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By Kaysia Anderson

Ever had those times…
Ever had a situation in which you had to make a decision? Sometimes we come to a crossroads in our lives and we don’t know what to do. We have to make a choice as to which direction to take, whether left, right or continue straight ahead. However, our life is not that simple when compared to an actual journey along a road. Therefore, the question is, what should I do?

You might be thinking, ‘Duh the obvious thing of course, take it to the Lord in prayer’; and pray, you do. The thing with prayer is that the answers that we expect are not normally the ones we get because God has a different plan for us.

How God answers prayers
What I’ve come to realize is that God answers prayer in three ways: yes, no or wait. No matter the situation, God always answers our prayer and He knows what is good for you and he wants you to prosper (Jeremiah 29:11). Now, the real question is, how do I know when God answers my prayer request? Well, I’m not an expert on the topic but I have come to the realization that something will occur that gives you an indication that the answer is a yes or a no while other times there is just nothing. For me, the ‘nothing’ is what I have a problem with.

‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer is relatively easier to detect. The answer will come to you through a thing or a person. For Gideon, who was called to be a leader and to rescue Israel, he prayed to God asking for a specific sign, that is, to let dew be on the wool in the morning to determine if he would succeed in his mission and the answer he got indicated a yes because there was dew in the wool to fill a bowl with water. This was good but Gideon wanted to be sure, so he used the same wool but this time asked that the wool be dry in the morning so as to confirm the answer he got. In the morning the wool was dry so Gideon knew definitely that God would use him to rescue Israel. (Judges 6:36-40).

Similarly, when God gives us a ‘no’ answer, He does not allow us to do the thing that we wanted to do, once we accept his answer. Otherwise, He’ll allow obstacles to be in our way to prevent us from unforeseen consequences but if we persist, He’ll just allow us to learn from our mistakes because we will definitely be making a mistake if we don’t obey. An example of obedience to God in which the answer was a no can be seen in Acts 16 where Paul and his companions wanted to enter Bithynia but the Holy Spirit prevented them. This was followed by Paul’s vision of the Macedonian man calling for Paul to come and share the Gospel. When Paul and his companions put all the circumstances together, they concluded that God had called them to preach the Gospel in Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10).

The ‘Nothing’ Answer
‘Nothing’ is also an answer and that’s what I have a problem with.

When you pray and you haven’t received an answer, the ‘nothing’ is indicating to you that you should continue to wait.

It means that God hears your prayer but it just is not the right time for you to be doing the particular thing that you prayed about; Basically, the answer is wait.

If God wanted you to act, he would have indicated that you should do so via various means. Something or someone would be the medium through which you receive your answer. When I say something, I’m not talking about your personal feelings on the matter. Don’t go tricking yourself that you should do something because you ‘feel’ like it. Oh no, that is certainly not God. That is just you wanting to do what you know deep, deep, deep down in your heart that you haven’t received the answer to. Yeah, I know because I’ve convinced myself on numerous occasions that because I felt a certain way and I did pray about it, I should do it. The truth is, I felt that way before I prayed. The answer has not arrived as yet. Keep praying! In the meantime, do not do the thing you know you really wanted to do, just keep waiting because the answer you got was to wait.

Wait for how long?
It’s easier said than done right? You might be wondering “how long will God have me waiting”? The answer is, ’till He is ready’. God’s timing and our timing, most of the time, are very different. You might need it now or think you do but God doesn’t think so and the fact that you have lived without getting what you wanted is an indication that you can do without it until you receive it. God reminded us that we should walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). If He promises something, He will deliver.

An example of patience and faith can be seen in the lives of Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis 12, God promised Abram that he would make him a great nation. In a vision, God told Abram that he would have his own heir (Genesis 15:3-4) .Years went by and they did not conceive so Sarai told her husband to impregnate their servant girl Hagar and he did. However, God kept his promise and in Genesis 21, Sarah bore Abraham a son when he was 100 years old. Talk about a long wait!

Thus, the point I’m trying to make is that no matter how bleak the situation appears, if God indicates that you are to wait, He will deliver. He never lies, that’s the devil. The only problem we have is allowing the devil to convince us that if we wait too long, it’s never going to happen. Wrong thinking! With God, all things are possible, you just need to believe (Matthew 7:7, 21:21, Mark 11:24).