An Untimely Answer to Prayer

I remember standing on this stage 11 years ago. I was at worship practice and I was new to the group. I had been married for a year and a half and I was ready to be a mom. But it wasn’t working out the way I had hoped. Each month would be met with disappointment. And I was angry with God. Why wasn’t it working for us? Why hadn’t I had a baby yet? I had prayed and served God as faithfully as I could and the greatest desire of my heart did not seem to be coming to fruition. It seemed like all around me there were women who were expecting children. Everyone except me, and it was devastating.

There a common belief that if we just do the right thing, say the right thing, and act the right way we will be granted everything we pray for. It sounds so juvenile, but I know that I have had these thoughts before. We treat God like a genie in a bottle, and when our wishes aren’t granted we begin to doubt and pull away from Him. When God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we expect Him to, we find ourselves at a crossroads. Will we trust His ways and His timing, or will we pull away from Him and walk down our path?

Today we are beginning our Christmas series entitled, “It’s Not Supposed to be This Way.” It seems like an appropriate series for our moment in history doesn’t it? And we will begin our study of the familiar Christmas story with a couple who doesn’t grace the nativity scene, but whose lives were divinely intertwined with the birth and life of Christ.

Luke 1:5-6, “In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.”

This couple was like a Jewish power couple! Zechariah the priest and his wife who came from a priestly line. They knew God’s Word, they kept His commands, and their hearts were aligned with His. Being described as righteous meant that you were a person who lived in accordance with God’s compelling standards, which led to being in right relationship with God Himself. If anyone should’ve had their prayers answered, it was Zechariah and Elizabeth. But this couple lacked the one thing their hearts desired most....a child. Verse 7, “But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.”

In their day and age, not having a child brought a sense of shame to their lives. The Jewish community believed that children were a gift from God and if you couldn’t have a child something must be wrong with you not just physically but spiritually. God must be holding back His hand of blessing because you did something wrong. So Elizabeth and Zechariah had a decision to make, would they remain faithful to the God they served even though they were not given the one thing their hearts desired most?

They chose to remain faithful. Zechariah continued to faithfully uphold his duties as a priest even though he never received the one thing he wanted most. One day while he was faithfully serving in the temple, he received an opportunity of a lifetime.

Luke 1:8-10, “Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.”

While serving at the temple, there were many priests who served and not enough sacred duties for them all. So they cast lots to see who would have the privilege of burning incense in the temple. This was a once in a lifetime chance. And on this day the duty was given to Zechariah. This was the most important moment of his life. He would enter into the holy place where he would pray on behalf of Israel and burn incense as a visual offering of his prayer. When those outside the temple saw the smoke rise from the burning incense, they would join Zechariah in prayer for the nation.

But that day was not a typical day in the holy place. Zechariah was about to have an encounter that would change his life and the future of his nation forever.

Luke 1:11-13, “Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

This is the greatest moment of Zechariah’s life. He had spent many hours praying for a son but I am sure that he had stopped praying for a son by this time in his life. He was resigned to the fact that it wasn’t going to happen for them. A child wasn’t in the plans that God had for their marriage. But there in the holy place, where his prayer had been focused on the coming Messiah, God met him and met the deepest desire of his heart while simultaneously answering the prayer of the nation. God was giving him a son in order to prepare the way for the Messiah.

When we pray, we don’t always know how God will answer.

Sometimes God says a resounding “YES!” when we pray. He is an outrageously generous God who loves to give His children good gifts. We are abundantly blessed in so many ways just because we have a God who loves us extravagantly. He is the Father of lights who gives us every good and perfect gift.

Then there are times when God says, “NO!” And we typically revert to our toddler state when this happens. We through temper tantrums. We get mad. We stomp our feet. I am not speaking from experience or anything. But I do have a 3 year old who doesn’t like the word No. If you want to see what I’m talking about, just tell her she can’t have another advent chocolate and you will get a full on toddler temper tantrum. We don’t like to admit that this is how we respond, but it is. And we respond this way because we think we know what’s best for our lives. We want our will to prevail, even if that means scrapping God’s will. It reveals where our trust lies. Do we really believe that God’s No is the best for our lives? His “no” may be painful to accept, but in the end we can fully trust His reasoning behind it.

Then there are times when God says, “Not Yet.” This may be the hardest one of all. This requires trusting God’s timing which also requires us to abide in Him during a season of waiting. There are many reasons why God says not yet. Sometimes God’s answer to our prayers can be delayed if it means accomplishing His will on earth and expanding His Kingdom. This is exactly where Zechariah and Elizabeth find themselves. They had remained faithful in their time of waiting, now God was ready to bless them with a child.

And God was going to do something extraordinary through this child. The mighty angel gave Zechariah a glimpse into the life of his future son. Luke 1:14-17, “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

John had a very specific calling on his life and God gave very specific instructions to Zechariah on how to raise him in order to accomplish His will. As this story unfolds we find out that Zechariah’s first response to the angels proclamation was doubt. Of course it was! The angel had just declared that something impossible was about to happen and Zechariah was wondering, why now? Why not 20 years ago when we were young? Why us? We’re too old for this!

We often doubt because can’t see the timeline of God. All we have is a premature perspective on how we think things should be. This story gives us such a heavenly perspective on how God chooses to answer the prayers of the faithful according to His timeline.

