Losing Hope While Waiting for an Answered Prayer

Scriptures: Psalms 69:3, John 14:3

Hope In The Silent Season

There have been times that I’ve asked God multiple times for a particular outcome or desire. I asked, and I wondered. I prayed, and I prayed. Yet, nothing. It started to make me feel as if God wasn’t listening or didn’t care. I was struggling. I was suffering. I found myself asking God, “Where are you ?” I felt like I wasn’t being heard or guided. I was in the season by myself, and God was silent. 

I remember years ago desiring to start teaching online. I asked my supervisor, but I was denied. I decided to still teach for the school, and a couple of months later, I decided to move due to a life change. I was out sick one week, and I vividly remember God telling me, “Ask them to let you teach online when you leave.” I immediately said to God “What? Where did that come from?” I didn’t have the courage, but I asked anyway. Little did I know that my superior supervisor had brought up the option of me teaching online the first time I applied; however, my then-immediate supervisor didn’t want me to. However, I had a new immediate supervisor, and she was all for it. I had to wait until the former supervisor left and be replaced for God to answer my prayer. 

In silent seasons, though it can feel like God is still; God is usually very active. He is preparing you and, most of all, preparing that desire you have to come to fruition. God is preparing the place for you. Don’t move too quickly and miss your blessing and/or go out of His timing to receive your blessing. Be patient. He is preparing the place for you and preparing you to be ready to receive it. 

He isn’t doing nothing. He is doing much more than you could even imagine. 

Reflection Day I: 

Write down times God has answered a prayer for you before in your life. How did it come? When did it come? Was it better than you thought it would be? Sometimes we forget all He has already done for us.

Scriptures: Isaiah 41:10, James 1:14, Psalms 32:8

Hope In The Lost and Confused Season

Whenever I found myself in the “silent season,” I felt the need to take steps to fix the issue. I’m a solutions person. A fixer. A take-action type of woman. I thought that maybe God was waiting for me to take a leap of faith, and He would meet me where I leaped. However, I felt ill-guided and lost. I found myself asking others, “How do I know what to do?” or having conversations surrounding the idea that I was lost. It was frustrating because I desired to do God’s will and listen attentively, but He wasn’t saying anything. So, not only did I feel He was silent, but amid the silence, I also felt left in the wilderness with no direction. 

When we are lost, we sometimes look for guidance in places outside of God instead of waiting. We ask our friends. We ask our parents. We look to Google for guidance. We get desperate. We tend to feel the need to find an answer in hopes that we will gain clarity. But ultimately; peace. We have to be very mindful of these thoughts and actions because sometimes that push to make it happen will bring a counterfeit blessing. What’s a counterfeit blessing? A counterfeit blessing will look similar to what you desire, but it’s not. But, it fulfills the desire you have enough to satisfy you temporarily. The problem? You are delaying the real desire you have and will possibly miss it. Just wait! You want what you desire, correct? You want exactly what you asked for and more, correct? Don’t allow a waiting season to trick you into a distracted and bewildered season and end up taking a temporary fulfillment over the best blessing God has for you. 

He hasn’t forgotten about you. He is always ready to guide you, but, sometimes, the guidance is simply to be still. 

Reflection Day II: 

Talk to others who have had God answer their prayer that is similar to yours. For instance, I have a friend of mine who had a baby after several losses. It’s encouraging to see what God has done for her and it encourages me that He will do the same for me.

Scriptures: Psalms 37:7, Isaiah 49:23, John 14:13

Hope When You Want To Give Up

After the Silent Season and Wilderness Season, if my answer still hasn’t come…..I start to give up. On God. On my desire. On hope. I start to think that maybe it’s not God’s will for my desire to come to fruition. I begin to think that perhaps it will be a long time before my desire comes to pass, and I let go. I don’t like the feeling of emptiness or a hole in my life due to a lack of a fulfilled desire. So, I forget the desire and stop asking God for it; I place in my mind that I have to accept that it won’t happen and try move on. 

Losing hope is a place of losing faith in something. Faith that it will happen. Faith that there will be a positive outcome. Faith that you can trust the situation to turn out for your good. When we give up, we are telling God we don’t trust Him and that He won’t fulfill His promises. Now, sometimes, there are desires that we need to let go of due to them not being God’s will and/or because we never had the right intentions behind the request. But you can be prayerful about this, and God will reveal His truth. If it has been spoken that it is permissive in His will, don’t give up on what you’ve asked for! If you give up, you won’t recognize when God has brought you the desire. The enemy wants you to give up because He knows the glory that will come from God answering the prayer. He will do it. He will provide. What if David gave up on becoming King? What if Job felt there was no God? What if Hannah gave up on God blessing her womb? Though they may have had their ups and downs; ultimately they didn’t give up. 

Don’t give up. Keep going. There is goodness on the other side. 

Reflection Day III

Find a story in the bible that relates to a desire you have and waiting on fulfillment. For instance, I am waiting on God to restore my child loss from the past with a quiver full of children. I try my best to keep in mind the story of Sarah (Genesis 21) as well as Hannah (1 Samuel 1: 19-20) for encouragement in my wait.

Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 1:9, Isaiah 43:18-20, Psalms 37:4

Don’t Lose Hope. Don’t Lose Faith. Don’t Give Up. 

How long have you been waiting? I know I have waited on some answered prayers for a while as well as still waiting on some answered prayers. How do we keep going? How do we wake up and get a surge of energy to keep trusting God? 

Be transparent and gain hope and energy from Him.

Allow yourself to have transparent conversations with God. Don’t beat yourself up when you have a moment of doubt or hopelessness. It’s okay. It’s normal. Many in the Bible questioned God. The key is to get the feelings out, but then, uplift yourself with His Word or worship. God cares for your heart deeply and He knows already how you feel and what you are thinking; release it. 

I don’t know how long you will wait. I don’t know how your prayer will be answered. But, I know God is a really good God and that no matter how things turn out; it’s for your good. Let go. He knows exactly what’s best for you. 

He will answer in His timing. He will answer when it’s good. He knows you from your mother’s womb and is fully aware of what you need and desire. Until then, and even after, relish in His presence. Ultimately, what we desire can be found in Him. Only He can truly fulfill the hole we are seeking to fill. Guess what? After you get this prayer answered, there will be something else you ask for down the line. 

Enjoy the blessings of today. Enjoy the answered prayers. Enjoy the blessings you never even asked for. 

Reflection Day IV: 

Each day, write down or speak 3 things you are grateful for in your life. I’ve noticed that my mood changes quite quickly and I am reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness. If you truly look back, and also focus on the present, you will be reminded of all the prayers He has already answered for you.