In The “Mean” Time!

After prayer there’s often a time of waiting. And that time is a testing time. It’s the “waiting room” of God, and many prayers are discarded during that time.

After desperate prayer, what should be your stance of faith in the meantime? We call it “meantime “, because that period of time is “mean”, and lean, it’s difficult. It’s when your head is flooded with those doubts, “Oh well, God did not answer. There may be something in me that God’s not pleased with.” If the devil can get you to doubt during that time, he’s got you defeated.

But remember, “Without faith, you cannot please God.” (Heb 11:6). So faith is the most important ingredient in prayer. Faith is a stance. It’s taking a position and refusing to move in any other direction. It’s a “substance”, the “sure thing” of what you’re hoping for. It’s the conviction of what you’re expecting. So during the meantime, when the time is “mean”, it’s time to stand in faith and to start praising, as if you’d already received the answer.

That “meantime” is no different than the time when the farmer is expecting the harvest after he’s planted the seed.

Nor is it any different than when the mother is expecting a child after she’s conceived. Many a prayer is answered by the principle of “seed, time and harvest” (Mk 4:26-29). In fact most of God’s promises operate in the same fashion. They’re based on that covenant that God made with Noah after the flood. (Gen 8:22).

Doubt and worry will negate your prayers. When you worry, you’re as good as telling God, “I don’t believe it will happen!”  It’s like the farmer taking the seed out of the ground to see if it’s working! –It just kills the process. That’s why there’s that God-given recipe, “seed, time and harvest”. The “time” part in the recipe is usually spelled like this: “T-I-I-I-I-M-E”. Because it takes time for an acorn to become a tree. It takes time for a seed to become a fully developed baby.

We can easily confuse a “miracle” for a “blessing”. Miracles are God’s merciful answers to solve a problematic situation that either has to be solved immediately or in no other way. But blessings basically operate from the “seed” principle. You plant and with time the harvest will come.

Miracles usually happen quickly. But if there’s another way that God could answer your prayer, He will usually choose the longer process, because it exercises our faith, our trust and our patience. And that’s what He loves the most. God’s grace abounds in our thankfulness and praise.

Complaining and begging in prayer, or spelling out all of our woes and troubles will not do much. Why? Because God dwells in our praises. Praise is the voice of faith. And, once again, “Without faith, we can’t please God.”Once   you’ve poured out your heart in prayer to the Father on a topic, that “prayer request” should be moved to your PRAISE LIST. Just thank and praise Him for the answer, knowing fully in faith that the harvest of your sowing is on its way.

Too many of us are God’s fair weather friends. When everything is going good, we love and trust God. But when things are not going our way, then we stop looking to God, we stop trusting, and we stop praying. We switch to the “arm of the flesh” and try to make things happen without the help of God. We use God as the spare wheel instead of the steering wheel.

The way some of us pray is, “God give me patience, I want it right now!” We’re used to microwave dinners and fast food, powdered orange juice, and we want God to “fastlane” our answers. Waiting makes us feel we’re not in control, and we don’t like it.

What’s sad about those who can’t stand to be in the “waiting room” is they suffer from anxiety, they live their life often frustrated, their to-do list is more important than family, they neglect time with their children, they have a short temper, and the list goes on…  Ask me, how do I know?

Most of life is WAITING. Waiting for an appointment to see the doctor. Waiting to be accepted in college. Waiting for your first job offer. Waiting to see if the bank will give you a loan. Waiting for the right time to start a family. Waiting for your test scores. Waiting for your loved ones to come to Christ. Waiting for the Lord to bring the right man or the right woman into your life. Waiting for someone to buy your house. Waiting for your prayers to be answered. Waiting for your husband to come home from a business trip. Waiting for your oldest daughter to come back to the Lord.

Waiting is probably the hardest part of the Christian life. But it is ALSO the key to making it in God’s Kingdom. Waiting is all throughout the Bible. Most of God’s promises in the Old Testament required waiting. –Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, Daniel, David, the children of Israel in the wilderness, etc. One of my favorite verses actually is on waiting. “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa 40:31).

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who’ve not seen and yet believe.” Right there is the secret and the rule of prayer. We can’t go by seeing, we must go by faith…by believing.  So be blessed and rejoice right there and then, start praising before seeing. “He that comes to God must believe that He IS [God] and that He is the REWARDER of those who BELIEVE [earnestly seek Him].” (Heb 11:6).

So don’t lose faith, while in God’s waiting room. Your answer is coming. Jesus said, “Believe when you pray.” (Mk 11:24). Not just when you see the answer; that requires no faith. Believe when you pray and never stop believing and praising Him for the answer. That’s the secret to answered prayers.