Submitted by Dr. Robert F. Lane on
Some answers to prayer come immediately resolving a question, or eliminating an uncertainty or abolishing a fear, but certainly not all. I used to give the Lord 5-30 minutes or maybe an hour of active listening to answer a prayer. Then figuring I just wasn't going to get an answer or that the answer was "no" or was "figure it out yourself" I would go off and do it myself.I was never conscious that that was what I was doing or that I was limiting God in the process. I was just impatient, self centered and on the move. It never occurred to me that the best answer might take some time even for the Almighty.
If He is trying to change the way I think or the way my wife thinks or boss or whomever, it can take time because God respects our free will and freedom of thought. So He goes about wooing or reasoning with us gently. He did that with the grizzly in the Yukon that was chasing me that I told you about. Clearly the bear was very interested in figuring out what I was , maybe batting me a round a bit or taking a nibble. But God kept stopping him time after time. It would halt, stand up and just stare at naked me. I can just imagine the respectful Lord was just reasoning with it: forget that guy, he is kinda sinewy anyway, why not take a nap instead and go back to looking for berries. Whatever.
God told me to "wait & trust". I did and in time the bear just went away. The CMP, Canadian Mounties/park rangers had never seen a Grizzly do that. Waiting and Trusting is STEP 3.
We would all like to see a sign that God is on the move, but generally speaking signs don't precede our steps of faith; they follow.
Talking to those who pray a lot I have been told sometimes they wait days, months and even years. So, when I can, I follow their example. Doing that I have discovered I see more answers to my prayers and the more answers I see the more confident I am that God is working on my next prayer and the longer I can wait.
So when we get what we think is an answer. How do we know it is from God? Before we can claim victory we have to take STEP 4.
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