Tag: growth

Why God Delays in Answering Us

Matthew 7:9
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?

Prayer is an appointed means for obtaining what we need. We are commanded in the Holy Word to pray often and to be persistent in praying for our needs. Almighty God promises to hear our prayers in order to fulfill our needs in accordance with His will for our lives. If this were not so, then we would not be instructed to make praying a daily habit.

We may become frustrated when it seems that God is not answering our prayers. On the other hand, we have many examples in our daily lives that illustrate how “no” and “not now” are perfectly proper answers. As parents, one of our most important tasks is to train our children to become highly functioning adults. Thus, when our children reach the driving age and ask to start driving, we should be ready to take on the job of teaching them to drive. If, however, we know they are not mature enough to handle the responsibility of driving, our answer should be “no” or “not now”. While our commitment to them is to train them in new life skills, our more pressing commitment is to insure their protection when they are vulnerable.

While the Lord promises to hear and answer all of our prayers of need, His promises are bound by the higher covenant of preparing us for our eternal life in heaven with Him. So while He always hears our prayers, sometimes His answers will be “no” or “not now.” Each case will be determined by Him based on where we are on the path of sanctification and spiritual growth. He will answer us perfectly, in perfect timing in accordance with His will for our lives. He will apply the same principles in the lives of others when we are praying for what we perceive to be their needs.

Let us rebuke the need for immediate gratification in our lives. Let us learn the value of waiting on the Lord. As we wait, let us praise Him for His perfect answers and His perfect timing in all things.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for hearing and answering all of our prayers. We thank You that You often protect us by not giving us what we ask for when it will take us off the path that You have set aside for our lives. We pray for the strength to endure when Your “no” or Your “not now” seems so painful. We ask, Lord, that You help us to keep seeking You so that our prayers will come into alignment with Your will for our lives. We ask all these things in the name of our mighty and all sufficient provider, Jesus Christ.

Preparing for the Harvest

Psalm 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

The changing of seasons is very easy to observe in nature. The verdant green of summer season is followed by the brilliant colors of the fall season. The dying out and browning in the winter season is always followed by the spectacular new growth in the spring season.

So it is in our growth as Christians. The Lord allows us to go through trials and periods of distance from Him in our relationship with Him. We must take care not to judge our lack of fruitfulness during our dormant seasons of trial and rest. These dormant seasons are necessary for the emergence of our harvest. How we respond during these dormant periods will determine the size and the fragrance of the new bloom in coming our harvest.

The more we let ourselves die to Christ in the dormant seasons of our lives, the greater will be the produce of our harvest times. The more we let ourselves live in the flesh during our times of trial and rest, the lesser will be the produce of our harvest times.

Let us seek the Holy Spirit to help us understand our seasons so that we are preparing properly for the harvest. Let us strive to make ourselves ready for the coming harvest that Our Father in heaven has planned for us here on earth.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us seasons of growth in our relationship with You. We rejoice in knowing that You have planned for us to go through these growing seasons with the Holy Spirit as our helper. We pray, Lord, that when we enter into our dormant periods of darkness that we may learn to respond to the checks of the Holy Spirit as we battle against the attacks of the flesh. May Your strength be perfected in our weakness as we blossom in Your perfect light. We ask all these things in the name of the Bright and Morning Star, Jesus Christ.