Matt 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
I do not read any hedging statements above. I do not see " ask and it will be given if...." What I read is ask and it shall be given period. Now, many will say "but brother D, the Lord does not answer my prayers." Really?
It has been this brother's experience that the Lord's answer falls into three broad categories: 1. yes, 2. no, and 3. wait. Many if not most of the time "yes and wait" are the answer.
What moves this brother to write to you today is one of the greatest answers to prayer, and/or deep desire this brother has seen yet. I do not want to write about the specifics of this prayer and answer so you are not distracted and miss the point I try to make.
Sometimes its not an 'official' prayer request you make that the Lord answers. Sometimes it is something He has seen inside of you for years that you have longed for and He wishes to give you. In my case, it may be something He has planted inside of me like a seed that is to grow and bear fruit at a certain time. In any case the point is this. As I sit and guesstimate the time on how long I have been asking for this thing, to now when I see it within sight, the time has been about 6 years or so, maybe longer.
So, ask and ye shall receive, but it might take 6 years or so to see the answer....It does not always take that long but the point is, it could take that long. The other point the Lord has pointed out to me, is a large part of the answer had to do with changing me first. Yes, I had to change before the answer could be given. It has been this brother's experience that the Lord many times changes us gently and patiently over time. Sometimes it takes 6 or more years to change us.....
Sometimes in order to answer our prayer, as was the case when we asked to move from one place to another, the Lord had to move some people away, bring some in, move people in and out of jobs, prepare a home for sale, etc etc. He had to arrange the chessboard for us to arrive and that takes time....For an all powerful and all knowing God, answering prayer is not a half hearted thing. When He does it, He does it right. He prepares us, and this world and the things and people of this world to make way for our answer. We only see our little part of the answer. What we do not see is all the behind the scenes work the Lord does in preparation of your/my answer.
One of the most encouraging things in this life is we have a God who answers prayer. That is this brother's testimony. How and when He answers prayer are up to Him, not to us. Do we have the faith and patience to receive our answer? Your answer may arrive today or years from today. What does the Word say?
| We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised |
and what has been promised?
Matt 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
That is what the Word of the Lord says ^^. His Word can be trusted.
grace and peace
This was absolutely brilliant, and it was such a breath of fresh air to read. God is a man of His word, and will never say things just to say things. Man is the one who does not mean what he says. To assume that God does the same, is to think that God is at the same level as man - when God clearly is not. If God said it then He really means it. However, the enemy is always trying to dupe us into doubting God, and sometimes it works! But that's when I've learned you have to grab your Bible, and say, "Nope. It's right here in the Bible. My God said it and it will be."
ReplyDeleteI actually just stumbled upon your blog, and this post happens to be the first post I've read. Great post! Really, it was such a blessing to read. :)
Amen, the Lord is good. Grace and peace.
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