"Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy."
Psalm 126:5
One of the difficult things in the life of a believer is to pray for a long time and see no results. But such is the nature of prayer: the patience required is as valuable as gold.
"That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perishes,
though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ."
1st Peter 1:7
There was a great man of God - this is a true story - who lay on his deathbed, and a nurse overheard him thanking God for the grace to continue praying all these years for those on his prayer list. But when he died, there was not one from his list who was saved. However ... before THEY died, each of them was saved! Hearing this true story was what motivated me to continue praying no matter what. What an encouragement it has been against the inevitable discouragement that whispers that it's all in vain. Brothers and sisters, we must NEVER give up, knowing that:
"The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man AVAILS MUCH."
James 5:16
It's wise to take one's prayers very seriously because we are laboring in and touching an unseen world. If it were granted us to see into that world, we would be greatly encouraged as we saw the stories being set up that will lead each one we're praying for to salvation.
With that in mind and realizing the power of prayer, then it's very important to ask the Lord for guidance in prayer. If my prayers are going to affect eternity, then it becomes extremely important to be praying aright, and the only way to do that is to ask God to put the right prayer in one's heart for the person being prayed for. Many times the Lord's response will be a specific passage from his Word which we are to pray. So then, our prayers are not to be self-generated, but God-led.
It can be heart-breaking to see our unsaved loved ones continuing on in their sin as we pray. Perhaps we've been praying for them for years. Brothers and sisters, do not become weary and discouraged. Continue praying for them and you WILL reap an abundance of answered prayer - IF…
"And let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap IF ...we do not lose heart."
Galatians 6:9
I asked the Lord one day, "I've waited so long, how long must I wait?" He responded, "How long has my Son waited?" That answer was a shock to me as I realized that promises were given to Jesus that still have not seen their fruition. For example, when the angel announced to Mary that she would bear the Messiah, the angel made a promise concerning him:
"He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest;
and the Lord God will give him the Throne of his father David."
Luke 1:32
That promise was given more than 2,000 years ago. The promise was that Jesus will rule on the Throne of David. When this promise was given, there WAS NO Throne of David, Israel was being ruled by the Roman Empire at that time. So we see that the wait can be long. When the Lord said to me, "How long has my Son waited?" that became a huge incentive to persevere because I realized that the lack of success was not because I was praying incorrectly, it was not that I was not praying enough, it simply was that there is an appointed time for prayers to be answered and it will usually require faithfulness during a long wait as the Lord sets up each story leading to salvation.
Discouragement during a long wait is perhaps the greatest reason for failure in prayer. People get discouraged and think the answer will not come, so they drop it. Oh NO! Do not drop it! Keep praying. You are effecting changes in the spiritual realm that you do not see. You must NOT let it go! Your prayers can turn the tide on someone's eternity. That man of God referred to above - continued up to the day of his death, and he saw no results at all. He had the grace to continue praying, refusing discouragement, and in the end all his prayers were answered. Take courage saints! Your prayers WILL be answered!
"He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
Psalm 126:6
A wonderful example of this:
"Truly my soul silently waits for God;
from him comes my salvation."
Psalm 62:1
Waiting on the Lord can be very difficult. We become impatient and then we try to solve our problem ourselves, sometimes making a mess of things - all because it's so hard to wait.
God told Abraham and his wife Sarah that he would give them a son. Sarah was already past the age of childbearing so after waiting a long time she decided to tell Abraham that maybe God needed a bit of help, maybe he would give them a son through her maid Hagar. In those days, the son of one’s maid was accounted the wife’s son. So Abraham slept with Sarah's maid and the maid became pregnant. The son she bore was not at all the son God promised, no, it was Ishmael who became the father of the Arab peoples. To this day that mistake has cost the world dearly in pain and suffering. Later, God brought forth from Sarah herself the son he had promised. His name was Isaac, through whom the Jewish people came. Had Sarah had the faith to wait, even in unlikely circumstances, the whole Arab-Israeli conflict that began then - would never have taken place.
Have you asked something from the Lord? Have you waited long for it? Do not think that the length of the wait makes the promise less likely, that is not true. Before the Lord brings an answer to prayer, he has to set up all the circumstances that will bring the answer about. He knows what he’s doing. Trust him!
The faith of the believer is tested in the waiting period. When the wait is long, will the believer lose faith and try to make it happen? God is looking for the man or woman who will totally, with all their hearts, trust him and wait on him.
vs 2:
"He only is my rock and my salvation;
he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved."
And that's the point. Will the believer be moved? Will the believer buckle under the waiting period if it's long?
