“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”- Luke 18:1 (NIV)
One of the most challenging experiences anyone can face is praying for something, expecting an immediate response, only to meet a long and seemingly endless period of silence. In such moments it is easy to begin doubting whether we did the right thing. Perhaps that has been your recent experience and you feel frustrated. Yet here is the assurance: God values every prayer we offer Him, and in His time He answers.
Consider Cornelius. He was a prayerful man. One afternoon, as he prayed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him. “Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked. The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God’” (Acts 10:4). Evidently Cornelius had been praying about a pressing matter for some time. God finally came through—at His appointed time.
Abraham and Sarah waited many years, longing for a child of their own. At one point Abraham pressed the Lord: “But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’” (Genesis 15:2–3). This was clearly a deep and burning desire. Yet at an advanced age, when all human hope had faded, their prayer was answered: “Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him” (Genesis 21:1–2).
The Israelites, too, endured years of bondage in Egypt while they cried out for deliverance. At last God revealed Himself to Moses: “The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey’” (Exodus 3:7–8). After the long wait, God honored the prayers of His people.
You may find yourself in a similar place—many prayers offered, yet nothing seems to come through. Our prayers are never spoken into a vacuum. Every one is recorded, and in due time, just as He did for Cornelius, Abraham, and the Israelites, God will come through. “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, sometimes I feel discouraged when my requests seem long delayed. Yet I come to You and ask for strength to persist in prayer, knowing that at the right time You will answer, for You are a God who never fails. This I pray in Jesus’ mighty name!
