Do Not Delay
Do Not Delay
“O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God.”
Daniel 9:19 ESV
During our forty-day prayer challenge at National Community Church, our prayer circles were interceding for healing, jobs, marriages, deliverance, and salvation. And we saw each of those miracles happen, but there were speed bumps along the way. Praying hard is not the path of least resistance; it’s usually the path of most resistance because we engage in spiritual warfare. In fact, when we begin interceding for others, we better make sure that others are interceding for us. We need a prayer circle that provides a prayer covering.
Very rarely are our prayers answered as quickly or easily as we’d like. By definition, praying hard is hard because it’s hard. But it’s the prayers you pray when you feel like you want to quit praying that can bring the greatest breakthroughs.
One woman in our church decided to circle her husband, who was applying for a job with the United States Attorney’s office. On day two of the prayer challenge, Kelly went in for a second interview, but he didn’t get the job. It was a bitter disappointment, and that is when most of us quit praying. But Kelly’s wife, Charmaigne, kept circling.
The first day of the forty-day prayer challenge, I was praying about Kelly’s job application at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alexandria. I prayed, “God, do not delay,” but not through Daniel’s prayer. Though it was frustrating that Kelly didn’t get the job, I continued praying. I prayed that God would sustain us for the entire prayer challenge.
On the last three days of the prayer challenge, I was encouraged to read the book of Daniel. The Circle Maker teaches about praying through the Bible so I decided to do it. I prayed Daniel’s prayer in 9:19: “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
On the last day of the prayer challenge, God prompted me to do a full-day fast, and I prayed again for Kelly’s job. I prayed using Daniel’s prayer with a faith that God would not delay His answers. Indeed, God did not delay. The next day, the day after the prayer challenge ended, I got a voice mail from my husband that he got a job offer from D.C. Superior Court to clerk for a judge beginning in September. I immediately fell on my knees next to our dining table and thanked God for the miracle He had given us! It was the best gift ever after my constant praying and fasting. And guess what happened next? Another job was offered to him this week that started immediately and ends when his new job starts! God gave us more than what we asked for! Not one job, but two!
Our most powerful prayers are hyperlinked to the promises of God. When we know we are praying the promises of God, we can pray with holy confidence. We don’t have to second-guess ourselves, because we know that God’s word does not return to Him empty.a This doesn’t mean we can claim the promises of God out of context. But our problem typically isn’t overclaiming the promises of God; it’s under-claiming them.
Every spiritual blessingb is ours in Christ.
No matter how manyc promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.
No good thingd will God withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
If we stand on God’s word, God will stand by His word.
I recently got an e-mail from a couple who put this principle into practice in a rather ingenious way. They went to Home Depot and bought paver stones. They inscribed ten biblical promises on the stones with white paint and laid them in their patio, and they stand on those promises every day in prayer. “One day when we have children of our own,” they wrote, “we hope to give them these stones as a reminder of what it means to pray and to stand on the promises of God.”
ALAT
Until recently, I attached an ASAP to every prayer. I wanted God to answer as soon as possible. But this is no longer my agenda. I don’t want easy or quick answers because I have a tendency to mishandle the blessings that come too easily or too quickly. I take the credit for them, or I take them for granted. So now I pray it will take long enough and be hard enough for God to receive all of the glory.
I’m not looking for the path of least resistance; I’m looking for the path of greatest glory. And that requires high-degree-of-difficulty prayers and lots of circling.
Very rarely does our first prayer request hit the bull’s-eye of God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will. Most prayer requests have to be refined. Even “the prayer that saved a generation” didn’t hit the bull’s-eye the first time. Honi refined his request twice: “Not for such rain have I prayed.” He wasn’t satisfied with a sprinkle or torrential downpour. It took three attempts to spell out exactly what he wanted: “rain of Your favor, blessing, and graciousness.” Honi drew a circle in the sand. Then he drew a circle within a circle within a circle.
I’m not praying ASAP prayers; I’m praying ALAT prayers. As long as it takes. I’m going to get in my prayer circle, and I’m not coming out until God answers. This doesn’t mean I’m forcing God’s hand. After all, we can’t force God to do anything! It just means I’m praying with confidence. I believe that God never overpromises or underdelivers. He always delivers on His promises, but He does it on His timeline!
God is never early. God is never late. God is always right on time.
a word does not return to him empty: Isaiah 55:11.
b Every spiritual blessing: Ephesians 1:3.
c No matter how many: 2 Corinthians 1:20.
d No good thing: Psalm 84:11.
From the book
