Two years ago, we listed our home for sale. We have prayed that God would help us sell the condo. So far, we have not had one offer to purchase our home despite lowering the listing price considerably. For some reason, God has delayed answering our prayer. We are waiting.
I have a number of ministerial friends who are currently “waiting on God” for an indication of the next step in their lives. I am sure they are asking, “Where is God in all this?” They are waiting. There have been times when I have received quick answers to prayer, but relating those experiences to my friends while they are waiting for direction would only frustrate them.
Most of us have experienced times when it appears that God is slow in answering our prayers. We get the feeling that God is either not going to answer our prayers or he has forgotten about us. There are times when the heavens seem closed to us. We call out to God and there is only deathly silence. We try all the formulas for prayer and use all the pet phrases but our prayers don’t seem to work. We pray in Jesus’ name, confess all our sins, claim all God’s promises, bind the devil, and nothing seems to work.
We know God always answers prayer. Sometimes he says, “Yes,” sometimes he says, “No,” sometimes he says, “Yes, but not your way” and sometimes he says, “Yes, but not yet.”
Clearly, God’s timetable is not the same as ours. Sometimes, God delays answering our prayers for a reason. We can’t always explain God’s timing.
Thankfully, there are experiences in the Bible that explain God’s delays. One of them is found in the story of the raising of Lazarus.
THE STORY OF JESUS’ DELAY
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick. (John 11:1-3).
Jesus had a very close relationship with a family of two sisters and a brother: Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They kept an open house and whenever Jesus wanted to get away from the pressures of ministry, he stayed there. He was loved and always welcome.
One day, Lazarus became seriously ill and Mary and Martha knew it was a life-threatening situation. Mary and Martha immediately sent word to Jesus requesting him to come and help them. This was the natural thing to do. It is always the right thing to do when there is a problem. It’s what the Bible tells us to do.
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. (James 5:13-15).
Mary and Martha assumed that because Jesus was a miracle-worker and deeply loved them, he would immediately drop everything and come to their home. However they discovered you cannot predict when God will answer your prayer or demand God to act in a certain way.
Jesus delayed. He didn’t rush to their home. In fact, his response was to go somewhere else. He seemed to be uninterested in helping them. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, Let us go back to Judea. (John 11:6-7).
Imagine the frustration of Mary and Martha and try to understand their emotions. Jesus didn’t respond when they requested it.
WHY DIDN’T JESUS RESPOND IMMEDIATELY?
Not because Jesus was too busy.
There is nothing recorded that he did during the two days that kept him from going to Mary and Martha. He had the time to go.
Not because Jesus was powerless.
Jesus was all-powerful. There was no disease he could not handle. Jesus was not afraid that this was out of the scope of his power. But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? (John 11:37).
Not because Jesus didn’t care.
Jesus had deep feelings towards this family. Lord, the one you love is sick… Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (John 11:3, 5).
Not because they had done something wrong.
It is true that unconfessed sin can be a barrier to answered prayer. King David said, If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened… (Psalm 66:18). But these people had not done anything wrong.
Mary and Martha must have been confused and bewildered at Jesus’ apparent unwillingness to come and help them. I know I would not have been able to understand Jesus’ apparent lack of interest or concern.
Today, we do not like waiting and delays. Nothing frustrates us like being put on “hold” on an office phone for an hour! We don’t like waiting in line in a shop and we don’t like delays in traffic. And we don’t like waiting for answers to prayers.
THERE MAY BE REASONS FOR DELAYED ANSWERS TO PRAYER
So God would receive glory.
When he heard this, Jesus said, This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it. (John 11:4).
It was so important for God to receive glory that he put his friends through the agony of losing their brother and then waiting for Jesus to come. They had to go through the agony of the funeral and burial of their brother.
By waiting two days before going to see Mary and Martha, there was ample proof that Lazarus was really dead. That meant there would be no confusion about the miracle. People would know that a miracle had taken place and they would put their faith in Jesus. Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.So your faith would grow.
It is only when our faith is tested with experiences that we do not understand that our faith grows. Faith has no opportunity to express itself when everything is going well and the road is easy. So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe… (John 11:14-15).
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7).
So how do we handle God’s delays? We all experience them. What should we do?
GO TO GOD AND HANG ON
Accept reality.
Denial of reality is not faith. I was severely criticized by a lady for asking prayer for a person who had cancer. She said that to say the person had cancer was a lack of faith. Actually, it was the starting point of faith. To express faith in God accepts the reality of the situation and the power of God to work in the situation.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (John 11:32).
“If only” thinking means you are living in the past not the present. “If only” thinking means you will never have the strength to face the future.
Praying in faith requires accepting the reality of the situation.
Remember: It’s never too late for God.
Accepting the reality of the situation does not mean giving up your faith. Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. (John 11:21-22).
Faith in God is always able to say, “even now.” The Living Bible puts it this way:And even now it’s not too late, for I know that God will bring my brother back to life again, if you will only ask him to.
Recognize who Jesus is.
Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26).
Jesus was saying, you are grieving, but I AM!
When you go through a time of testing and your prayers don’t seem to be working, let Jesus reveal himself to you. He is the great I AM.
She realized that Jesus, the Teacher, was there. She didn’t see Jesus simply as a miracle-worker, she saw him as the Teacher. She was ready to learn and she went to get her sister to be part of the learning experience. And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. The Teacher is here, she said, and is asking for you. (John 11:28).
Remember: Jesus feels your pain.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled,. Where have you laid him?” he asked. Come and see, Lord, they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, See how he loved him! (John 11:33-36).
Jesus was a real man. He was not a robot without feelings. His emotions were genuine. He wept. Everyone saw his tears.
Real men are not afraid to cry, Jesus felt for Mary and Martha. He felt the loss of Lazarus. Jesus knew that weeping was therapeutic
Whatever you are going through and whatever answer to prayer you are waiting for, be assured Jesus knows, Jesus cares and Jesus feels the frustration and heartache you are experiencing.
Let God work the miracle in his time.
God has a miraculous resolution for your situation and answer to your prayer. There may be delay from your perspective, but the result will be sweeter when it comes.
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, Take off the grave clothes and let him go. (John 11:43-44).
Jesus’ words to Lazarus and those watching were confirmation that Jesus will work in your situation if you go to God and hang on!
A complete directory of articles can be found at http://calsinsights.com/
You can receive this material regularly by email – just fill in your email address at the bottom left side of the home page under subscription options and you will receive a copy of each new article as it is posted.
To forward the material to someone else, press the “share this” button and fill in an email address.
I appreciate all your comments and suggestions.