21 Days of Prayer: Day 5 - Kerry Shook
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“Don’t be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and He will come and save you!
Be brave, stouthearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and He will help you.”
Psalm 27:14 (TLB)
We’re completing our first full week of 21 Days of Prayer today! Congratulations! You’re doing great! I hope you’ve taken the challenge to write down two or three specific prayer requests you are asking God to meet in your life. Maybe He has already answered them for you! Praise God! We would love to hear from you how God is responding. Or it could be you’re struggling with a delay in answer to your prayer. Don’t be discouraged. All of us struggle with delays. They’re never convenient. Who likes having to wait? We live in a microwave generation where everything is instant. So, why would God allow delay to be part of the process of growing us into Christlikeness? Wouldn’t He want to speed up the process to accomplish His purpose in our lives? Yet, every great man or woman in the Bible went through delay. Abraham had to wait 25 years, Moses waited 80 years, David waited over a decade and, even Jesus didn’t begin His earthly ministry until He was 30. Until then, most of them lived in obscurity with nothing more than a promise from God to hold on to, a dream of what God wanted to accomplish in their lives. Before that dream became a reality, each one faced delay. The same is true in our lives. Why? I’ve discovered delays are part of God’s program for remodeling us into the image of His Son. So, why does God allow delays? Here are three reasons we’ve found in our lives that will encourage you if you find yourself in God’s waiting room, trying your best to survive the delay with no end in sight.
First, delays mature our character. When you can put off what you want for what you really want, you are on your way to maturity. One version of the Bible puts Psalm 27:14 (ISV) like this: “Wait on the LORD. Be courageous, and He will strengthen your heart. Wait on the LORD!”
In David’s delay, he realized an important truth that changed his perspective in the waiting period. God was using the delay to make him stronger. Some things can’t be rushed, like slow-cooking meat so that it will be tender and flavorful; our character needs time to grow and mature. It’s in the delay that we begin to trust in God’s timing and in God’s ways to accomplish His purpose in our lives.
Secondly, delays prepare us for our purpose. Delays never destroy God’s purpose. Solomon wrote: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
Sometimes, we are waiting on God, but could it be that God is waiting on us for our character to match His calling before He can use us to accomplish His purpose? Before He can build us up, He must renovate our lives by demolishing old habits and sinful ways. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul describes this as old things passing away before all things become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Finally, delays draw us closer to God. In that decade or more that David was on hold, he found himself on the run from King Saul as a wanted man. He lived in the desert and hid in caves. He knew God had called him to be King, but God used the delay to draw him closer and forge in him an unshakable faith. God led him to a stronghold where he learned a vital truth recorded in Psalm 91:1-4 (NKJV), “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.’ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.”
I believe David moved from just surviving in the delays to thriving as he learned to dwell in the secret place of prayer. His perspective changed, and his character matured. What about you? How are you handling the delays in your life? Which one of these three reasons for delay do you sense God may be speaking to your heart? Quit resisting and embrace the delay as part of God’s process in shaping your life for your destiny. Let David’s own words soak in your soul for a bit and encourage you. “Don’t be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and He will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and He will help you” Psalm 27:14 (TLB). When you do, you’ll discover, to your soul’s delight, that it was worth the wait!
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.