Hebrews 6:11-12 “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, (12) that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
In this section we want to discuss the importance of patience working together with our faith, in receiving the answer to our prayer of faith. As I have already mentioned, very often when believers pray the prayer of faith, there is a period of time that elapses before the answer to their prayer in made manifest. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit teaches us about the principle of linking faith with patience, for He tells us to imitate fellow believers who received the answer to their prayers not only by exercising their faith, but also by exercising patience along with their faith. We do not always know why God does not answer our prayers straight away. Sometimes in hindsight, we can look back after our prayers have been answered and we can understand why God delayed the answer, but that is not always the case. And so we just trust in the wisdom of God in those situations.
Genesis 25:20-26 “Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. (21) Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. (22) But the children struggled together within her; … (26) Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; so, his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.”
Although the above quoted example of patience being displayed after praying the prayer of faith is a bit extreme, nevertheless it illustrates the point very clearly. In this account we see that Isaac was forty years old when he prayed for his wife Rebekah who was barren. We know that Isaac prayed in faith, because God had promised his father Abraham, that it was in Isaac that Abraham’s seed would be called (Genesis 21:12). Nevertheless this passage teaches us that Isaac’s prayer was only answered twenty years later when he was sixty years old and Rebekah bore the twins Jacob and Esau. We don’t know why God took twenty years to answer Isaac’s prayer, but He did. Nevertheless in all of that time Isaac walked in faith and patience until he received the answer to his prayer.
Michael E.B. Maher
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