April, 2007
What to do Between the “Amen” and the “There it Is”
Mark 11:12-21
INTRODUCTION: Mark 11:12-14 relates the story of Jesus curing the fig tree. Nothing appeared to happen to the trees in the natural at the time Jesus spoke these words. If the tree had withered and died right before their eyes, the disciples would have been very excited about it. They would have told everyone. In verse 20, when Jesus came back by the tree the next day, it had withered at the roots. The disciples took notice of this and were amazed. They seemed really surprised to see this happen. How many times are we, also, surprised when our prayers are answered? I think we often are surprised.
Some feel that it was unfair of Jesus to curse and destroy an innocent fig tree because, according to Scripture, it was not the season for figs. However, in doing a little research, the fig tree of Palestine, if it has kept its leaves through the winter, usually contains figs also. This one didn’t have any. If a tree is fully leafed out, you would normally expect to find fruit still on it. The figure portrays the spiritual barrenness of the nation that would soon crucify the King it now so glibly hails during the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
There are many directions we can go with this text, but I want to relate it to prayer. We find it very easy to give up when we pray and don’t see immediate results. That seems to be a problem for us in our instant society. We are not used to waiting on things. We want things to happen “yesterday” if not sooner. Things are a little different in the realm of prayer. When things don’t happen instantly, that doesn’t mean that nothing is happening at the root of the problem or behind the scenes. When we pray according to the Word of God, in faith, something is beginning to happen in the spiritual. The Source of the power for performing the miracle in the story of the fig tree was God. He must be the object of our faith at the time of prayer and in the meantime until the answer comes. It is what you do in this “between time” after you have said, “Amen” that determines whether or not you have a “There it is!” Many times we don’t KNOW what to do or we FORGET what to do. The “between time is critical” to our receiving answers to our prayers.
During the past few days you have been praying about many things. You may have prayer lists, you may have prayed with a prayer partner, knelt at an alter, joined hands with others in a circle, or prayed in other ways. You have prayed for specific people to be saved and people in pain to be healed. You may have prayed for finances. There may have been general needs for people around the world. You have said, “Amen.” Now what? At times we experience discouragement and frustration when the answers are slow in coming, and they do not unfold right before our eyes. We are at the “between times” in many of our prayers. Sometimes at the end of our prayer time after we say “Amen,” the enemy comes even in greater force to attack and discourage us. It is during these “between times” that we need insight on how to respond until then “There it is!” comes to pass.
Scripture gives us much insight on what to do between the “Amen” and the “There it is!” which should be helpful to us in the days ahead. Here are a few things to remember:
1. Have Faith: vs. 22 says to “Have faith in God.” Sometimes this is called “the God kind of faith.” We must believe that something is continuing to happen in the spiritual once we say, “Amen,” even when we don’t see any changes taking place in the natural. Even though a sin-hardened person looks and acts the same on the outside, our prayer of faith is causing some of the hardness to melt on the inside. How do we know this? This is where faith comes in--faith that believes that God has heard and is doing something. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” When we pray we must believe that God is there to hear us and that He is going to send answers to our earnest prayers of faith. HOW He answers is up to Him. We don’t know who will just “happen” to come across the person’s pathway that we are praying for.
ILLUSTRATION: George Mueller prayed for a friend to be saved. Nothing happened. He prayed for 60 years for that person. The day that George Mueller died, the person got saved. Are you willing to pray 60 years for something?
ILLUSTRATION: I know of another man who seemed very hardened to spiritual things, and his wife was a very faithful Christian who prayed for him to be saved. She would come home from church, and he would throw mason jars at her. Years went by, and he came to the Lord. Our job is simply to have faith in God after we say, “Amen,” and let Him do His completed work. God knows how to put the pressure on people and to convict them of their sin. We don’t have to do a lot of talking and advice giving.
When we pray for a sick person, we can’t see what is happening at the root of the sickness. Sometimes after prayer circumstances might even seem worse. The person might seem sicker. Do not let circumstances throw you off track. We are standing in faith for answers. The prayer of faith has already gone out. Our job is to simply have faith in God after we say, “Amen.” God will do His work. We walk by faith and not by sight. We are more inclined to do it the other way around.
