  I
wanted to have my house sell and move immediately. I prayed for the house
to sell every day. It did not sell. I heard stories of other people whose
homes sold the day they prayed. Why did not God sell my home?
I had to camp in the city where my husband had his new job. It was unpleasant for us because the place was too small for six people. We kept having to go back to the home for sale when pipes froze and broke. We had to go and clean up when disasters happened. Why did not God just sell that home? Well, as I drove the 5 hours down to the home in Portland and had to stay there for a week or more, I had opportunities to enjoy the fellowship of our dear neighbor friends. I met new friends at church that became special for years after. I also had many hours in the car while driving back and forth that I used for memorizing Bible verses. One winter, when things became very unpleasant in the new city where my husband's job was, I had a refuge where I could go back and live with my four children. Eventually my husband lost his job in that city and we moved on to another place that God led us to. As we began to develop the empty land in the new place, we went back and forth till our home was sold. I had prayed for 5 years for this answer. God knew that we were going to have a detour. God knew we were not going to have very long in the tiny city that we wanted to buy a home in. God knew that we would have to move on so He guided us and prevented us from buying. |
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Answers Sometimes Delayed BIBLE GEM "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1 QUESTION Why does God sometimes delay the answer to our prayers? ANSWER Delays test faith and sincerity: "There are precious promises in the Scriptures to those who wait upon the Lord. We all desire an immediate answer to our prayers and are tempted to become discouraged if our prayer is not immediately answered. . . . The delay is for our special benefit. We have a chance to see whether our faith is true and sincere or changeable like the waves of the sea. We must bind ourselves upon the altar with the strong cords of faith and love, and let patience have her perfect work."---Counsels on Health, pages 380,381 Delays give opportunity for heart-searching: "God does not always answer our prayers the first time we call upon Him; for should He do this, we might take it for granted that we had a right to all the blessings and favors He bestowed upon us. Instead of searching our hearts to see if any evil was entertained by us, any sin indulged, we should become careless, and fail to realize our dependence upon Him, and our need of His help."---Ellen G. White Comments, S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol. 2, p. 1035 God does not forget: "Throughout his married life, Zacharias had prayed for a son. He and his wife were now old, and as yet their prayer had remained unanswered; but he murmured not. God had not forgotten. He had His appointed time for answering this prayer, and when the case seemed hopeless, Zacharias received his answer. . . . God had not forgotten the prayer of His servants. He had written it in His record book, to be answered in His own good time."---Ibid., vol. 5, p. 1114 God's delays always for our good: "Christ's two days' delay after hearing the Lazarus was sick was not a neglect or a denial on His part. . . . This should be an encouragement to us. . . . The answer to our prayers may not come as quickly as we desire, and it may not be just what we have asked; but He who knows what is for the highest good of His children will bestow a much greater good than we have asked, if we do not become faithless and discouraged."---Sons and Daughters of God, page 92 One answer never delayed: "When we pray for earthly blessings, the answer to our prayer may be delayed, . . . but not so when we ask for deliverance from sin."---The Ministry of Healing, page 70 What to do if we do not see immediate answers to our prayers: "When our prayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling to the promise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we shall receive the blessing we need most. . . . God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. Then do not fear to trust Him, even though you do not see the immediate answer to your prayers. Rely upon His sure promise, 'Ask, and it shall be given you.' "---Steps to Christ, page 96
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