Waiting For God’s Answer
I am sure everyone can relate to this: “when we pray and don’t get what we have prayed for instantly, we wonder whether God heard our prayers or our cry.” Even when we have followed all the fundamentals of praying or the fundamentals of going to our Father in Heaven, we still wonder whether He is going to answer us. That period of wait can be filled with anxiety and worry but it should not be so.
ASKING
Of course, our Father requires us to come to Him and ask Him for everything we need. That is the import of Philippians 4:6-7 (in everything by prayer and supplication). You may say “but He knows what I already need so why should I ask Him.” Simple, because before we get anything, we must ask. James 4:2 states that “yet you do not have because you do not ask.”
Asking is therefore an important part of receiving what you want from God. I call it, “the trigger.” Without asking, you cannot have.
Mind you, it is not everything that you ask God for that you will receive. If what you are asking for is not in accordance with His will, then forget it, you are not going to receive it, no matter how much you pray. James 4:3 tells us that “And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong, you want only what will give you pleasure.” God will not even mind you. He will also not mind you if your heart is not right. That is, you have wickedness and sin in your heart. In other words, if you come to God to ask Him for things based on your own worthiness and not the worthiness of the blood of Jesus Christ, then forget about receiving what you are asking for. (See Proverbs 15:8, 29; Psalm 4:3.)
God hears the prayers and cries of the righteous man, and is moved by them. 1 Peter 3:12 states that “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” In James 5:16, it is written, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
We know that God hears us when we pray because His Word says so. It does not matter the time or day that we pray, He always hears us. (See Psalm 55:17 and Psalm 130:1-2.) Our cries go out to the Lord and He hears our voice. In the words of the Psalmist, “Let Your ear be attentive to the voice of my supplications.”
WAITING
After we have asked and we are sure that the Lord has heard our cry, what do we do if the answer is not instant? Give up? No! We wait. For how long? For as long as God gives you an answer. Because our time is not God’s time. He makes all things beautiful in His time. (See Ecclesiastes 3:11.) God has told us what to do during the wait.
The Psalmist says at Psalm 130:5-6, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in His word, I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning – Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.” Thus, we are to wait like we are watching for the morning or even more. This is because no matter how long you wait for the morning to come, you surely know that the morning will come. That is how God works.
God’s answer to your prayer or request shall surely come. You just have to wait like you are watching for the morning. The waiting period tests our faith and builds it up.
HOPE
The Psalmist also makes another critical point that we must do during the waiting period. He says, “In His Word I do hope.” We must have hope in God’s Word because it is faithful and has been the same since the beginning of the world. It never changes. And because God has said He will do it, He will do it. Unless what you are asking for is not something that He has said He will do.
We must have hope in the Word of God and rejoice in the hope we have. We must be patient during the waiting period and we must pray steadfastly.
Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.”
He is also good to the soul that seeks Him. (See 2 Chronicles 7:14.) We can seek God through His Word, rejoicing in hope and praying steadfastly, while knowing that He will be good to us in the end.
FAITH
Lastly, if we want answers from God, then we must ask Him for what we want in faith. If we have any doubt whatsoever in our heart or mind then we should not expect to receive anything from God no matter how much we pray. Faith is very important in the asking and receiving process. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (See Hebrews 11:1.) Relate it to the Psalmist’s example of watching for the morning. You know that the morning will come after the wait, you just haven’t seen it yet. That is faith. James 1:6-7 tells us that a person who does not ask in faith will not receive anything. Furthermore, if you ask in faith and then later, during the waiting period, you have doubts in your heart and mind about what you have asked for, then don’t expect to receive anything.
Believe that you have what you have already asked for and rejoice in hope during the waiting period for the beautiful answer that God is going to give you.
In conclusion, I would suggest that when we ask God for things, we should ask him for those things that will glorify Him and not for things that will give us pleasure. We should ask in faith and without any doubt in our heart or mind, so that we will receive what we have asked for. If God does not answer us instantly, let us wait, rejoicing in hope and praying steadfastly, knowing that He is a faithful God and wants the best for us at the right time. God bless you!
Written by Kow Essuman, Esq.
The author is a barrister; qualified to practise law in England and Wales, New York and Ghana; a Global Shaper (Accra Hub) of the World Economic Forum and a firm believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Official Website of Kow Essuman 
We ask in faith according to the will of God and then believe that he has done it. We should continue to pray to resist the Prince of Persia.