The Disciplines Of Delays

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things (we) hope for, being the proof of things (we) do not see, and the conviction of their reality (faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed in the senses).  (Hebrews 11:1, The Amplified Bible)

You have a dream that won’t die.  You have a prayer deep in your heart that is in accordance with God’s Word.  You are hanging onto a promise of God. However, none of it ,;phas not happened yet in the visible world.

Yet you’ve “seen it.”  It has been conceived in your heart, and you are pregnant with it.  You believe it, and you are convinced deep down inside that it will come to pass.

That’s called faith.

The scripture says that this kind of faith is proof that the things we are hoping for and praying for will eventually take place.  But oh, the waiting! How can you persevere when, in the natural, it looks like the opposite of what you are hoping for?  And why do you have to wait, anyway?  Why couldn’t you just have one of those instantaneous miracles? I’ve asked those questions, and maybe you have, too.

So let’s talk about “the ability to see what you cannot see, and act accordingly.”

Do you dare to dream?  Those desires and images that keep tugging at your heart – do you dismiss them? What if those thoughts and desires are from God?  (Note:  if they are, they will not contradict His principles and His Word.) Oh, sure, we all have some passing fantasies and what if’s.  However, if there is a persistent, deep throbbing desire to pursue or achieve a worthy goal, even if it’s very different from what you are doing now, then maybe you ought to take it before God and present it to Him with a willing heart.

Do you have a loved one who is not living up to his/her potential and does not know God intimately?  Should you lecture, manipulate, and control, or should you love, believe, and pray?  The answer is obvious when you come to terms with your own inadequacy and God’s complete ability and power.

It is entirely possible to “see” facts as real before they can be picked up by your physical eyes.  You can know that you know that you know something before it has been found in your physical world.  Your mind and your heart can be at rest because now you aren’t praying and begging God for it to happen, you are waiting in confidence for its appearance and thanking God for what He is doing.

In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.  (Psalm 5:3)

It’s in the waiting that you are transformed and prepared to implement that dream.  God changes those things within you that you’d stumble over if your prayers were fulfilled right now.  Delays that prepare you never take away time.  In the long run, they save you time!

O Lord, You know the desires and the deepest cries of my heart.  I believe You have planted dreams within me, and I can already see them in my spirit.  I believe that the burdens I have for some people were given by You to call me to intercession.  O Lord, I love walking in covenant with You, and I affirm that those things that are not yet seen in the physical world are already in process.  I thank You!