The importance patience in prayer

IT is so frustrating and it has happened to most of us! You phone up a phone or energy company, or maybe the health centre to make an appointment and what do you get? There usually is the message press one if you want so-and-so, press two for something else and so on! Then once you do press the correct number for the service you want, what happens then? The annoying music begins and continues for what seems like hours. Every so often a recorded message assures you that your call will be answered
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Oct 2010, 13:27 BST
Updated 22nd Oct 2010, 15:56 BST

The problem however is not with God, it is with us! When people lose sight of the truth that God is deeply interested in them and listens intently to every word and groan of their prayers, prayer can become nothing more than just a ritual (if people even bother). It is not meant to be like that. We need to have an ongoing relationship with God where we speak to Him through prayer and He speaks to us through His Word. One example of many in Scripture is found in 1 Samuel 1:1-20. Hannah of the Old Testament knew what it was to get impatient with God and almost feel rejected. She was one of two women married to a man named Elkanah. Peninnah, the other wife, had borne him children but Hannah was barren in aday when childlessness was considered a sign of God's displeasure. To make matters worse, Peninnah took cruel delight in mocking Hannah's situation whenever the family made their trip to the house of God to offer a sacrifice. The distress for Hannah lasted for years even though she was a godly woman. She never lost her faith however and kept praying with belief that God would answer her need in His perfect way. Yet God didn't appear to answer. On one trip to the house of God she wept so hard and was so beside herself that the presiding priest accused her of being drunk! That is not the end of Hannah's story however. In God's time, and at just the right time, God blessed Hannah with a son. We know that she became the mother of Samuel who in time went on to become a priest and prophet who God would use to change the course of history. Hannah's bitterness was turned to joy because she had confidence in her God to answer her prayers. The answer didn't come in her time. but it did come! Her experience shows us that we need to humbly wait upon God to answer our prayers in a way which shows His wisdom and timing. Because we are not God, we do not see the bigger picture. We try to do things in our own strength and can so easily begin to lose heart and faith when our prayer requests are not answered quickly. Sometimes God does give a quick answer and at other times He tells us to wait. Sometimes His answer is "Yes", sometimes "No", and often "Not now" and we have to accept that. God doesn't give us all we truly want but He does give us all we truly need!

Maybe you are struggling in prayer because you have not yet prayed the most important prayer of all - the one concerning your salvation.. Only Christ can deal with the deepest need we have (forgiveness of sin). It is the crucial prayer we must make and it is the foundation on which all our other prayers are made.