What’s Taking So Long – Ken Bielous

In today’s world I think a lot of Christians are asking this very question more frequently than ever before when they pray. There are so many topics on our prayer list these days such as Human Trafficking, Abortion, Drugs, Politics and even Family Values to name a few. We are praying for Israel now more than ever before I believe. I myself have asked the Lord to please move quickly in a lot of these areas and when I wake up I hope to hear great things. As you know we see bits of movement here and there but these horrible curses and sins still plague us on a regular basis. I will not lie to any of you when I tell you that I have cried out to the Lord more than once and asked Him, What is taking so long? Mind you I do not do it in anger I do it with love and pain in my heart. I, like all of you have great respect for the Lord and would never want Him to be mad at me for my attitude towards Him or all that He has done for me and others. I see answered prayers in my life everyday and thank Him for them as we should.

But I want to ask all of you a question, is God not our Father? Are we not supposed to go to God with all our troubles and concerns? The answer to both is yeas. He is our Father and we His children so therefore, as His children, we are bound to Him for all things great and small. When I was younger and my dad was still around, I asked so many questions because he was my dad. I knew that he knew the answer and would share and teach me. So it is natural that I now go to my Heavenly Father wit these types of questions. However the bible tells us in Philippians 4:6 NIV, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

In the Strong’s it says that Anxious is mer-im-nah’-o; from G3308; to be anxious about:—(be, have) care(-ful), take thought of. Simply put if we are laying it down at God’s feet in prayer then we are not to be anxious for it. Which is to say the results and don’t have any more thoughts about it. Yes these things are still in the fore front of the news and media but when we pray we give it over to Him. When we pray we are asking the Lord to handle or to be aware of thing and to pick it back up is to show a lack of faith in what He can and will do. We can’t question how and when He will do a thing.

We know the book of Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Now let us all be truthful with each other. As a human being I have a hard time at times letting things go. I want to see results as soon as possible and when I don’t I feel like I am giving up or giving in. I know that is my flesh and I have to make my flesh submit. Sometimes that is easier said than done for some of us. Not always but in most cases it means breaking a lifelong habit or routine and we all know habits are hard to break, but they can be broken.

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”.

The obedience of Christ is to bring it into the way He has taught us to handle all things. It means to submit ourselves, even our thoughts to Him. Break the habit or instinct to worry about a thing or to ponder on it after it has been given over in prayer.

Ok let’s take a moment to recap what we have so far:

We pray a thing to God and then we sometimes ask, in respect, what is taking so long Lord? Why do we have to wait for kids to be saved or drug lords to be discovered? If we think about the scriptures we have read so far we know that God heard us and His ways are not our ways nor is His timing our timing. We have to take our thoughts captive and think the way God thinks. He loves all and is above all. He is working on all of our prayers behind the scenes in ways we do not know. In ways we cannot question. The bible says “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1. We must fall upon our Faith in Christ when we pray. Our God is a God of action and He hears all of our prayers. This is why He tells us to study so we keep these things fresh in our hearts and minds at all times. Where does the enemy like to play? It is in our doubt. God is not listening to you or your sin is keeping God from hearing you. Maybe we hear we are not worthy or important enough to pray for such things. ALL of these are lies from the enemy. Brothers and Sisters in Christ our sins are forgiven. We are all covered by His precious blood. The Word tells us in Job 34:19: “Yet He is not partial to princes, nor does He regard the rich more than the poor; for they are all the work of His hands.”

Guess what my friends, God loves us all the same as we are His creation. Don’t let the enemy lie to any of you that you are not worthy of Him.

1 John 5:14 says: God always hears “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

It also says in Matthew 18:19,20: “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

So God hears and then we have multiple scriptures that tell us about Him taking action on those very things we lift up to Him. Here are a few to think about:

• Exodus 23:20 Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared
• Psalms 91:11–12For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone
• Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
• Psalms 103:20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word
• 2Kings 19:35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
• Psalms 34:7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them
• Luke 4:10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’

I am sure we all have our favorite scriptures and these are just some that tell of God’s awesome Love for us and how He assigns His angels to do what He deems necessary. So I offer you the following in closing: Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.

We may be frustrated at times with the things that are going on in this fallen world of ours, but if we are praying He is moving. If we have Faith then we need not be upset or impatience with our Creator. He always has us in His sight and knows the desires of our hearts. Brothers and Sisters I want us to be in one voice as we pray tonight asking our Heavenly Father to move in these areas and then rest in the knowledge that He is taking action, His Way.

Let us Pray