Date: November 8, 2018 ()

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There is a lot to be said today from the Lord and I think you are going to enjoy it. Let us really listen in because this is an important thing in a person’s life. I want to talk to you about delays in answered prayer. A delay does not mean God is staying no. There is just a reason for it having to wait. God’s delays are not God’s denials necessarily. When you pray God will either say yes, no or wait. The hardest one of all is waiting. I have had to wait so long on ministry or on things that needed to come about on a house. There are all kinds of things you have to wait on. What is the deal? Why can it not just happen? Lord, if You are going to do it for me, why not do it now? He wants you to develop some things. There are things that can be developed while you are waiting that cannot be developed any other way. People will say “Do not ever pray for patience because you know what God will do.” I just want to tell you something, everything you pray for where you want to change and be a better person, it takes discipline. It takes time. It takes prayer. Never think to not pray for patience. Do you not want to have patience? If you want to have it, you have to learn to wait. My husband says on the other side of every good character quality in life you have to wait. There is discipline, you have to take your time and you have to give God time. On the other side of all that waiting is everything you ever wanted to be. You have to give God time.

We are going to talk about a woman that wanted what most every woman in the world wants. I do not care where you are that you are listening to this. You may be in China, Canada, Mexico, America or Iran. There is one thing that women all over the world want and that is babies. We are just made to have babies and to love babies. Many people have babies without even trying. Others of us have had trouble and maybe never been able to have a baby. This is a great sorrow. Women have told me about going to family reunions and everybody has their babies and year after year they do not have their baby. That is really hard. For myself, I have had four miscarriages. I only have two children and I have been pregnant six times. I will tell you how I looked at waiting. When I die there are going to be four children up there going, “Mom, Hi. I love you mom. I am glad you are here.” When I get to heaven and for all of eternity, I have six children waiting for me. When you are waiting and trying to get pregnant and this keeps happening, it is really hard. It is like a silent sorrow. People do not understand it unless they have been through it.

There is a lady in the Bible whose name was Hannah. She may have lived thousands of years ago but when we study her today you are going to say, “She could have been any woman living today.” If you have your Bible, turn to I Samuel 1. Hannah was married to Elkanah. He had two wives. He had Hannah and Penninah. Hannah could not have children. Penninah had a bunch. What do you think that was like in their household? Do you not think that one lorded it over the other? She did. She was always making her cry by saying, “I have kids and you do not.” Her husband loved her very, very much but when it came time to give presents he gave Penninah a lot of presents because of all of the children. He could only give Hannah one. Just like a man he said, “Why are you crying? Am I not better than ten sons?” There is just something in a woman. I am telling you. You women listen to me and know what I am talking about. You can love your husband. You can think the world of your husband, but he is not a baby. He is not a child.

Some of you will never have children and you know it. I am telling you that God has a plan for your life. It is a plan of life and joy. Maybe you are supposed to adopt. Maybe you are supposed to be a foster parent. Maybe you are supposed to be so busy in the Kingdom of God and there are people out there that you will be like a mother to them. Today, I am talking about those of you who have children or want to have children. It says here that Penninah made matters worse by taunting Hannah because of her barrenness. Every year it was the same. Year after year, Penninah scoffing and laughing at her as they went to Shiloh which is where the priest was. She made her cry so much that she could not eat. Women can be mean. Do not ever forget that most women are not like that. They are good women. They want to help each other. They want to support each other. She cried and cried. She went to the tabernacle all by herself. Do you do that? When you are having hard times, do you ever just go sit in the church and just talk to the Lord? I do. I do not care what kind of church it is. If it is one that I can go in and feel like God is here and I am quiet and I can talk. I pour my heart out to Him. The priest was named Eli. He was sitting at the entrance to the temple and heard her crying. It says she was in deep anguish and crying bitterly. It does not mean she was just crying. It was loud, mournful sobbing. He thought she was drunk. What she was doing was making a vow to God. It was very, very serious to make a vow to God. Never do it unless you are really thinking about it and you are going to stand true to it. He will hold you accountable. She made this vow. “Oh Lord of Heaven, if You will look down on my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to You. He will be Yours for his entire lifetime and his hair will never be cut.” It says that Eli the priest noticed her, looked over there at her to see she is sitting over there just rocking, sad and groaning and crying. He looks over at her and he sees her mouth moving as she was praying silently but hearing no sound. It says right here in the Bible, “He thought she had been drinking.” He said, “You have come here drunk. Throw away your bottle.” Is that not interesting? Life never changes. People’s clothes change. The way they do their hair, their customs but people are the same all over the world. It does not matter what language you speak. We are so much alike. They had drunks then. We have drunks now. “Throw away your bottle,” he said. “Oh no sir, I am not drunk. I am very sad and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Please do not think that I am just some drunken bum.” He said, “In that case, cheer up. May the Lord grant you your petition, whatever it is.” He was a prophet and he was a man of God. He knew what he was saying even when he did not know what it pertained to. His heart was touched by her. He said, “Cheer up. May God give you what you are asking for.” There is just nothing like a praying woman.

