Have you ever prayed for God to do something — something important to you — and you prayed, and prayed and prayed. And God never answered it?
I wonder how many times we pray for things, and give up too soon. This seems to be the case with Zechariah, and there’s a neat lesson we can learn from it. Here’s a little background…
Zechariah is married to Elizabeth. They are of priestly descent of the line of Aaron. This is the line that has the privilege of performing services inside the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) and, once a year, inside the Holy of Holies. They apparently prayed for years that God would give them a child, but God never gave them that child. When we pick up the story in Luke 1 they are both advanced in years, Elizabeth is barren and is past the age of childbearing. They apparently forgot their dream and resigned their life to serving the Lord without children.
As the story picks up in Luke 1:13, Gabriel, an angel, visits Zechariah in the Holy of Holies as he is performing his priestly duty. Gabriel exclaims “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard…” and goes on to explain that they are going to have a child.
Here’s the interesting point. Zechariah had prayed for a child, but it was many years ago when he prayed. So long ago, in fact, he had forgotten about it and put it out of his thoughts. Now, years later, Gabriel says his prayer has been heard and God has answered it! And the answer is more than Zechariah could ever have dared to pray, for he was to become the father of John the Baptist, who in the spirit of Elijah was to prepare the way for the Messiah Himself!
What an awesome privilege to a man and woman seeking the Lord … and one who had given up all hope of getting what they had prayed for.
And here’s the lesson I keep learning over and over myself. God doesn’t necessarily answer our prayers in our timing — He answers them in His timing. It may be years later, long after we stop praying and have given up hope, that God answers our most fervent requests.
However, God doesn’t always answer our prayers. God is very specific on how to get our prayers answered. He says in James 5:16 that it’s the “effective [continued] prayer of a righteous man” that accomplishes much. We must pray diligently and consistently, and we must be righteous. Luke tells us Zechariah was such a man, that he was “righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.”
This has happened in my life, too. Years ago I had been praying for something important to me. It wasn’t spiritual, it wasn’t important in the big scheme of things. It was just something I personally desired. I prayed for years, and when God didn’t answer I quit praying and gave up any hope of getting it. Then a number of years later a series of events happened and … God blessed me with it! That’s when I learned (again) how much God loves me — that He would give me something I greatly desired, even though it really wasn’t all that important. It was just important to me.
So … if you’ve been praying and nothing is happening, don’t give up hope. If you are right before God, if your heart does not condemn you, if you do the things the Lord has directed you in His Word, take courage. God loves to shower good gifts upon His children. And you may find God answering your prayers, too. And while it may be longer than you would have desired, God always does things in His perfect timing.
… Beatty Carmichael