How long do we trustfully wait on God to answer our prayers? A few days?  Months?  Years?   God told Abram that he would be the father of many nations, yet there he was, over 99 years old, and he and his wife, Sarai, had no kiddos.  What was Abram thinking?

“Maybe God confused me with someone else.”

“Maybe I misunderstood.  Maybe He said ‘kids.’  Yea, that’s it.  He’s giving me a herd of goats.”

“Maybe I need to help God and make this happen myself.  Yep, that’s what I’ll do.  After all, God is busy.  He probably forgot His promise.”

God had told Abram that his offspring would be numerous.  Ten years later, Abram remained childless. When God came to Abram in a vision and promised to be Abram’s shield and great reward, Abram wasn’t too hepped about receiving that promise. “LORD God, what good will your gifts be if I continue to be childless?”

I get it.  The only one in the picture to inherit Abram’s vast estate was Eliezer, his servant.  God reassured him that he would have his own son and that his offspring would be more than the “dust of the earth” (Gen. 13:16) and later, the “stars of the sky” (Gen. 15:5).

But doubts began to creep in, so Abram took matters into his own, wrinkly hands.  After all, what harm could it do?  He finally, by golly, would have a “legitimate” heir.  He impregnated his wife’s servant Hagar who birthed Ishmael, never realizing that, to this day, this royal mess-up would cause unending problems between the Israelis and the Arabs.

Abram impatiently moved forward to help God’s will come to pass.  Surely we can’t blame him, right?  Wrong.  God lives in a timeless zone.  What seems to us late, for God is on time. Perfect time.

Haven’t we all been there?  We take our requests to God.  And wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Do we patiently endure, knowing that God will answer in His time? Do we continue to exude peace?  Sure we do.

NOT!  If you’ve read any of my columns, you know that I do not wait in peace. I “do” the first part of Matthew 7:7 well. Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  It’s the very next verse that causes me issues: “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”  I love the part that tells me I’m going to get what I want.  I don’t love the part that fails to tell me how long it will be before I “receive” what I’m seeking. (Not proud to admit that.)

We read that God did for Abram what He said He would do.  Sarai (meaning “my princess”), in her old age, birthed Isaac, and her name was changed to Sarah (“mother of nations”), while her husband’s name was changed to Abraham (“father of a multitude”).  I love that God did that miracle in their old age.  That way, they could give God all the credit.             Scripture makes it clear that God will answer our prayers.  He will.  Sometimes He wants us to figure things out on our own.  Other times, He wants us to grow our faith and trust in Him and His timing. (Sooooo hard, don’t you think?)  And let’s not forget that little “motive” thing.  Am I asking for something out of selfish ambition?

Mark 12:30 tells us that our relationship with God should have priority over any earthly matter.  Do we keep that in mind when we make our requests?  The way we answer that question likely determines the timing God uses to answer us.