When I think about having to wait 6 months in order to conceive our first child it seems so miniscule compared to others who have had to wait years and years. Or those who have never had the ability to conceive. But for those six months, I wondered if it would be my lot in life to be barren, and that devastated me. I questioned a lot of things. But then it happened. I still don’t know why it took longer than some but this story gives me faith to believe that God planned for Jacob to be born on July 24, 2010 for a divine purpose. And I can’t wait to see that divine purpose unfold before me.

I can’t explain to you why it took so long to get Gloria home from Africa. There were days of doubt and frustration in that waiting season. It wasn’t supposed to take 3.5 years. But when I reflect on this story it helps me believe that God had a divine purpose in it. And I can’t wait to watch that divine purpose unfold before my eyes.

For Zechariah and Elizabeth, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Elizabeth should have had many children in her younger years. She and Zechariah would have been faithful parents who would have raised them in the ways of the Lord. But God had His Kingdom in mind.

This makes me think of some dear friends of mine whom I’ve known for 24 years. They were raised in the same church I was, they love Jesus and they have been married since 2001. They didn’t want kids right away since they were quite young when they got married, but when they started to try and conceive, it didn’t happen. 10 years down the line and they still hadn’t been able to have a child. 15 years down the road and it didn’t look like they would be able to have a baby. We prayed for them, I thought so often about them and their deep desire to have a child. One day I got a message asking if I’d be willing to fill out a recommendation form so they could become foster parents. I gladly did this because I knew that they would be the best mom and dad. They had a few children placed in their care over the course of a couple of years, but these children were only theirs temporarily. The desire to become parents never left their thoughts or their hearts. They even pursued adoption. After a meeting an adoption agency, they had hit a place of defeat. Adoption is hard, costs a lot and takes a long time.

My friend went to school after this meeting feeling hopeless. Then a phone call came. A baby had been born in the basement of a home and dropped off at a firestation. She was at the hospital, in the NICU, receiving the care she needed. And the social worker told my friend that this baby could be theirs, that very day, if they wanted her. Of course they rushed to the hospital and met their daughter for the first time. When I received the message and talked with my friend about this, I let the tears roll down my cheeks because their faithful prayers had finally been answered. They were answered in the most unexpected way, but on that day God said “YES!” And now they have a beautiful baby girl to call their own. And my friends get to experience the joy of becoming a mom and dad for the very first time.

And each time she sends me an updated picture of their precious baby girl, I can’t get over saying, Thank you Jesus for your goodness and faithfulness.

I still don’t understand the timing, but I can trust that God has a divine plan for that sweet girl’s life because she is going to be raised in a household filled with love and faith.

This reminds me of the verse found in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Too often this verse is only partially quoted. It’s easy for us to say that God will give us the desires of our hearts, but that is a false truth that has caused many to walk away from their faith when they don’t get what they want. We take off the first portion of this verse because we think God should give us everything we desire. But if you take off the first part you miss out on the truth and ultimately the blessing that this verse holds.

Delighting in the Lord means aligning ourselves with Him. Finding our fulfillment in Him. Making Him our portion, the one who completely satisfies us. While we delight in Him, somehow His desires become our own. We find ourselves praying for His will to be done instead of praying for things we want for ourselves.

One of the most beautiful things about our Heavenly Father is He will listen to the cries of our hearts. He doesn’t ignore us, but as any good father does, He seeks the welfare of His child, His family, and His Kingdom before making any decisions and answering any prayers. When God answers our prayers in His time we can trust that it is for the advancement of the Kingdom.

Zechariah was disciplined because he doubted. He became mute and couldn’t speak until John was born. I am sure that this was a serious struggle as he tried to express his encounter with a heavenly being. When he returned home to Elizabeth he should have been able to tell her all about his experience in the temple and the promises of God that were fulfilled. Instead he was bound to a divine game of charades and pictionary. But these moments of silence gave him time to reflect and process all that God had done and was going to do. And after being mute for nine months one of the first things he did when he regained his ability to speak was bless God and prophesy. He spoke out John’s divine calling. He spoke out God’s plan for redemption through His son Jesus. He declared God’s goodness and faithfulness to all who were present.

As we celebrate this Christmas season and reflect on all God has done, let us also look forward to all He has promised He will do. Just as He fulfilled the prophesy of the coming Messiah, as a baby born in Bethlehem. He will be faithful to fulfill the prophesy of His second coming as a warrior King who will come to make everything right again. As we await this day may our prayers be aligned with His will. When things don’t seem to be going the way we think they should go, let us trust His divine timeline and be people who are faithful to prepare the way for Him. Let us pray for our children, that they would fulfill their divine purpose in His plan. Let us pray for the church, that we would continue to do His will until He comes. What if our prayers were kingdom focused and God, in His perfect timing answered our prayers not just to give us our hearts’ desires, but to expand His Kingdom.

Things aren’t always as they seem. We have a God who is still in control and who is still sovereign over our individual lives and over our world.

Lets pray.

The New International Version. (2011). (Ps 37:4). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (Lk 1:11–17). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (Lk 1:8–10). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (Lk 1:7). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (Lk 1:5–6). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.