Galatians 6:9

Devotional Thoughts

By David Wilkerson

Why does God delay answers to sincere prayers? It isn’t because he lacks power. He could merely wink an eye or think a thought and the work would be accomplished. And he is most willing, even more than we are, for us to receive from him. The answer is found in this verse: “Then he spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart [faint]” (Luke 18:1). The Greek word for “lose heart” means “relax, become weak or weary in faith, faint, give up the struggle, no longer wait for completion.”

Paul tells us, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). The Lord is seeking a praying people who will not relax or get weary of coming to him. These people will wait on him; they won’t give up until the work is completed. And they will be found waiting when he brings the answer.

Once, during a season when I had tarried long in prayer, the Lord whispered to me, “David, I don’t build your faith on my answers. I build your faith on my delays.”

Anybody can believe when answers to prayer are flooding in. Who’s going to believe after a year, two years, three years? As time goes on we abandon our prayers and the belief that God will answer, and we move on to something else. We tell the Lord, “I will be faithful to you. But don’t expect me to have faith to wait for answers to prayers anymore.”

That may be exactly what’s happening with you. You’ve given up, no longer pressing in anymore. But in truth God is already at work, and your answer is just about to arrive.