“Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God” - Colossians 4:2 (NIV).
Prayer is amazing in that while in the scriptures we find instances of quick answers to prayer requests yet there are many others which took years to materialize. For example, after Jesus was crucified, there was a criminal who recognized that indeed he was the Messiah. In spite of this, the criminal repented and cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus instantly granted his wish, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).
Another time, a centurion came to Jesus, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly” (Mathew 8:5). Amazed at his faith, Jesus granted his request immediately. “Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment” (vv 13).
However, having a prayer request answered immediately was not so much the case in the life of Prophet Abraham. He and his wife, Sarah, walked for years, with a prayer request as would any childless couple, to conceive and have a child. They got up in years and it seemed all hope lost. Finally God told Abraham their prayer request would be answered. “Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” (Genesis 18:12). In spite of that, “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 21:1-3).
Likewise, Hannah, had too prayed for years to have a son, endured taunts from her co- wife, Peninnah, but she persisted in prayer. “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” Then one day, prophet Eli observed her praying fervently and, touched, there and then said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him” (vv 17).
All this is to bear to us that with prayer there are not fast rules. In some situations we shall have our request met instantly as there are those which we shall labor with, perhaps for years before they materialize. However, if there is any rule, one which we can’t ignore, is that where our requests are not met instantly, we should not give up in prayer, as was with Hannah. “So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him” (vv 20).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of creation, of heaven and earth, through scriptures I see you have the power to meet any of my prayer requests as and when you wish, and so I hereby pray in Jesus's name.
Related upcoming events
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19/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 All day“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” ( Isaiah 43:19).
Just before fire was unleashed down on Sodom and Gommorah, Lot was told to pack up with his wife and two daughters and leave their homestead. Now, once out of danger, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( Gen 19:26). Perhaps here we might pause and ask why she was bothered to look back.
Of course it could have been that old “curiosity killed a cat” mistake! Yet, it could also have been Lot’s wife was not sure where she was going and longed for her old life back. This is a common error. There was nothing stirring to look back. Just before Lot’s neighbors had attacked his house eager to rape his visitors. “They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” ( vv 5). Was there anything worth looking back to!
The case of Lot’s wife could be anyone else’s experience. The Lord has plucked you out of some mess. You have been delivered to a new life. Yet, somehow you decide to look back, as though there was anything good and worth longing for. Sometimes it is a bitter past you have been delivered from. Other than rejoice in your new blessings you keep being drawn back!
A wise caution goes, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly” ( Proverbs 26:11). If the Lord has just led you out of a certain mess why look back like it was much better! Instead look ahead, for “he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” ( vv 17- 18).
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I thank you for delivering me from the darkness of the past and I look forward to a bright new future in you, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
