish. It also means to be patient in

bearing the offences and injuries of others.

Most importantly, we must realize that longsuffering is a fruit of the spirit. It is a

part of Gods character. In this instance, God is being longsuffering towards us.

It is not us being longsuffering towards God. Primarily, longsuffering is not a fruit

we exercise towards God. Rather we exercise it towards people who may be

doing injury to us. However, here, God is exercising longsuffering towards us.

To say that we are the ones to be longsuffering towards God makes God look

like one interested in inflicting maximum pain on His own by delaying answer to

prayer for no justifiable reason. You can reflect on this statement from the New

International Bible Dictionary: Patience is an attitude of heart with respect to

things, while longsuffering is an attitude with respect to people. It is a virtue that

God prizes highly in human beings and seems to be best developed under trials.

Now why would God have to suffer long towards us, who are petitioning Him to

act on our behalf? Peters epistle confirms this view to us:

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2 Peter 3:9 (KJV) The Lord is notslack concerning his promise, as some

men count slackness; but is longsuffering [makrothumeo] to us-ward, not

willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

[Emphasis added]

Clearly, we see how God operates here. He is never slack concerning His

promises. He is neither slow nor slothful. He does not drag His feet as one

bluffing His people. There is a reason why He appears to be going slow on our

case presented before His throne of mercy.

The reason for the apparent delay in receiving answers to some of our prayers is

that God is longsuffering (makrothumeo) towards us. Peter says the reason for

this longsuffering of God is that He is not willing that any should perish, but

rather all should come to repentance. Repentance means to relocate or make a

shift in mind and conduct such that we conform or align to His will, and His rich

blessings are able to reach us.

If we apply this to our prayer life, we see that the reason God has to

exercise longsuffering towards us is to give us time to align our lives with

His word or re-position ourselves in thought and conduct in order that the

answer will descend to us in the same manner released speedily. From

this, we see that when we pray according to His will, He immediately answers us

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with speed. You actually need a speedometer to measure that speed. However,

many times the answer delays in manifesting because we are not properly

positioned in our thoughts and conduct. We always need some renewal in our

minds through the Word.

The delays of God are not denials but for a bigger purpose. It enables us to re-

position our lives for the answer to our prayer to manifest. It is this period of re-

positioning our minds and conduct through mind renewal, and sometimes

chastening

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that accounts for the delays we see in our prayer lives . It is during

this period that God bears long with us. Put in other terms, it looks like God finds

Himself being pulled by two things:

1. The divine imperative to answer our prayer

2. The need to ensure that we are in a right relationship with Him and His

word conforming to the image of His Son.

How does He respond to this dilemma? Does He answer our prayer and

leave us in a wrong relation to His word or He works on us our attitudes and

character, while answering our requests? There is the story of a pastor and

his son. It was Saturday night and his father was busy preparing a sermon.

Now that was the time no preacher wants to be disturbed. However, this little

boy would give him no peace, constantly demanding attention. There was a

map of the world lying nearby that was torn at various points. In order to

occupy the boy, he asked him to put the world map together. The task looked

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had already sanctioned manifests speedily.

The Prodigal Son

As a further illustration, let us look at the story of the prodigal son [Luke 15]. In

many ways, we are like him. The wealth of his father was always there for him.

The only thing that changed was that he positioned himself contrary to the will of

his father. The Bible describes it as a far country or a distant land. So long as

he remained there, there was no way he could enjoy the fathers wealth.

Moreover, whatever he had from His father could not be enjoyed in that

environment. We can never enjoy our heavenly Fathers promises from a distant

land. It was when he came to his senses [verse 17], and had the courage to

repent and relocate both mentally and physically to the position of the father, that

the fathers wealth was made available to him. Practically, he made a shift from

an earthly and selfish paradigm to a heavenly paradigm. However, the wealth

was always there for him.

