God heard the prayers of Tobit and Sarah instantly (Tb 3:16). He also answered their prayers quickly, sending the angel Raphael to work out the glorious answer to their prayers (Tb 3:17). Indeed, this answer far exceeded anything Tobit and Sarah could ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20). Yet it took some time for the answer to those prayers to unfold.
The unfolding process was as important as the actual answer to the prayer. Day after day Tobit and Sarah had to persevere in their faith in God, despite not seeing any results from their petitions. Yet "hope is not hope if its object is seen" (Rm 8:24).
God has let us see many of His works. Nevertheless, so much is happening in the spiritual world that we cannot see. Tobit and Sarah clung to those past mercies of God, and faced each difficult day trusting in His future mercies. "The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, His mercies are not spent; they are renewed each morning, so great is His faithfulness" (Lam 3:22-23).
Can you hope in God's mercy and kindness when your prayers are seemingly not being answered? Can you trust God when His timing differs from your hopes? Persevere in hope. Pray: "Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief" (see Mk 9:24).
| PRAYER: | Father, I will trust in You at all times (Ps 62:9), especially when I am blind to Your action. |
| PROMISE: | "He is the God of the living." –Mk 12:27 |
| PRAISE: | Bill smoked for three decades. As he grew closer to the Lord, he came to realize that his body was a "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 6:19), and that he was being called to stop smoking. He asked Jesus for the grace to quit smoking, and was set free of the desire to smoke. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College