Category: Purpose

on • Heather Thompson Day

Why does God sometimes answer us immediately, and other times, we pray and pray and see nothing for months or even years?

There are two things about God and prayer I find to be helpful to remember. The first is found in Daniel 9:23. It says, “The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God.”

Sometimes we pray, and immediately a command goes out, and God places the answer to our prayer in our lives. Immediately God responds.

But there is a second example we find in the very next chapter, Daniel 10:12-13. The second prayer we see Daniel pray, is not answered immediately, and it’s interesting to read the reason.

Then he said, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come to answer your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way.”

This verse is super important to understanding how prayer works, or, as it sometimes seems, is not working. Bible commentator Charles Ellicott says of this exchange:

Perhaps no single verse in the whole of the Scriptures speaks more clearly than this upon the invisible powers which rule and influence nations… From this chapter we not only learn that Israel had a spiritual champion (Daniel 10:21) to protect her in her national life, and to watch over her interests, but also that the powers opposed to Israel had their princes, or saviors, which were antagonists of those which watched over Israel. The “princes” of the heathen powers are devils, according to 1 Corinthians 10:201

In Daniel chapter nine, we see God answer immediately, and in Daniel chapter 10, we see Daniel’s answer is delayed due to the intervention of evil supernatural influences in the region at that time.

What is important to note is that both times, Daniel is loved by God.

A delay in this instance is not brought on by Daniel himself, but rather, is a reaction to the organization of demonic spirits in the supernatural realm.

Sometimes, it is not your turn, and it is also not your fault.

There is a real devil, and a real army of evil constantly organizing to delay your promise. So, we must learn as believers how to pray thoroughly.

Prayer is not a one size fits all experience, and God will answer and respond to you differently season by season.

But prayer does matter, and prayer does change things, and prayer does change us.

*For deeper reflection, listen to Daniel 10 today.

~ Excerpt from It’s Not Your Turn by Heather Thompson Day

1 By various writers. Edited by Charles John Ellicott, An Old Testament commentary for English readers, Charles Ellicott & Bible. Old Testament. English. Authorized. (London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1882). https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/daniel/10.htm.

on • Leslie Leyland Fields

I just turned 64, but I’m not asking what the Beatles asked: “Will you still need me? Will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” I am asking something else.

It started when I hit 40. That day I went for a walk on the loop of our gravel road, my husband and our kids. I had just started to color my hair, which was greying around my face. When I was eighty, I decided, I would go shopping in a purple jogging suit. I would wear bright red lipstick until I died. I would be kind and generous but feisty and wear whatever I like.

When I turned 50, my husband threw me a party. A houseful of friends came for lunch. Ten years older than me, Sue gave me the best present of all: “I loved my fifties. It was the best decade ever.” Our mothers and fathers died suddenly. I scattered stones. I mourned. I wondered how to live with such losses.

Then I turned 60. My sons and then my daughter got married. I spent my days locked in closets wrestling with God, writing books. I traveled. I taught. I wore bright lipstick every day, even to the gym, where I tortured my muscles and felt glad to be alive.

At 64 now, I am working harder with more joy. I no longer feel alone. I have people who come alongside me and beloved learners all over the globe. I’m a grandmother twice over, soon three. Even when I feel unworthy and inadequate, I no longer let that stop me from doing everything God puts in my heart.

But I know that someday I will lay it all down. I will arrive where the writer of Ecclesiastes arrives at the end of the book in chapter 12:3, at the door of the house of the bent old woman looking through the windows—seeing dimly. Soon, my “dust will return to the earth,” and my “spirit will return to God who gave it.”

I’m closer now to that house than I’ve ever been before. We all are. We’re standing on the porch before that cracked door. I don’t want to be afraid. Because the one who has filled my empty cup every day of my 64 years, he’ll still be there. Listen to what Isaiah says:

“I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” (Is. 46:4)

Dear ones, please don’t resist Him any longer. Let him carry you—all the way through that door.

*For deeper reflection, listen to Isaiah 46 today.

on • Elyse Fitzpatrick

When I mention Eve’s name, what automatically comes to your mind? Her deception and fall? Her foolish conversation with the serpent, or her confession, “The serpent deceived me, and that’s why I ate it” (Genesis 3:13)? In some quarters, that is all we ever hear about Eve.

But, thankfully, it’s not the end of her story. The Lord’s response to her confession of sin wasn’t judgment or even condemning silence. It was a promise of new life, a life that would bring victory and turn Eve’s confession of her sin into an opportunity to demonstrate mercy. Eventually, Jesus, the perfect Son, will mend everything broken.

Amid all Eve’s sorrow over her sin, Eve believed God. How do we know? When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” (Genesis 4:1). Look at that.

Here is our flawed mother, proclaiming her faith in God. She had had a son “with the Lord’s help.” She believed that she was still beloved and God had granted her new life. And, that’s not all we hear from her. We don’t know how much time passed between Cain’s exile, Abel’s murder, and Seth’s birth (Genesis 4), but here Eve is again, confessing both the devastating realities of her world and her ongoing trust in her Father. “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed” (Genesis 4:25). Twice she confesses her trust in God. Twice she proclaims profound theology: God is sovereign, and people are responsible for their actions. Twice she tells us that we, too, can persevere.

When you think of Eve, do you recognize her as a wise theologian, full of great faith, persevering through the crucible of intense fire? Eve’s story is good news as she encourages us to see all of our life under the watchful eye of a loving Father. Eve gives us the courage to confess his faithfulness, as the God who gives good gifts and who helps us in our grief.

And Eve speaks to me: I can believe that God is good enough to use all my weakness and sin to glorify himself, and I can speak it to others—even to my own doubting heart. Take courage.

*For further reflection, listen to Genesis 4 today.

on • Carolyn Custis James

The U.S. presidential inauguration introduced a new voice, as twenty-two-year-old National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman inspired a fitful nation with her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” on January 20, 2021.

Her final hope-filled lines stuck with me:

For there is always light,

if only we’re brave enough to see it

If only we’re brave enough to be it

History is full of ezer-warriors “brave enough to be” light in their time and place. The Bible frequently highlights women (often very young) who confront the challenges of the moment to bring light and hope to others.

I think of Ruth.

Marriage to Naomi’s son swept Ruth into Naomi’s tsunami of suffering. Naomi was a famine refugee and a widow. By the time the dust settled both women had plummeted to the bottom of ancient society. Both were childless widows. Post-menopausal Naomi and barren Ruth had no future. Ruth was about Amanda Gorman’s age when she faced the hardest decision of her life. Yet instead of abandoning Naomi, Ruth chose a dark, foreboding future in Bethlehem by embracing Naomi, her people, and her God.

That changed everything.

Ruth took refuge under God’s wing and, from that place of blazing light, drew courage to do whatever Naomi needed. From that moment, she refused to hold back or shrink from bravely making bold initiatives to a powerful man—all on Naomi’s behalf. She ignored cultural boundaries limiting her as an immigrant, an impoverished widow, and a scavenger for food to bring light and renewed hope to Naomi.

Ruth never knew God was advancing his purposes for the world through her brave, selfless love for Naomi.

Her story reminds us never to underestimate how God might multiply our smallest act of kindness, encouraging word, or helping hand. We should all be asking, “If Ruth, why not me?” May God help us to be “brave enough” to bring the light of hope to others.

*For deeper reflection, listen to Ruth 1.