She's earnestly prayed for the opportunity to be a mother. She's longed to pour her love (the love provided by her Heavenly Father) into another being, one part of her flesh and DNA...she's longed to raise it up according to God's will and ways.
She has determined to get her body into better shape. She's reduced her caffeine and has increase her folic acid intake. She's purchased prenatal pills from Target and is getting her body prepared. Still praying...still hoping...still expecting...still PREPARING...
Another month, another try, she waits the minutes to read her fate. The 3 minutes pass by and she reads the white stick. TWO PINK LINES!! Her Lord HAS HEARD and has given her THE PROMISE of her continual prayers.
But things hardly stop here for her; her journey is truly just beginning...
She continues to take care of her body,
She continues to be wise with the foods that she eats,
She goes to see the doctor often,
She continues to take her pills...
She's SICK...She's GETTING FATTER...Her back ACHES...Her feet SWELL...Smells NAUSEATE her...
BUT She STILL has THE PROMISE! A PROMISE she cannot visually see yet within her belly, but she continues to PREPARE, continues to PUSH through all the discomfort that comes with the journey to her promise, and continues to PRAY!
The day has FINALLY ARRIVED: THE DAY that HER PROMISE to be FULFILLED! However, before she can receive it, before she can embrace it, the GREATEST PUSH of her journey is required.
She can't stop now...she can't turn back...she can't give up...
SHE MUST PUSH & PRAY...breathe...PUSH & PRAY...breathe...PUSH & PRAY!
And before she knows it, after her long journey, HER PROMISED IS FINALLY BIRTHED!
Maybe you have been praying for a dream to come to pass, longing for a change in your life, hoping to rebuild a broken relationship. Yes, the prayer of a righteous woman is powerful and effective (James 5:6), and it is important that we pray without ceasing on the matters of our hearts (1 Thessalonians 5:17)...BUT...in the meantime, it is important for us to "push forward" and "press on toward the goal" as we wait in expectation for God to hear our prayer and give us His promise. If you're praying for a baby, what are you doing to get ready to conceive that baby? If you are praying for marriage restoration, what are you doing in the meantime to show God's agape love to your spouse? As much as it depends on you, what are you doing to be a peace with your spouse (Romans 12:18), right now? What preparations and forward steps are you taking towards the birth of your prayer's promise???
Once you receive that word from God, and have received your PROMISE, then what? Just sit and wait for it? NO! You've got to continue on to PUSH and PRAY, reach forward and press on until that non-visible, unseen PROMISE becomes more clear, more visible, and you are finally close enough to it that you can to take a hold of it and embrace it.
Since faith without deeds is dead (James 2:26), and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), when we DO receive the PROMISE from God for the prayer we have prayed, it is then imperative for us to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, remembering that He who promised us is faithful (Hebrews 10:23). Just as Abraham did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, being full persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised (Romans 4:20-21), so must we! God is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23:19), and we must stand in faith, perform the deed of STEPPING OUT, and continue pushing and praying, knowing that our PROMISE will be FULFILLED by Him (if we faint NOT, of course)!
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Just as the pregnant woman does not get to truly see and enjoy her promise, until nine long, arduous months later, we must continue to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), until our promise comes to fruition and is birthed, as well. In the meantime, we need to PREPARE for the coming of the promise, PUSH through, and continually PRAY. "As you begin to prepare you send notice for opportunity to show up!" ~Paula White
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." ~1 Corinthians 9:24
Mad Luv~Teri
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