One time I was praying for my children when they were going off the college. I think it was my son. I just prayed because it was so important to me that he go where he needed to be. I was telling a friend about it over the telephone and her husband was in the background talking. She asked him “What, what?” She said, “Jerry says to tell you this, “I have heard your prayers for your children. I am listening because I, God, love faithfulness in a praying mother.” That was free. That did not have to do with the lesson but I just wanted you to know do not ever quit praying for them.

Hannah is so happy. She believes the man of God. That is what you have to do when you get a miracle. You have to believe the person of God speaking to you or if God gives you a word and it comes right to your heart, you have to believe it. You have to stand on it. I stand on them all of the time. Do you? God wants to tell you things. He wants to give you an idea of what He is going to be doing with your life, or something that is going to happen. He wants to see if you will stand faithfully in faith until it happens. “Oh, thank you sir, she said.” She happily when back, still not pregnant, still never had gotten pregnant and was not even around her husband to get pregnant, but she went away happily. Why? In the spiritual world, God had already answered that prayer. It was a done deal. It says she went right back to taking her meals again.

The next morning, they got up, worshipped the Lord one more time. Do you not know that she worshipped God? What would you be saying at a time like that when the prayer has been delayed for so long and then God has told you that it is going to happen? I bet she said something like, “I worship You God. I love You God. You have heard me. You listened to me when I cried out. You heard me God. Thank you for answering my prayers. Thank you, God.” It still had not happened but she knew God had spoken. She goes home. It says when they returned home and Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her petition. In the process of time, a baby boy was born to her. She named him Samuel because as she said, “I asked the Lord for him and Samuel means asked of God.”

I have a friend who could not get pregnant. She tried for a long, long time. One day we were having a women’s ministry meeting and the Spirit of the Lord was present. Through me, I just looked at her and said, “You are going to have a child by this time next year.” I knew it. Now she has had three. God knows what He is doing. Just because you cannot have a baby does not mean that He does not want to give you one.

When it came time to take the baby or go back to the annual trip to the tabernacle, Hannah said, “Wait until the baby is weaned and then I will take him and leave him there.” It was hard to give up on something like that. Can you imagine? It would have ripped my heart out. Wait until the baby was weaned. They did not wean their children until they were about three years old. So she was keeping him. Listen to this. She stayed home until the baby was weaned and then though he was still so small they took him to the tabernacle and after the sacrifice they took the child to Eli. “Sir, do you remember me? I am the woman who stood here that time praying to the Lord. I asked Him to give me this child and He has given me my request. Now, I am giving him to the Lord for as long as he lives.”

