When the answer is “yes,” but the situation is still “no.”
What if you pray and the Lord says, “Yes!” But nothing seems to change?
Last time, we looked at the importance of seeking in prayer. Need direction? Pray until you get it. Don’t do anything else until!
So, let’s say you pray until you have a dynamic break through. The Lord speaks, “This is what I am going to do in your situation.”
You are thrilled!
You jump up, tell your closest spiritual friend, and go on your merry way.
But nothing changes.
Nothing.
The temptation at this point is for you to go back and start begging, seeking, pounding until you get it to happen. But that is not necessary.
What you must do at this point is thank the Lord.
When Jesus does a thing, He sends His Word to confirm it.
When the King speaks, it is done in His realm. Our vigilance then is not to request the official orders on our situation, but to simply call the Kingdom down until His will is done here on earth. This is a process of submission of which a great part is thanksgiving.
Quick story.
My kids were sick. This was a few years ago, but the memory has not left me. They were ALL five sick.
Coughing, gagging, throwing up. It was a like a relay race.
All.
Night.
Long.
Okay, not all night, but it might as well have been. As soon as I got settled back to sleep another one would start up.
The commotion from one would wake another who would wake up coughing, gagging, puking.
I was losing a lot of sleep.
I was losing my mind.
But I’m the dad and it is my role to be involved. My wife dealt with the children during the day, I tended them through the night. I don’t think either of us got any decent rest.
After this had gone on a while, I had to hear from God. Worry was getting the best of me.
One of our children had just gotten out the hospital for a different condition and I feared we would be taking all of them there for this one.
I got away. I prayed. I begged. I sought. I persisted. I knocked.
And He answered. Boom, cue loud voice, easy answer, cut!
It was over. Through a prophetic word, the Lord assured me the battle was over and my children would be fine.
I got up from prayer and celebrated. I went home and encouraged my wife. I told friends who were praying with us. They rejoiced with us.
That night the coughing and gagging continued.
What should I do? Pray again? Beg some more?
No. Now we thank Him.
| “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6, NKJV) |
We are not to worry about anything. Jesus said that, too!
How do I practically not worry? By praying with thanksgiving.
My wife taught me this. It took me a long time to learn, but I had to or I would lose my sanity.
Jesus said my children would be fine and that the power of the enemy against our home was broken.
They were still puking.
Instead of begging and pleading as if I had never heard the Master’s promise, I then persist in thanking Him for it.
“Lord Jesus, thank you for coming through for my family. Thank you for helping them recover quickly with no harm.”
This is powerful.
Pray like this. Thank Him for the promise if you already have it. If not, pray until you do and then thank Him with confidence.
I encourage you to go do it now. There are promises in the Bible for your specific situation. Rather than pray and ask as if those promises don’t exist, start claiming them and praying with thanksgiving.
Guess what will happen.
You will be flooded with peace about your situation. That’s guaranteed:
“The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Need peace of mind? Thank Him for carrying you through your trial.
God did take them out of that sickness shortly afterward. He kept His promise and let us keep our sanity, too.
Notice: For other parents and health professionals who are worried about my illustration above regarding our children being sick, I want you to be assured that my wife and I are not neglectful parents. It was an odd situation and we were not going through it blindly. We not only knew what strain of pathogen our children were fighting, but were giving them high-quality treatment for their condition at the advice and oversight of a medical professional. We were not being careless with their welfare. They are all healthy teens and young adults today.
God brought us through that situation with confidence because He spoke and we did not fear while we waited for the natural realm to catch up with what was already done in the supernatural.
Think of Abraham.
God gave this elderly man and his wife a promise they would have a late-in-life child.
What were they to do after they got the promise?
“Oh, God, please give us a son!”
That would be rude. If I promised to give you a birthday present, it would be weird for you to start asking me for one. I already offered. If anything, just tell me how excited you are and that you are looking forward to it and that I mean so much to you.
Okay, stop it.
Back to Abraham. He walked in faith.
Saying “thank you” in advance is faith coming out of your mouth.
Do it this week. Persistently give thanks for the answers that are still on their way. Thank Him for the promises before they happen. Watch your peace of mind blow your mind.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6, NKJV)
Everything by prayer.
Everything with thanksgiving.
Do it and I want to hear how it helps.
Talk to me. What do you want to hear about more in the next blog post? Would you rather hear about how we hear from God or more on how we communicate with Him?
18 Comments
I agree! Been there, still there, praise God!
Moms probably know this better than anyone!
THIS WAS SO ENCOURAGING. IM GIVE THANKS FOR GOD RESTORING MY FAMILY. IM GIVE THANKS FOR GOD BREAKING THE BONDAGE OF PORN IN MY HUSBANDS AND SONS LIFE. COULD YOU POST ABOUT SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Yes, we will have to cover that topic soon. “Kingdom, come!… Deliver us from the evil one!”
Yes! I’ve enjoyed and am using the instructions on thanking continuously, so I also would like the warfare teaching! Thank you!
Amazing help!!!! 🙌 I would like more on both subjects, ‘how we hear and how we communicate’. Thank you so very much!!🙏🙌
Great! Will will have to do both then.
I would love to hear more about how we hear from God. Lots of people teach and talk about how to communicate with God, but few lay out how to hear Him.
Okay, we will do it soon!
I am curious to know your thoughts on praying in tongues.
Paul did! In fact, regarding giving thanks, he said it is the excellent, or the best way. We will have to do more on this soon, too!
Wonderful lesson and insight. This opened my eyes to what needs to be done.
Thank you for sharing. This will help so many.
God Bless, LaNita
So good to hear! Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful subject and made me stop and reflect on my life. Would like to read more on both subjects.
Sounds good!
This is good! I’ve been helping my teen daughter through a situation and this was timely! When she read it, all she could say was, “Whoa!”. She recognized that God was telling her it’s okay to have to wait. Thank you for this!
Thank You, Jesus!
This is so timely for a lengthy journey I have been in and He has indeed already given me promise after promise and confirmation after confirmation. Yes I still find myself pleading and begging God to speed up the process. Thank you for this timely word on “thanksgiving”!!! I am moving forward in this vein of prayer!!! Blessing to all! Looking forward to the coming topics!