Mark 11:22-24,  So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.  For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

The disciples were amazed because they were walking by the fig tree that Jesus had cursed the day before and it had dried up from the roots and they were commenting on it.  Jesus answered them with these words. There are so many great promises in the Bible for us.  I have seen a lot of reels on Social media lately with people quoting them which is awesome, but we must be careful to not think that when we pray that God is always going to jump into action, sometimes we must wait and sometimes the wait goes on and on and on ~ then what?  How do you feel about those promises and God’s love for you then?  Do you give up, think God doesn’t care, or do you get angry with Him, or think there must be something wrong with you?  Even with the fig tree, it didn’t happen immediately.  It was the next day.  

I have had many things I have prayed for over the years that I didn’t get an immediate answer for even though I knew I was praying within the will of God.  I have had many times when I have prayed for a legitimate need for the ministry or personally and the answer didn’t come. That’s when you must trust Him too that He knows and there’s more to that answer than meets the eye.  It’s very rare that any answer doesn’t involve at least one other person and God could be working in their life and you have to wait.  God is faithful even when we aren’t and He always knows and does what is best and He does it in His time, which is always perfect.  

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get that answer immediately. Some mountains take a bit longer to move than others. Trust that if His answer is different than what you wanted or expected it is always the right answer.  Ask Him what you can learn from it all. There’s always something to learn, in fact the more I learn the more I realize that there’s so much more for me to learn. God is constantly working in our lives and His purpose is to grow us into all He created us to be.  Most of the time growth comes through refining and fire and it’s not fun, but the results are priceless if you just keep drawing closer and closer to Him. Spiritual strength comes the same way physical strength does ~ you have to work those muscles and stretch beyond where you can stretch in order to achieve those results. The Bible tells us that life on earth is hard and the best place you can be is right by His side, learning and growing through it. 

Whatever promises you are clinging to today for you or someone you love, I would encourage you to pray believing just as these verses say, and then trust God to do what is best, and trust that He is working even when you can’t see it and His timing is always best!  Don’t miss this opportunity to dig in and allow Him to help you grow through every circumstance whether it is good or bad. His love for you is immeasurable and He has a plan specifically for your life ~ trust Him!

Quote:  “To pray, ‘Thy will be done,’ I must be willing, if the answer requires it, that my will be undone.”  ~ Elisabeth Elliot