First Baptist Church of Midway

July 7, 2014

Waiting for Answers to Prayer

Psalm 33

Scripture makes it clear that our heavenly Father hears and answers prayer. Yet we all experience times when, though we pray for God to act right away, He does not. What are some reasons for the delay?

At times the Lord sees that our attention is misdirected. Our relationship with Him should have priority over any earthly matter (Mark 12:30). Yet minds and prayers can become so fixed upon a need that our gaze shifts away from Him. The Father may delay His answer until we refocus on Him. In other situations, God waits because the timing is not right for granting our request. Perhaps certain events must happen first, or people's thinking needs to be changed.

There are also seasons when the Lord wants to stretch and grow our faith. One of the ways He accomplishes that is by having us watch for His response. The Holy Spirit will work in these times of waiting to mature us and bring forth righteous fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Other reasons are a wrong motive for our request (James 4:3) and the practice of habitual sin. We all fall short when it comes to God's standard of holiness, but some of us persist in a lifestyleof disobedience. The Lord may delay His answer so He can prompt us to confess our sin and turn back to Him.

Waiting on the Lord isn't easy - faith and trust are needed (Hebrews 11:1). If His answer is delayed, check that 1) your focus is on Him, 2) your motive for asking is God-honoring, and 3) you aren't practicing habitual sin. Then believe that His response will be for your good and His glory.

Used with permission from In Touch Ministries, Inc.

Current Sermon Series:

      In every man's life, there is a cause worth fighting for and a victory worth claiming. What is yours? Discover how to not only prepare for the battles ahead, but more importantly, how to emerge victoriously. It's time to stop playing the role of the nice guy and instead live as The Warrior.
      We will look into: The Warrior's Cause, The Hesitant Warrior, The Wounded Warrior, The Distracted Warrior, and The Passionate Warrior.

Last Week: We looked at how the evil one wants to distract warriors and how he does so through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We must guard our hearts and minds against these distractions, for when we are distracted, that is when we are very vulnerable.
      Due to technical difficulty, Sunday's message is not available. It is usually available for streaming or for download on our website, just under the calendar, or by visiting us on iTunes.

Next Week: We will conclude our series The Warrior by looking into The Passionate Warrior.

July 11 - Washington Wild Things Game at 7:05 PM. Cost is $5 per ticket.

July 16 - Quarterly Business Meeting at 7:30 PM.

July 20 - Missionary Frank DiBagno to Italy will be with us.

July 30 - August 1 - Teen Camp Out. This will be a time to learn about God as well as having fun in God's beautiful creation. We will camp out at the Raccoon Creek State Park. This will be for those going into 7th grade through those going into 12th. Cost is $35 per teen. Please contact Pastor for more details.

August 8 - Men's Prayer Breakfast at 8 AM.