Delayed answer to prayer

Are you dealing with an impossible situation and your prayers feel like they are hitting the ceiling?

What do you do????

The first thing you must do is know your God. You know Him by reading His Word. Everything in His Word is true, reliable, will never change, reveals His character and His ways to us, and shows exactly how He deals with us individually.

The Word of God reveals to us that He has our names- your name, my name, CARVED in the palms of His hands. Not tattooed, not printed, CARVED. Imagine if you can, all our names carved in the whirls of skin covering His palm. A tiny highway of names. Mindboggling. Not matter where He goes or what He does, we go with Him, and when He reaches out His hand to do anything we are a part of it.

We can not hide from Him, we can not be taken anyplace in this world where He can not find us. He promised to be with us always and He is. Nothing can remove us from His love. As a matter of fact, He gave us all kinds of assurances that His love, protection, guidance and provision will be with us always.

He promised that when we cry out to Him, he hears us and the answer to our prayer is sent out before we stop speaking! He said that He knows the things we need and will provide them. He promises if we keep our eyes on Him, if we put His kingdom first,all the things we need will be given to us.

Now you know all of that, believe it. No matter what anyone says. Be stubborn about it. Be hard headed about it. Be pitbull dug in about it! How? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. That is Romans 10:17.in the king james version.

Good News Translation says -

17 So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.

So, back ti the impossible prayer situation.

Now that you have been remided of some things about God, what do you think is going on with your prayer?

There rae a few resons the answer might be slo in coming. Probably more than my brain can think up, but here are a few.

God has to deal with other people, to get them lined up or in the rifght place to help answer your prayer. Think of Pharaoh. He did not want to let the Israelites go - not one bit! God over rode his free will in order to set the Isrealites free. As soon as God's will was done, Pharaoh was right back out there after them! So there could be a person that God has to work on that drastically to bring your answer.

God has to move situations around. That would involve God moving many people arount in order for His will to be done. I know a person who worked in a very bad environment. She prayed for the people around her to no avail. Year after year. Now, this person didn't like change. It was scary for her, being a single mom with a son to raise. She could never really get a clear answer within herself whether to leave that position or not. So, (catch this!) God brought another company in to buy out the division where she worked, sent her over into the new company while her old company was all rearranged, then sent her back to the old company under a new boss with different coworkers. Now look at that for an answer to prayer! She belongs to God. She is HIS kid! The answer to her prayer was on the way before she stopped asking, but it took a few years for it to work out- now we see why.

Oh, I heard that! If God can do all things, if nothing is impossible for Him, then why did it take so long? He could have made all that happen in a few months. Yes, He could have. No denying it.

But.... God uses all situations for our good. To teach us either about Him or about ourselves. Putting us in situations that call for patience is one of the main ways He grows us up.

2 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This way He tells us about Him, and helps us to grow up to be like our brother, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The final thing- God may have something planned for you that is so muhch better than what you thought, He may want to surpise you with something you secretly wanted in your heart but were afraid to ask for.

The answer to your prayer is on the way, but it might not look like you are imagining. It may look the total opposite!

Psalm 34:8

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Isn't God great? He does something good, we trust Him to do more good, and we get blessed for just trusting Him!