"And shall God not avenge his own elect which cry out day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth” (Luke 18:7-8; KJV)?

This verse is talking about persistent faith in prayer. A lot of people are persistent in faith for the first week or month or so but if they have to wait too long for their answer they give up. So, what is faith filled, persistent prayer? “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9). This verse implies persistent prayer but that must be done in faith. In other words, we don’t just ask the same thing day after day but we ask once in faith and then stand upon God’s promises, praising and thanking him for the answer until it appears in the tangible, natural realm.     

So how long do you have to stay in faith for something you are believing for? The answer is to stay in faith and keep waiting on God until you receive, no matter whether it is a week, a month or a year; or more. “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise" (Heb 10:35-36). We always need to remember that: “faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb 6:12). Promises, prayer, persistence, praise and patience, the P words.

Please pass this on. All rights reserved.

“Wait” in the Old Testament can mean waiting hopefully and expectantly. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me and heard my cry” (Ps. 40:1; KJV). As you all know we often don’t get answers to our prayers immediately. Many times, there is a period of waiting between the amen and the receiving. It is during this time that we must maintain and develop our faith. That is why we need to wait expectantly and hopefully.

There are many verses in the Old Testament concerning waiting on the Lord. “But 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). The prophet Jeremiah wrote in the book of Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 25 that Lord is good to those who wait for him. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him” (Ps 37:7a); “My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning- Yes, more than those who watch for the Morning” (Ps 130: 6).

As we wait for the manifestation of answered prayer, we must be patient (Heb 6:12) and focused on God’s promises in his word. Staying in the word as we wait on the Lord helps you to focus on God and your answer rather than the problem that needs fixing. Waiting on the Lord will create calm in place of turmoil. Take a few minutes each day to wait on the Lord, praise and thank him for the answer to prayer and experience his peace (Isa 26:3).

Please pass this on. All rights reserved.  

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) and I believe it is very much a part of love. In the description of love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4 the first thing it says about love is that love is patient.

There are 2 primary words for patience in the NT; the meaning of one is patience with people and the other is more patience with circumstances. Col 3:12 is an example of patience with people. Here the word can also be translated as long suffering; with the sense of restraint in terms of revenge when people try our patience. Hebrews 10:36 is an example of patience in circumstances where it says we need to have patience or endurance, so we can see the manifestation of what we are believing God for; despite contradictory circumstances.

So, we see that when it comes to patience in the face of circumstances, it is very much tied together with faith as it says in Hebrews 6:12 (KJV): "faith and patience inherit the promises". In Mark 11:24 we read “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”. We believe that our prayers are answered when we pray but the physical manifestation of the answer to our prayers may take some time to arrive; this calls for patience.

As we meditate on God’s word concerning patience, the Holy Spirit can develop that fruit within us.

Please pass this on. All rights reserved.

Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.

"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (Ps 27:14; KJV). When we pray in faith we sometimes have to wait long periods of time for our prayers to be answered. However, we need to stay in faith, trusting the Lord to come through for us.

In Psalm 31:14 David said he trusted in God. That is how we need to wait for answers to prayer. David again, in Psalm 37:7 said to: "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him”.

Abraham and Sarah are good examples of people who had to wait a long time for an answer. In Genesis 17:5 God told Abraham that he would be the: “father of many nations’ but this did not come to pass until many years later. However, we are told in Romans 4:20 that he did not waver and was empowered by faith. In Hebrews 11:11 we are told about Sarah's faith - that she was able to conceive a child when she was old.

If we are going to wait well we must be ready for satan's lies and refute them with the word. We must exercise hope, allow our words to agree with the word of God and not the devil and keep thanking God in advance for the answers we are believing for. “Faith and patience inherit the premises” (Heb 6:12b).

Please pass this on. All rights reserved.

Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.

 Joseph, in the Old Testament (Gen 37-45), had dreams that his brothers and father would bow down to him. This did not go down well with his brothers. Joseph new God had a call to greatness on his life but many challenges faced him before he achieved his call. His brothers were about to kill him but God intervened and he was sold into slavery in Egypt.

In Egypt he served Potiphar and God blessed him and his master’s house. Potiphar’s wife wrongly accused Joseph of molesting her and Joseph wound up in prison. While in prison Joseph found favor with God and became the right-hand man of the prison keeper. God gave Joseph the interpretation of dreams for two of the Pharaohs servants who were imprisoned. Pharaoh had two dreams and one of the servants who had been in prison with Joseph new Joseph could interpret the dreams.

Joseph came before Pharaoh and because of his great wisdom was made Pharaoh’s deputy. In this role Joseph got to see his brothers again as they came to Egypt for grain in a time of famine; the brothers bowed down to Joseph. It is interesting how God was with Joseph throughout all his trails and no doubt used some of them to form character in Joseph for the task he had for him.

God has a plan for all of our lives (Jer 29 :11) but his timing is not the same as ours (2 Peter 3:8). His ways are above ours and we don’t always understand how God works (Isa 55:8-9). We need to be patient and keep our eyes on him; keep focused, trust him. Don’t try to second guess God or work out the plan for God; we need to allow God to change and mold us for the task he has for us. It will be good: “for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”, in other words they don’t change (Rom 11:29; KJV).

Please pass this on. All rights reserved.