Your far country or distant land may be a heart filled with bitterness, impatience

[which I believe was one of the prodigal sons problems], pride, rebellion, or any

other such thing that is contrary to the word and will of God. The fact is God is

willing and ready to go any length and allow us to go through some real suffering

just for us to be conformed to the image of His Son11. The difficulties created by

the delay will bring you to the end of yourself. You may do everything possible to

survive and even consider the possibility of compromising some principles you

hold dear, just like the prodigal son came to the point where even swine feed

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The word of God showing the basis for answered prayer is John 15:7. It does

not need a lot of explanation, and you do not need to be a rocket scientist or

super-spiritual to understand it.

John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will,

and it shall be done unto you

Darbys Translation puts it like this; John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words

abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall come to pass to you. (DBY)

[Emphasis mine]

The whole issue of answered prayer centres on our relationship with the word of

God. Remember that the Word is a living thing we can relate to. Infact, Jesus

Christ is the living Word. It must be a relationship of obedience, and this is

crucial to answered prayer. If your life in thought and conduct are ordered after

the word of God, you are in a good position to receive answers to all your prayer.

As Darby puts it, it shall come to pass to you.

The problem is that, more often than not, being human, we find ourselves in

other positions that may not be described as abiding in Him, with His words also

abiding in us. We are often in a distant land. Oh, how we need the grace and

mercy of God.

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Hebrews 4:16 (KJV)

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain

mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We would use one more biblical picture to illustrate why at times answers to our

prayer dont manifest at the time we expect.

Israels Wilderness Wandering

Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea,

going by way of Mount Seir. [3] But forty years after the Israelites left Mount

Sinai, on a day in midwinter, Moses gave these speeches to the Israelites, telling

them everything the Lord had commanded him to say. Deut. 1:2-3 (NLT)

Israel took forty years to complete an eleven day journey! This is amazing but

true. One surely needs to find out why. It is just like presenting some pressing

needs before the Lord that ends up taking so long we even wonder if God is

interested in us at all. However, it was not the distance that stood between them

and the Promised Land. It was the condition of their hearts. Many times when

our prayers seem delayed, it is not that God is unwilling. It is also not that some

demon is fiercely resisting our prayer, as we are most prone to conclude. By

this, I am not denying the reality of demonic opposition in certain situations.

However, largely, many of the delays we would comfortably place at the devils

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door can be traced to the condition of our hearts. Walt Kelly Pogo rightly said,

We have met the enemy and they are us. We are our own enemy.

It was not because there was a nation or enemy of Israel resisting them from

entering the Promised Land. Infact no nation could do that once they were right

with God. The delay in entering the land was because their hearts were not right

with God. The Bible describes them as a generation that set not their heart

aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God12. The word steadfast as

used in this verse means to build up or support. In a sense, we could say that

the reason why they missed it and the reason why sometimes we are not able to

stand till we see the manifestation of our prayer is that our spirits are not built up

in the word to establish us in the truth of God. Remember, the word of God is

able to build you up and give you an inheritance...13 without being built up in

the Word, you may not be able to enjoy your inheritance of answered prayer

because your faith will wobble at the most critical moments. Indeed Psalm 78

gives us some reasons why they were not able to enter the Promised Land for

forty years. If you want Gods speedy answers to manifest in your life, you will do

well to spend time searching your heart and getting rid of any such thing from

your life. Some of the reasons for their delay are:

Stubbornness and rebellion

A heart not right with God

Their spirits not steadfast with God

Refusal to keep Gods covenant

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Refusal to walk in His Law

A provocative attitude towards God

They wilfully tested God in their hearts

Asking meat for their lust

They cast doubt on Gods promises

They did not believe God nor trusted Him to care for them.

The book of Hebrews sums up all these heart attitudes as unbelief.

So we see that they could not enter in because ofunbelief. Heb 3:19

By and large as we go through our tests and trials of life, we will seek His face to

change our circumstances. I consider it prudent, in the event of delay to our

prayers to search our hearts and ensure we remove any such attitude from our

heart.