She left him there at the tabernacle for the Lord to use. Do you not know that she cried her eyes out all the way home? Oh my goodness, leaning on God, she made a vow and she meant it. Do you know what happened to that child? It was a miracle. That child grew up to be the greatest prophet in Israel, highly regarded. He was used by God to touch the nation. When you give something up to God, trusting God, you do not know what God is going to do. You do not know. Look what happened. It did not just affect her life by having this child. It affected the nation. Do you know who he ended up ministering to? King David. He had a great calling. What happened to Hannah? After waiting so long and finally getting pregnant and giving the baby up to the Lord, God is so good and so faithful, it says, “And the Lord gave other children to Hannah to take the place of this one.” Do you know who asked? Eli did; the one she gave the child to. Listen to this verse again. “They went back to the tabernacle. Each year she made a little coat for him and brought it to him and a little linen robe, just like the priest’s robe. Before they returned home, Eli blessed Elkanah and Hannah and ask God to give them other children to take the place of this one they had given to the Lord. The Lord gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile Samuel grew up in the service of the Lord.”

There are other examples in the Bible of people praying and waiting and it looked like the answer was never going to come and then it did come. Another example is Daniel. There was a great crisis and he prayed. He said, “Lord, it is so serious. You have got to help. It is very, very serious.” He could not understand why the answer was not coming. An angel came and said, “Your prayer was heard the very first time you prayed it and I was dispatched as soon as you began praying but I had to fight my way through the heavenlies, through the rulers of darkness. I even had to get Michael the Archangel to come help me.” What you do not understand and what I do not understand, because we cannot see into the spirit world that is around us, that Satan and all the principalities and powers have dominion over, we do not understand there is a spiritual warfare going on. It says in the Bible in Ephesians, “You know we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. We wrestle against principalities, against powers, against rulers of wickedness in high places.” What in the world does that mean? The Bible also says, “You have angels sent out as messengers to help those who are receiving salvation.”

I think that if God would open our eyes on any given days when you are walking around your house, it would shock you. I believe you would say, “Good grief, look at this battle.” I tell you this, the closer you walk with the Lord, the more He uses you in His Kingdom to work, the battle gets harder. Never think that those people up at the top, like Billy Graham and people like him, that they do not know what you are going through. Their battle is probably harder because if the devil can get them, he can get thousands of people because they will fall in disappointment. It happens all of the time. In waiting on God, just remember what that angel told Daniel. “For 21 days I have been trying to get here, and I could not get here but God heard your faithful prayers.”

It is so important that when you are waiting on an answer that you remain faithful in praying. God will teach you how to pray. There is a point in there where you are saying, “God this needs to happen. God this needs to happen. Please let this happen. Work here Lord. Work here Lord.” You can tell that you are entering in with the Lord and there is prayer going on and it needs to take place. Somewhere in there, a lot of times, a peace comes and you know that you have prayed all you need to pray. I just need to thank God for his answer. “Thank you Lord, it is coming. I cannot see it but thank you Lord. It is on the way. I know it is on the way. Praise you Jesus.”

What are the things that God wants you to learn about praying and waiting when there is a delay? I will give you another example in the Bible. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were Jesus’ best friends. Jesus had a lot of friends. John was real close to Him, but these were three people that He could go to their house and just kind of kick back and relax. They enjoyed Him and He enjoyed them. They had good conversation. You can read about it in the Bible. Lazarus got sick and died. They thought, “Jesus, you heal all of these people. You raise people from the dead. Get over here. We have a problem.” He did not come. What would you think? What kind of faith do you have in God that if you are waiting and it seems so urgent to you, what kind of faith do you have in God? Right then it is a real test. You want to pass that test. It is an important test to pass. “Lord, I do not see the answer but I trust You. I know You heard me. I prayed according to Your will. I have searched the Bible.” All of those things I have taught you about how to know God and how to hear His will and know His will. You say, “Lord I trust You. I know You are doing this and I am waiting.” Mary and Martha got frustrated. They did not really learn. They had not had enough experience with Jesus even yet. There is just something so wonderful about walking with the Lord year after year after year, never going away, you just get deeper and deeper and deeper into the Lord. You know him better. Martha says, “Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.” Do you not know that she was just mad and angry? You go through that in the grieving process and that is probably what she was doing. What did Jesus say to His disciples? He knew Lazarus was dead. He said, “Lazarus is asleep and I am going to awaken him and it is going to bring glory to the Lord and to Me.” It did. People watch Him raise somebody from the dead.

