Luke 1:5–7: “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.”

February 12th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

In the New Testament Book of James, chapter 4 teaches us that sometimes our own poor motives block us from receiving things we request in prayer. And sometimes prayers seem to go unanswered because God is saying no to them. But often times God purposefully delays the answer because, for unseen reasons, He has a special timing in mind. The birth of John the Baptist was just such a delay. Luke, who was a doctor, emphasized that Elizabeth was barren and that she and her husband were both, literally, “well stricken in age,” meaning they were beyond the normal age of fertility.

In that culture, being barren was, wrongly, considered a sign of God’s disfavor on a couple’s life. But in fact, in the case of Zacharias and Elizabeth, just the opposite was true; and they were about to be greatly honored by their loving, heavenly Father. God had delayed the answer to their prayer for a child because the course of human history was going to be forever changed through the ministry of their son John. He was the announcer, the forerunner, the messenger sent by God to introduce the Messiah—God the Son.

God hears the prayers of His children. So, dear believer, keep praying; your loving, heavenly Father may be delaying because He has something even better for you at a later time. When we leave the choices to God, He will always give us His best. The only time we should stop praying is when the answer is in our hands, or God has revealed a better answer to our hearts. We can always trust His answers, so even if He says no, we can be absolutely certain it is for our best.

“LORD, we thank You that You are loving and always move in our lives according to what is best for us. Give us Your best this day we ask, in Jesus’ name.”