Waiting on the Lord isn’t usually the easiest. We are a people who want things our own way, and we want them now. We trick ourselves into believing the lie that if we had what we’re desiring, right now, then life would be better – it wouldn’t be such a struggle. Truth be told, that is not the case. There is a timing for everything, and though we may not see everything involved in the process of obtaining, we can rest assured that God is working on it.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven,” Ecclesiastes 3:1.

I love Isaiah 48:3, which says, “The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.” It got me thinking about answered prayers and how they come about. It begins with our hearts, renewing our minds and taking our thoughts captive. Then, whatever is in our heart comes out in the form of words and then actions.

“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person,” (Mark 7:21-23).

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks,” (Luke 6:45).

It is in the heart of the Father, who knows the end from the beginning, to bless us, to protect us, and to make sure we’re walking down the right path and not down the one leading to destruction. Anything that proceeds from the mouth of God is good and for our benefit. It begins within His heart, and He is in love with His creation –

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him,” John 3:16-17.

It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks, and simply put, a good heart produces that which is good, and an evil heart produces that which is evil. In the natural, we don’t plant a field full of wheat seed and expect to harvest corn. What we put in is what will come out. If we regularly entertain thoughts of greed or jealousy, then eventually our actions will reflect it. Our hearts need to be tended to regularly, but the heart of the Father is continually good.  

When we’re asking the Father for things, it’s important to know and understand His heart, and that we ask according to His will. His will is always a resounding, “YES!” If you’re tired of things not happening for you, if things don’t ever seem to go right, or you’re tired of hearing no, then take some time to examine yourself. Test yourself to see if you’re really wanting the same things as God, or if you’ve been operating from selfish motives. Oftentimes, what we think is good for us, or is the proper decision to make, really is not. As human beings, we tend to steer toward what feels good or looks right, and it often leads to pain and suffering. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Note that it SEEMS right, it appears right, but it’s actually the wrong way to go, and can bring death in many different forms – in our finances, in our marriage, in our job, and even physical death. We must place ourselves in agreement with the Lord because we know He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us, though our souls may be struggling to align.

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do,” (Galatians 5:17).

By aligning our hearts with God’s, we can operate effectively from HIS power and HIS authority, declaring His word and seeing things happen. By holding the proper heart posture and speaking out what God wants to do, it allows Him to fully manifest His heart on this earth, and bring light and life into those places that are dark and boasting of death.

Before God does anything, He lets us know (Amos 3:7), and by revealing His plans to us, we are given the opportunity to join with Him in bringing heaven to earth and into our lives. The Father reveals His plans to us via dreams, words of knowledge, visions, prophecy, symbolism, etc. We can walk accordingly and know we’re on the right path, and that it will go well for us. Yeah, sometimes the path seems hard and like there may be more than our fair share of obstacles to overcome, but we know that if He said it, He will do it, and lead us to an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11).

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33).

Sometimes, bringing us from one place to the next is a process and a journey. In Isaiah 48:3, God spoke, then carried out what He said He would do, but it doesn’t give us a time frame from that point to the point of it “came to pass.” God has declared it is finished, and it is, but the complete manifestation of it in the natural can take some time. There are things the Father sees that we don’t see. There are steps we must take, things that may need to be put in place, or in order, that we are unaware of. We may need to reposition ourselves in certain areas to receive the promise. Sometimes there are things we need to give up or stop doing for our answer to become visible. Lives are intertwined, and one action can affect a multitude of others. So much is going on behind the scenes that we cannot see. It may seem as if it will never happen, but “God is not a man, that He should lie,” (Numbers 23:19). Believing in Him, that He will do what He said He will do, is never a mistake. He will never let us down. In this earthly body, we tend to get tired of waiting, but as we seek Him, “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength…they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,” (Isaiah 40:29-31). In Christ, we possess the ability to wait and to wait patiently.

Suddenly, oftentimes when we least expect it, the very thing we have been waiting for, FINALLY comes to pass, and we rejoice at His goodness! We couldn’t make it happen in our own power; nobody else could do it for us. It looked like it would never happen, but God!! God did it, and now He alone gets all the glory. He alone gets all the honor, and He alone gets all the praise. Our trust in Him grows greater as we witness His faithfulness, our faith becomes stronger, and it becomes easier to trust Him, and we have an increased ability and desire to accomplish His works on this earth, thereby seeing firsthand the goodness of God in the land of the living.

Be encouraged! God has not given up on you or your circumstances. Examine your heart, line it up with the Lord’s, examine your words, let your words say what God says, trust God through the process, and watch your life change before your very eyes, into something beautiful.

For more encouraging words, please read through Isaiah 61. Be blessed!