If these attitudes were able to keep Israel out of the Promised Land, they will

keep you from receiving answers to prayer, given the chance. For all you know,

Gods longsuffering towards you is to give you the opportunity to make the

necessary paradigm shifts from these attitudes carried over from Egypt, to word-

based paradigms. In the same breath, He succeeds in making you conform to

the image of His Son. Gods purpose goes deeper than just answering your

prayers and taking your difficulties away. He uses the things we go through to

prepare us for a walk of obedience.

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Luke 1:37 (KJV) Forwith God nothing shall be impossible.

Without Marys body, Jesus would not have been born; without God's rhema

word, Mary could not have conceived. With Gods rhema, and Marys co-

operation, the virgin birth took place. In like manner, with Gods rhema word or

promise, and our co-operation, nothing will be impossible.

In the case of Zechariah, the same angel Gabriel brought her the rhema word.

His response to the divine revelation was however disastrous and God had to

intervene by making him dumb for a season so the divine programme would not

be delayed. The irony is that Zechariah was praying for a baby, while Mary was

not having any such prayer sessions. However, when God sent the word to the

one praying, he fell short at the crucial moment. The dumbness he endured for a

season was a sovereign act of mercy to save the situation. If he knew that he

was an old man with a wife well stricken in years, why was he praying for a baby

still15? It looks like sometimes we really do not expect God to answer us.

Zechariahs response revealed he was positioned at the wrong place spiritually.

Our confession is so crucial to our faith and Gods moves on our behalf. The

Bible says with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation16. It is significant

to note that the word confession in this scripture literally means to covenant by

giving assent. That is how powerful our confession is. We make covenants by

what we say. That is why God intervened in the case of Zechariah.

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I believe the point is made about the fact that miracles come as we co-operate

with God with the right response and spiritual posture or attitudes.

Why the Delays?

We have seen that God bears long because we need to co-operate with Him to

bring about the desired miracle. Just like He is waiting for some to be saved, He

likewise waits for us either to obey or hear from Him what next to do to bring

about the desired change. The needed adjustments may be in relationships be

they parental, marital, or pastoral; it may be in the area of forgiveness,

resentment and bitterness, restitution, or even a prompting to demonstrate love

to somebody, by giving to meet a particular need.

The rhema revelation is important. Jesus said my sheep hear my voice17. Our

ability to hear Gods voice is most crucial to issues of answered prayer. Indeed,

it can make the difference between success and failure, even life and death.

Those led by the Spirit are the sons of God18. Moreover, we can carry out an

active faith relationship with God only when we are constantly hearing the rhema

word from the mouth of God19. This is also, why Jesus said man shall not live

but by every word (rhema) that continues to flow from the mouth of God 20.

Faith is a relational issue. Faith always finds its source in God. We cannot

exercise effective faith without consistently hearing from God. Faith is dynamic

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and not static. Success or failure all depends on your ability to hear from God21.

Faith is a relationship of dependence and obedience to the heavenly Father. We

must have the attitude of dependence. Our world teaches independence in all

things. However, the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God22. It takes

training and discipline to constantly hear from Him. Then nothing will be

impossible. For many of us, our attitude is if I have prayed the word, that is the

end. While that may be a valid position to take, some situations are fluid and

demands on-going co-operation with God and the forces of heaven. That is why

we need to continually hear from Him through the Spirit and the word until final

victory.

Some More Reasons for Delayed Answers

The delay in the arrival of our answers may be because God is waiting for us,

bearing long with us, to adjust our minds and attitudes in any one of these areas:

Refusal To Hear And Obey The Word Of God.

Proverbs 28:9 (KJV) He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even

his prayer shall be abomination.

The whole issue of faith is a relationship through the word. The word of God is

the Law of the kingdom. Going to God with a disregard for the word of God

concerning the issues you are presenting before Him is an exercise in futility.

God never works outside His word. The renewal step you need to take is first to

repent of your wrong attitude. Then accept what God says about that particular

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issue in His word. This will position you to begin to hear from Him. The answer

may then follow speedily.

Regarding Sin in the Heart.

Psalm 66:18 (KJV) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Another reason why the answer to your prayer is delayed may be the presence

of sin in your life. God cannot and will not condone sin in our lives23. If you are

aware of something gone wrong in your life, you do yourself a lot of good by

confessing before God and claiming His promise of forgiveness24

. That is the

correct renewal step.

