Delay Is Not Denial: 3 Questions to Re-Ignite Your Prayer Life Today
Do you ever feel like your prayers have produced no results?
Ready to call it quits?
I’ve been there more often than I like to recall.
Christ told His disciples that “...they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1)
He told them about a widow who gave a judge FITS before he would finally give her justice. He used that illustration to show us that a “delay” does not necessarily mean a “denial.”
Here are three questions Jesus asked to re-ignite your prayer life:
“Will not God give JUSTICE?”
The judge in the story was an ungodly man. Jesus said, “Here is what the UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE says…”
He then goes on to say, “Will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night?” (v. 6).
The unjust judge does not WANT to give justice. The Father of all justice WANTS TO GIVE US JUSTICE.
“Justice,” in this case, means “a claim on your rights and privileges.”
The first way to re-ignite your prayer for something is to realize that God wants you to have the justice (Scriptural outcome) that you are crying out for.
2. “Will God DELAY a long time in giving us our justice?”
This was Christ’s second question.
His answer? “I tell you, He will give justice to them SPEEDILY” (v. 8). This word means “quickness, haste, speediness, very soon, shortly.”
In other words, your answer is happening now!
You may not have seen anything, but that does not mean the answer is never coming. It’s already beginning to happen.
“The God of peace will SOON crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20, same Greek word). Satan may be trying to delay the angels en route (as he did with Daniel’s prayer), but the answer is already on the way!
3. “When He comes, will He find FAITH on the earth?”
This third question is a very legitimate question: “Is there any connection between my faith and my receiving?”
Yes.
The context of this question is not about the second coming. It is about the answer to your prayer.
God is doing His part. The question is, “Am I building up and strengthening my faith every day? Am I immersing myself in His Word and His promises until I know they are true, like I know my own name?”
Don’t let your faith wane and disappear. Don’t let your conversation about the problem delay the answer. Feed your faith, starve your doubts. Keep feeding your faith that your answer is on the way!
Summary: Three positive declarations:
Now, you can answer these three questions Christ gave us with three positive answers:
God WANTS me to have what is promised to me in His Word (“justice”).
My answer is ON THE WAY quickly (I’m expecting it every minute).
My part is to continually STRENGTHEN MY FAITH (feeding it every day).
I know it seems like an eternity since you began praying about this problem. Someone once said to me:
“Stand forever, and it will all be over soon.”