What to do when God is slow to act.

 Are you Patient ?

Arabic

It's easy to get frustrated or disillusioned when God is slow to answer your prayers.

And the worst thing you can do is take things into your own hands.

That’s what Abram did. When confronted with childlessness, he got a slave girl pregnant rather than wait for God to act.

His son, Isaac did better in similar circumstances.

He and his wife Rebekah were childless for 20 years. But Genesis 25:21 says: ‘Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.’

We don’t know how long God took to answer Isaac’s prayer, but there are clues in the verse.

The word for prayer means to dig, and relates to the Hebrew word: pitchfork.

You may have to dig in prayer before you see answers.

And the pitchfork shows that God may have to sift you while you wait.

It will be worth it, though.

Cleland Thom

Cleland helps to lead Freedom Church, a praying community in the UK.