Perhaps you're a young woman who has asked God for a husband, or a young man who has asked God for a wife. You've waited a long time, so you become tempted to just go ahead and marry whoever is interested in you. Don't do it. That will bring a lifetime of regret. Wait on the Lord. WAIT, I say, on the Lord. He alone can bring the right person to you, but first he has to set up the story. If you wait on him, not only will the promise come, but you will have an awesome testimony.
Are you waiting for the salvation of a loved one? Don't try to make it happen, don't try to play the role of the Holy Spirit. Be silent. And wait. And pray. God is faithful.
vs 6 repeats for emphasis:
"He only is my rock and my salvation;
he is my defense, I shall not be moved.
When a Scripture is repeated in a passage, it's repeated to make the point that this is VERY important. You must not be moved by anyone or anything as you wait for the answer to your prayer. This will take a great deal of faith and an absolute trust in the Lord who alone is your provider.
vs 9:
"Surely men of low degree are a vapor,
men of high degree are a lie;
If they are weighed on the scales,
they are altogether lighter than vapor."
The rich and mighty of the world are false. Empty as fluff, altogether lighter than vapor. And that is because they put all their trust in themselves and in the schemes they can bring about in order to achieve for themselves all their desire. This is the way of the world. They have no substance. They lie and cheat and plot to get their way, to satisfy themselves with fame and fortune. Their lives are full of Hagars, and they bring forth all sorts of sin and damage as they plot to attain to their selfish goals.
vs 11:
"God has spoken once, twice I have heard this:
that power belongs to God."
And those who truly believe that, will put their trust in him alone.
"Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
and HE shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
trust also in him, and HE shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:4
Trust, delight, and commit. This is the way to true and lasting success.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:1-2 Sometimes we are bewildered at the pain, trauma, and frustrations that take place in our lives - but in the Kingdom of God, pain is gain. The Lord tells us that IF we are bearing fruit, THEN he prunes us. The converse is also true: one who does not bear fruit withers. Why? Because to abide in Christ IS to bear fruit, and if one doesn't bear fruit then he is not abiding in Christ. It's important to understand what the Lord means when he says "fruit." And it's crucial to understand this because "fruit" is not the good that we do. Even evil persons who hate Christ do good things. There are "good" works that in the Kingdom of God are worthless, but there are works that have eternal value - and this is the fruit he is looking for. I asked the Lord once what the difference is between works of wood, hay and stubble, versus works of gold, silver, and precious stone as spoken of in 1st Corinthians 3:11-15. He brought me back to the few times in my life when I succeeded in bringing souls to him, and he directed me to look closely to see what the common element was in each of those stories. So I sat back and deeply considered it - and I came to realize that the common element in each of these stories was that I did not initiate any one of them. I looked at each story one by one and it became clear that there wasn't one that came about by my doing. The works of gold, silver, and precious stones are the works that the Lord himself initiates. All other "good" works are works of wood, hay and stubble, because they were initiated by ourselves. This is not to say we shouldn't be zealous to do good works, I'm not saying that at all - the Word of God is clear on that. But - those works originating in ourselves are the fruit of ourselves, and God is looking for the better fruit. This should be made a regular part of our prayer life, praying for sensitivity to the Lord concerning our works. vs 4: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, NEITHER CAN YOU, unless you abide in me." The good works done by people who are not abiding in Christ may be wonderful works, but they are not the "fruit" he is talking about because only what comes from abiding in him is true "fruit." We cannot of ourselves bring forth fruit of eternal value because without him we can do nothing. vs 5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me YOU CAN DO NOTHING." Outside of abiding in Jesus Christ, one can do nothing of eternal value. The works of gold, silver, and precious stone are fruit that will last forever. By such works people are saved, and that is a fruit that lasts forever. By such works people are brought to repentance, and that is fruit that lasts forever. By such works people who do not know the Lord come to know him and grow in the knowledge of him, and that is fruit that will last forever - but those works have to originate IN HIM. Jesus demonstrated this when he was informed that his close friend Lazarus was sick. The family expected Jesus to come and heal him, but when he heard that Lazarus was sick, Jesus deliberately waited for four days before setting out. Why? How could anyone argue that going to heal Lazarus immediately would have been anything but a good work? Yet Jesus didn't go. Why? Because he was waiting on the Father to tell him when to go. If he had gone when everyone expected he should, it would have been a work of wood, hay and stubble. But by waiting on the Father, the work resulted in the salvation of many people, fruit that will last forever. So if you've been doing good but find you're being "pruned," do not mistake it as though God were angry at you. He isn't. He knows the tree has to be pruned to bring forth the best fruit. Don't resist it. The cuts and snips hurt. But by being pruned we are brought to be more able to let the life of the vine flow through us and produce more fruit than ever before. "...and every branch that bears fruit he prunes... THAT it may bear more fruit." God's not angry with you. In fact, it's the very opposite. Pruning means he's pleased with you.