Unanswered Prayers
Perhaps one of the greatest heartbreaks a believer experiences is the plight of the unanswered prayer.
Can God hear me? Is he listening? Has he forgotten me? How can I have faith when he doesn’t answer me?
Scripture teaches us to approach the throne of grace with confidence that he will respond.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
But what are we supposed to do if we have approached the throne and heard nothing in return?
These are authentic questions of faith. God invites our questions. He wants to assure us, to show us He is listening. But sister, his timing is not our timing.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
In my prayer life, I have discovered that God often gives us three responses- the first is yes, the second no, and the third is the excruciating, not yet.
To those who have received the not yet from God- I see you! I grieve with you, and I am there with you. But I am also here to encourage you in the Spirit.
God has not forgotten you.
Let this truth sink in.
God has not forgotten you!
In Habakkuk He gifts us this response, “Then the Lord replied, “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time.”
When Habakkuk cried out to God on behalf of the Lord’s people, he received a resounding- wait.
God made him a promise and would come through- but the revelation awaited an appointed time. God gave Habakkuk one simple instruction- to write down His promise; to write down what He had promised to do for His people.
Is there one unanswered prayer that looms over you daily? What has God spoken over this situation? Have you received any promises? If so, write them down. Write down exactly what He said and hold steady to that promise. Believe Him! Trust Him!
“Not one of the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” Joshua 21:45
God keeps his promises; He sees them through to completion. But as we uncover throughout scripture, endurance is a necessary ingredient of faith. In fact, those who first received a promise from God had to wait for it to be fulfilled, in God’s timing, not their own. Faith is an equation of promise and endurance.
Allow these truths to anchor your faith. If God has spoken, then He will fulfill His promise. But this fulfillment awaits His timing. In the meantime, hold steady to the promises of God and be ready and willing to wait for His best, not our rendition of it. God doesn’t want to give you good or good enough. He wants to shower you with His best. Have faith in the promise that not yet means, maybe not today, but one day.
- Kierstin Almstrum ::