I believe in Holy Ghost timing. Our prayers will be answered, one way or another, in God’s own time. However, we are often afraid to submit our prayers to Holy Ghost scrutiny. Some of those prayers need to be purged because our faith can be misspent on requests that are not mature. We do not know how to pray “your will be done” (see Matthew 6:10). We don’t want his will as much as we want the things permitted by his will.
Abraham exercised his faith to remind himself that he was a stranger on this earth. His blessing pact produced only a tent to dwell in because he put his faith in that city “whose builder and maker is God” (see Hebrews 11:10).
Were some of these faith warriors not living in faith? Did God refuse to answer some of their prayers? After all, not all of them were delivered and not all lived to see answers to their prayers. Some were tortured. Others were “stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins…destitute, afflicted, tormented…in dens and caves of the earth…” (see Hebrews 11:36-38).
Some who had a reputation for having great faith “did not receive the promise” (see Hebrews 11:39). Those who did receive the promise used their faith to work righteousness, to gain strength in times of weakness and to put the enemy to flight.
Don’t worry about whether God will grant your request, and don’t depend on faith formulas and methods. Commit every prayer to Jesus with confidence. Say, “He is all I need. He will answer in his time and in his way. No matter what happens, I have faith in his faithfulness.”
May God forgive us if we are more concerned about having our prayers answered than about learning total submission to Christ. We do not learn obedience by the things we obtain but by the things we suffer.
Are you willing to learn by suffering a little longer with what appears to be an unanswered prayer? Will you rest in his love while patiently waiting for the promise?