“ Hannah became pregnant and in due time bore a son and named him Samuel [heard of God], Because, she said, I have asked him of the Lord.” 1 Samuel 1:20 (AMPC)  

I want to speak to those that have been following hard after God in obedience; you have been living by the Word of God, fasting, praying but there are still requests you have made to the Lord that have gone unanswered.

You have been waiting but it appears you’re waiting is in vain. You have been praying and fighting but still nothing. I come to encourage you to press on, don’t give up in well doing.  You will reap in due season.

Let’s look at the life of Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter one. Hannah was the wife of   Elkanah. Out of his two wives he loved Hannah more. She found favor in his sight. It would appear that she had it altogether, but Hannah was not able to conceive children unlike Peninnah, Elkanah’s second wife. And to top it off she flaunts it in Hannah’s face.

Hannah’s distress drove her to the throne of grace. Her prayers were fervent and passionate to the point that Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk. In her passionate pleas Hannah asked of the Lord to give her a child. She coupled her prayer with giving by vowing to give the child back to be raised in the temple. God answered. Samuel became a well-known Prophet in his day and age. The Bible declares that every prophecy he spoke came to pass.

There are times God will take us through seasons of denial because He needs to prepare us for what He has for us. He needs our hearts to be in line with His will not our own desires.  God desires that we partner with Him in fervent prayer to bring to pass His desires for us.  Even Jesus endured this same process in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prayed for His will to come in line with His Heavenly Father’s.

It was known as place of the oil press located near the Mt of Olives. This is important because the olives had to be pressed and crushed to get what was of value from it, the oil. That is what God is doing in many of our lives, even on the verge of quitting we must realize it is because of what He has placed on the inside of us that we need to keep going. People need what we have. If we quit now, someone will lose out on their breakthrough.  Our yes is the direct link to someone else’s freedom.  Press on and keep the faith, your breakthrough is on the way.

Lord, many are struggling to hold on to their faith during seasons of disappointments. I pray that You will infuse them with inner strength and power on today and allow them to see Your hand at work in their lives. Give them glimpse of hope Father. As they continue pressing, send others to help refresh them for the journey. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

By Mary Pinckney
Used by Permission

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Just wanted to take a moment to encourage your hearts today. Many of you have been praying.

Many of you have been hearing from God. Many of you have been moving actively on what God’s called you to do but you’re still not seeing anything come to pass yet.

You’re still not seeing the fruit of your labor and I want to encourage your hearts today not to give up.

Don’t faint!

Don’t quit!

Keep pushing!

Keep fighting!

Keep praying!

Keep believing because in the end He will speak. The vision is for an appointed time.

God says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that “He makes all things beautiful and His time.” So today I want to encourage your hearts to keep pushing. Pray until something happens!

That’s right pray until something happens.  It’s almost as if you’re a woman who is in labor. Right now, the doctors are saying that the head is crowning. He can see the head coming but you can’t quit now, that baby won’t push itself out.  You have to be active in pushing that baby out. It’s even the same in our spiritual walk. It’s even the same in our natural lives, we may not see things happen immediately but we have to put some action to it. We have to also put some prayer to it.

Even as Elijah did in 1 Kings 18:41-44, you may have to pray 7 times to see the promise manifest. Again, if you are not seeing anything yet keep pushing don’t give up.

The will of God is not always automatic in our lives. We have to pray and act until we see God bring change.

You are on the verge of a breakthrough. You’re right there!
Don’t stop now. The vision is for an appointed time and it will speak.
All you have to do is hold on just a little while longer.

Father I thank you now for your people. I thank You for what you’re doing in their lives. I thank You Father God for bringing them to a place of breakthrough, to a place of freedom. I thank You for bringing them to a place of answered prayers. Thank You that they will see what you have been saying come to pass in their everyday life Lord. I give you praise for infusing them with inner strength right now God so that they may hold on even through the process. And father thank You for loving your people the way you do. Thank You for always being there; for always showing Yourself faithful on our behalf.  For You never leave us, You never forsake us. Thank You for all that You’re doing right now. In Jesus name Amen.

By Mary Pinckney
Used by Permission

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“Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14 (NLT)

This verse is, and always will be, one of my life verses. I remember the day I gave my life to Jesus. As I wept and was embraced by His mercy and grace, He put this Scripture on my mind. I knew immediately why He had done this, for I was always one who loved instant gratification. I was a child of the microwave era, and when I wanted something, I wanted it now.

But that is not how God works. God wants us to rely and depend upon Him fully, which takes an enormous amount of trust on our part, especially when we have to wait.

Watchman Nee expresses the importance of depending on God when he says, “A person who wholly follows the Lord is one who believes that the promises of God are trustworthy, that He is with His people, and that they are well able to overcome.”

The fact that we have to wait in no way means that God has forsaken us. It is during this waiting process that we learn to lean on Him more than ever before. If He gave us everything in “microwave fashion,” would our trials produce strength, courage, or endurance in us? How else are we going to learn to overcome challenges by abiding in Him.

Through waiting on God, we learn to stop being the leader and to instead live as a follower of Jesus.

Father, it is hard to wait when the winds and waves of life are hitting me from all sides. Help me to place my trust in You and to hold on to You for dear life as I face these struggles. Fill me with Your Spirit so I may be brave and courageous as I face these trials. I will wait upon You Father and trust You completely. Amen.

Thought: What are you waiting on God for these days? How are you waiting? Prayerfully and patiently? Or with frustration and self-reliance? Take a moment to ask God to give you the strength and endurance to be courageous in Him as you wait patiently.

By Daniel Forster
used by permission

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• Waiting Patiently
• How To Wait When God Seems Slow
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“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalms 27:14

Waiting patiently is not a strong suit in our fast paced society. We want instant everything and we want it with overnight doorstep delivery. We are in a hurry to get everywhere and once we get there we are in a hurry to leave. We are living in a horn-honking, microwaving, fast-food, express lane world.

We have invented the “honko-second,” which is the time between when the light changes and the person behind you honks his horn. It is the fastest time interval known to man.

Waiting may well be the hardest thing a person is called to do and simultaneously often the most valuable investment of our time. For it is in waiting that we grow. Haste can bring more than waste. It can bring disaster, especially if you are a type A+ personality like me. I want everything done and I want it done today, even if it is done wrong. Not really, but I often act and think that way. On the DISC chart, I am a D+, but when I wait and plan and calculate my moves, I move so much better.

God told Moses to wait four hundred years. In fast, forty-three times in the Old Testament, the people are commanded to wait upon the Lord. The last words in the Bible are about waiting.

The ability to wait is a test of maturity, often referred to by psychologists as the ability to endure delayed gratification. What we want, we want now, but if only we will wait, often the reward will be all the greater.

Isaiah writes to remind us that those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

We gain strength as we wait and when we are ready to run, we run with power and strength. When we soar with the eagles, we rise above our problems that otherwise weight us down.

Most importantly, when we wait, we have time to put everything else out of our life and focus on God. Waiting can be a spiritual experience, a resting experience, a growing experience, a strengthening experience and a building experience. Remember the next time you get impatient that it may be God’s time for you to wait so you can be ready to soar.

By John Grant
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
Used by Permission

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