Never, Never Quit

Day 27             28 Days To Confidence In Prayer

Time. It takes time. Ugh! We want everything done instantly. We want to snap our fingers or find out a few words which can be spoken for instantaneous reward. But we all know that life isn’t that way. Just as Oaks start out as tiny acorns and eventually reach their destiny, so are we, our children, our health, our marriages, and our finances.

A few year ago I had an experience with the Lord which I’d like to share. I had been fasting, praying, and reading the word. I was reading in Matthew 13, when my eyes fell on verse 44:

That verse is very familiar, and there have been many concepts drawn from it. I had always thought of a pot of gold  or treasure chest hidden in the middle of the field. On that special day I saw something different. Quickly a picture flashed across my mind, like a mini-vision. I saw a plot of land, freshly plowed and planted, with rows and rows of dirt. Since I live in a farming community, the scene was very familiar. There was no green anywhere; only rows and rows of slightly mounded dirt, signifying that the seed had been put into the ground.

Suddenly I knew what the Lord was saying. I had been praying for my children, as they were going through some challenges. He was showing me that the treasure is the seed. When I was taking the word of God and planting it into the soil of my heart, and then speaking it out in prayer, I was burying treasure in my field – and it was hidden. As I saw the picture, there was no sight of green – only fresh dirt. But I knew that the seeds which were planted would eventually spring forth into a luscious, green crop. In the same way, as I planted and watered the seed of God’s word, there would eventually be a harvest.

So what about the “selling all that he has?” The Lord showed me that when you are in the midst of praying for something which needs to be changed, you will see plenty of evidence which could discourage you. Until the change comes (the seed begins to produce), the circumstances will scream at you that nothing is happening.” There is no seed; there is only dirt.” But because of your faith in what your God is doing, you sell those thoughts and buy the planted field, knowing that the seed of God’s word is producing the desired result.

There is a process which takes time, and that is why patience is so important. If you give up in the middle of the process, you will never see the desired result. You have to hang in there and be patient, knowing that God is at work on your behalf. Through faith and patience, you inherit the promises.

So today would be a good time to renew your commitment to those things for which you are praying. Are you praying for health, family, finances, a co-worker, the awakening of the church in America? Whatever you have on your heart to pray for, you will have many opportunities to give up. You will look around and it will look like nothing is happening. You will feel like you are wasting your time. But don’t give up! Promise yourself and God that you will not quit, but that you will see this thing through. You will continue to look to Him and His word, and you will continue to pray it back to Him and to speak it into the atmosphere.

So be encouraged. Know that God watches over His word to perform it. He will bring forth His word in your life as you bring it forth in  your heart and tongue. If many of us will rise up and do the same, we can see great changes come to our families, our communities, our country, and even our world.

Never, never, never quit!