Wrong motives; James 4:3.

James 4:3 (NLT) And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your

whole motive is wrongyou want only what will give you pleasure.

Our God is holy. He does not promote the hedonistic culture, which says that if I

gain pleasure from this, then it must be right. The fact that your friend from

school has bought an aircraft does not mean God has to give you one at all

costs. God answers our prayer not because we gain pleasure from it, but rather

because it is good and in His will for us. The renewal step to take is to check

your heart to see if your motives are right and in consonance with the will of God.

If your motives are wrong, you may be yielding to materialism and idolatry, and

repentance is necessary. Remember without repentance we cannot enter into

the kingdom25. So far as prayer is concerned, without repentance it is impossible

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to flow and receive from God.

Unforgiveness:

Mark 11:25-26 (KJV)

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your

Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. [26] But if ye do

not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

One of the most prevalent causes of delayed answers to prayer is the sin of

Unforgiveness. You will always be the loser if you choose to walk around with

Unforgiveness in your life. It blocks all answers to prayer and may even expose

you to attacks by the accuser. When that happens, you lose strength and cannot

stand before God26. Faith never operates in an atmosphere of Unforgiveness.

The river of faith chokes and dries out in an environment of Unforgiveness. Faith

thrives in an atmosphere of love27. Again, the renewal step that will re-position

us to receive from God is that of repentance. Then we forgive whoever has

offended us, bearing in mind we always offend our heavenly Father.

Double-mindedness:

James 1:7-8 (KJV)

For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. [8] A

double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

When you are double minded, God does not know what specifically to do for

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you. Today, you want this, but tomorrow, its another thing altogether. Your

mind is not made up. A mind not made up cannot operate in faith. In your state

of double-mindedness, if God provides one thing, you would turn around

tomorrow and blame Him for giving you the wrong thing. James 1:7 says you

should not dream of receiving anything from God. God cannot locate you when

you are double-minded. Again, you can re-position or properly align yourself by

repenting, making up your mind what you specifically want, and presenting that

alone before God. This opens the door for your miracle to arrive.

Refusal to honour wife:

1 Peter 3:7 (NLT) In the same way, you husbands must give honour to your

wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker

than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't

treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard.

The marriage relationship is supposed to reflect the relationship between Christ

and His church. The operative word here is harmony. The husbands refusal to

honour the wife or treat her with high esteem will lead to disharmony within the

marital relationship. Since they are one flesh, God cannot answer their prayer

because they now look like someone with a split personality. Each may even

have a mind of their own which places them at loggerheads with each other.

This particular hindrance to prayer will be most prevalent in cultures where

women are treated more or less like slaves or inferior beings. However, the Bible

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your way who needs just the little you have. It is not easy to accept that such a

person is sent of God at such a time. This is what happened to the widow of

Zarephath31.

The little you have in your hand may be your last seed that God can multiply to

give you a life saving harvest. Failure to obey the nudge to give may spell

doom or a great period of suffering. It will be another round around the mountain

to learn the lesson of giving.

The scripture here says failure to give to the poor will result in God not answering

your cry in your time of crises. Nothing sown, nothing reaped32. We need to

show our faith through our works. Practical love is what James talks about.

James 2:14-17 (KJV)

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not

works? can faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of

daily food, [16] And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed

and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the

body; what doth it profit? [17] Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being

alone.

Lack of Unity

Matthew 18:19

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Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any

thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in

heaven.

There is strength in unity. The word agree means to make harmony. Our

agreement must be such that there is no discord from anyone. As it were the

prayer of agreement must be like a song being raised to God in which all parts

flow together beautifully. We must therefore be sure that when we say we are

praying the prayer of agreement, all parties are agreed on the issue. Then God

can work for us. The pattern of prayer in the book of Acts shows this aspect of

unity. On several occasions, the Bible declares that they prayed with one

accord33. The word accord here means unanimously. Nobody was casting a

vote against the request being made unto God. There were no dissenting voices

when they raised an issue before God.