There are a lot of reasons why you are waiting. If you ask God, He will tell you. Why does God wait to answer you? The first one is to let your faith develop, to let your commitment develop. Sometimes, other people’s lives are involved. He is not going to overrule them in order to help you. Instead, what the Lord will do is engineer it where it is right for everybody. We have a prayer when we are trying to sell a house and we are waiting. It is called the “Good News For Everybody Prayer.” We pray, “Lord, do not let this house sell until it is good news for everybody. Good news for us. Good news for the buyer. Good news for the realtor.” When you pray a prayer like that, God takes that and does something wonderful. Most people want to know, is God real? Is Jesus real? Does He really answer your prayers? Does He really help you? They need to see that yes He does, even in selling a house. Other people can be involved in your situation. You are out there wondering why.

One time my husband was unhappy in a job situation and we prayed and prayed. We got advice. We did everything we could think of to do and it never changed. We were in this Bible study. Thank God for Bible study and people who know more than you know. We went to this Bible study and every week this man would say, “If you are waiting on a job and God has not answered you yet, it is because He is working on the person on the other end.” We had never heard anything like that. It kept us going. We were just hanging on by straws and we thought, “Wow, maybe that is right.” That is exactly what was happening because when my husband found out about this veterinary practice to buy, all of a sudden the man who owned the practice decided to sell and move back to Panama. He decided in a matter of days. We really were waiting months and months, almost a year, until the day he decided. Guess what? When God is ready to move it is like dominos falling. The man decided he wanted to sell the practice, we found out about it in a matter of days. We went up to look at it. We bought it and in three week’s time everything had happened, we were living in another city and my husband had a new practice. We were having to wait. It was worth it and it involved somebody else, not just us.

Another reason God has you wait is to teach you more about prayer. For most of us, our prayer life can be pretty shallow. Not saying that God does not answer childlike prayers because He does. There is more to prayer that you could learn about. You can get books. You can learn different ways to pray. I taught a lesson on how God answers prayer, guarantees to answer prayer. That takes maturity to learn those. You can learn them.

It also is designed to get you in the Word. When you are waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting, you can take this Bible and you can turn to Psalms and read about how David waited. You can read about other people waiting. You can read about having hope in God. You can read about having trust in God and it encourages you to hold on. Do not try to do this by yourself. Get some people and get in a Bible study. That is the best thing you could ever do. Church is never enough. You have to have Bible study. It is just too hard to show up at church, get a good sermon and go through a whole week. You need more than that if you are really going to walk with Jesus.

Another reason that God makes you wait that like is to let you see a miracle. We all want to see miracles. “Lord I would love to see a miracle.” Well you can, but you might have to wait. That might be part of it. God has his own timing. One time I was crying and I was so frustrated. We were trying to see this house. We could not see this house for years. One day I was in the kitchen crying. I heard the Lord say to me, “Your tears do not move me.” That does not mean that God is not compassionate. I knew what He was saying. “It is going to happen when I want it to happen, Betty. You walk with Me ,and I will let it happen when I want it to happen.”

It is also to get rid of an idol in your life. Sometimes you can have something that means too much to you. That is what an idol is, something that you think about more than God, something you are involved with more than God. He lets you know that it is an idol.

Maybe He wants to give you a better yes; your answer is not the right answer. He wants to give you a higher yes. I hope that you do not quit praying.

QUIET TIME QUESTIONS

1. Why does God wait to answer prayers?
2. What lessons about God waiting to answer prayers can we learn from Hannah in Scripture?
3. When trying to be a better person, what is required?
4. What is the “Good news for everybody prayer?”
5. What can you learn while waiting for your prayer to be answered?

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