Idolatry

Many times in the history of Israel, they departed from God and followed other

idols. This is most graphically portrayed in the book of Judges. Everyone was a

law unto himself. God had to use the surrounding nations to punish them and

call them back to Himself. God used their physical needs to work on their hearts.

Most often, they went back into idolatry. The apostle John advised believers to

keep away from idols34. Colossians 3:5 also identifies covetousness as idolatry.

God warned us in the Ten Commandments not to bow down to idols35, because

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We must realize that faith and patience go together. Faith and patience are two

sides of the same coin. This is the way the Bible puts it:

Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and

patience inherit the promises. [Emphasis added]

If you tell me you have great faith, I will demand to see great patience in your life.

Abraham the father of faith had to wait for so many years to see the birth of

Isaac. In the course of time, he made a false move by having Ishmael. It took

thirteen years again before Isaac was born. I am sure Isaac would have come

earlier if Abraham had waited for God rather than listening to his wife Sarah.

The Bible says we should imitate people like Abraham. We can imitate the

patience he had for so long before the birth of the promised child. Through

patience, we can avoid further delay to our dreams. When the answer from

heaven arrives on earth, will you be found standing in faith mode? Jesus asked

that question.

True faith waits, because it knows God is certainly at work. True faith waits

because it knows God will not be late. True faith waits because it knows the

character of the God with whom we are dealing. His character validates our trust

in Him. His word is sure and forever settled38. If we trust Him and wait on Him,

He will never fail us.

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For the Glory of God

It has often been said that delays are not denials with God. The story of

Lazarus in John 11 clearly shows it to be so.

John 11:4-6 (NLT)

But when Jesus heard about it he said, "Lazarus's sickness will not end in

death. No, it is for the glory of God. I , the Son of God, will receive glory from

this." [5] Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, [6] he stayed

where he was for the next two days and did not go to them. [Emphasis

added]

Yes! Some delays are for the glory of God. Why did Jesus stay where He was

for two more days knowing well that Lazarus whom he loved, [agapao], was at

the point of death? Jesus said His delay was to enable the glory of God to be

fully displayed in answering their prayer. I believe this is exactly why some of our

prayers are delayed. From our human perspective, we wish the answer came

immediately. However, there may be a bigger purpose of God involved in your

situation that you cannot discern from a purely human perspective. Be assured

that Gods love has not changed because of your situation. The word of God

clearly says that in Romans 8:35. Nothing can separate you from Gods love.

When it is clear that your situation is humanly impossible, God will show up, and

when He does, the glory of God will be manifest. You will then become the talk

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of the town, like Lazarus. Remember God is working on your situation for His

glory alone. As the songwriter says:

Our end, the Glory of the Lord39.

When you are walking in His ways, Its not over till God shows up. Dont give

up, your prayers are answered.

Notes

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1 1 John 4:8.2 1 Corinthians 13:6.3 Ephesians 1:7, 11.4 Eastons Bible Dictionary.5 John 1:3.6 John 14:67 Revelations 3:148 John 8:12

9 Hebrews 12:5-12.10 Romans 8:2911 Romans 8:2912 Psalm 78:813 Acts 20:3214 Luke 1:31-33.15 Luke 1:18.16 Romans 10:10.17 John 10:27.18 Romans 8:14.19 Romans 10:17.20 Matthew 4:4.21 Deuteronomy 28:1

22 1 Corinthians 3:1923 Habakkuk 1:13.24 1 John 1:9.25 Luke 13:3.26 Revelations 10:12.27 Galatians 5:6.28 Matthew 18:19.29 Luke 6:38.30 Galatians 6:7; Genesis 8:22.31 1 Kings 17:9.32 Luke 6:38.33 Acts 2:1, 2:46, 4:24,34 1 John 5:21

35 Exodus 20:536 Jeremiah 17:537 1 Kings 1838 Psalm 119:8939 Charles Wesley; Methodist Hymn 608

answered prayer-why the delays

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