2. Believe At the Time You Pray: vs. 24 “What things soever ye desire WHEN ye pray, BELIEVE that ye receive them.” Do we wait until we see the answer come to pass before we believe? A lot of people do, but at that time we don’t need faith. We need the faith BEFORE we have the sight. We need faith before we see the “There it is!” Oral Roberts used to say to set the time to release your faith--when ye pray, believe. Let it be settled in your heart that God is already answering when we pray. Have faith when you pray and keep that faith once you say, “Amen.” You have already believed. Don’t let down now. Watch over that faith to nurture it just like seeds that you plant. Water them with faith talk. Say, WHEN Grandpa gets saved--not IF Grandpa gets saved. Start treating people AS IF they already know the Lord. Sometimes we draw a circle around Christians and don’t share with the unsaved. We close them outside the circle. Move the boundaries. Treat them as if and they will be. Cultivate the soil of your prayer by praising the Lord and thanking him in advance for the answers. Encourage the people you are praying for. Be there for them. Don’t treat them like a project. Give them some tender loving care. This is needed in the “between times” to keep things progressing toward the answer.
When you are praying about job opportunities or career changes, begin to say, “When I graduate from college, when I get this promotion. This is helping you to believe at the time you pray as well as in the “between times.” Say WHEN rather than IF.
3. Be Patient: Hebrews 6:15 says that after Abraham patiently endured, he obtained the promise. His patience was evident in the “between times” when he held God’s promises in his heart but didn’t see them with his eyes. Give God time to work. There was a sign that said, “The impossible takes a little longer.” We can think of being patient when we plant flowers or a garden. We don’t dig the seed up the next day to see if it is growing. Many people are prayed for and things don’t SEEM to be any better. They are still sick or the problem is still there as big as a mountain looming before them. They think God has not heard let alone going to answer. He has heard and He is still working to bring about the answer. The impossible may take a little longer but remember that with “men things are impossible but with God all things are possible.” He knows how to work out things over the long term.
4. Stay Focused: We may have a long wait at times between the “Amen” and the “There it is!” That’s OK if we stay focused. Hebrews 12:3 reminds us of Abraham by saying, “Consider him that endured lest ye be weary and faint in your minds.” If we are not focused, then we will usually not endure in faith until the answer comes because distractions and doubts will come and steal our answers from us. We must begin to visualize the person as being a saved person or a healed person. We must begin to picture in our mind our church pews being filled. Faith sees the answer before it actually unfolds in the natural. Romans says that “Abraham counted those things that be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17).
People say, “Well, you can’t count your chickens before they hatch.” We are not counting chickens here. Remember God is at work. He can work out a number of events where you least expect it. And it will often surprise you at who God uses to bring about answers. Don’t insist on the answer coming in a particular way or through a particular person. He may have someone else in mind to bring about the answer. He can bring answers through people you don’t even know.
Story: A man was talking to a minister. The man said, “Hey, you got it all wrong about this God stuff. God doesn’t exist. I ought to know.”
“Why is that?” asked the minister.
“Well,” the man said, “when I was ice-fishing in the Arctic far from the nearest village, a blizzard blew up with wind and blinding snow. I was a goner. So I got down on my knees and prayed real hard, begging God for help.”
“And did God help you?” asked the minister.
“No way, He didn’t lift a finger to help me. Some Eskimo appeared out of nowhere and guided me back to the village.”
What this man didn’t seem to understand is that God works through you and me. There will be times when our prayers will not be answered the way we want them or think they will be. Sometimes the answer is yes, no, or even maybe, “You’ve got to be kidding!”
When we are staying focused on the answer, we will be less inclined to look at the distractions on the left or the right of us. There is a little song that reminds us of this:
Walking by faith and not by sight
I won’t allow the circumstances to turn me left or right
Trusting in the Lord and in the power of his might
I’m going to walk by faith and not by sight.
5. Stand Fast: We have prayed and we are in the “between times.” We have done all we know to do. Or have we? Check and see. Does God want you to do anything else? Vs. 26 says, and when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. Have you forgiven? Have you cleared the way for the answer to come? Have you talked with unsaved people? Made preparation for the answer? Thanked the Lord? Made ourselves available to a part of the solution? We need a checklist for our prayers. Have we done everything we know to do insofar as possible? Now what? Scripture says in Ephesians 6:13, “…and having done all, to stand.” This is the hard part.
When I was 7 years old my Mother would stand at the chest of drawers and listen to me pray every night. We prayed for my Dad to be saved. He went to church for quite awhile when I was around that age and there was church trouble and he quit going. How many times it is sad to see that Christians become stumbling blocks to people. He said that there were hypocrites in the church. We prayed for him throughout all of the years. Thirty years later he was saved before he died. There were some rough times “in between.’ Was standing fast worth it? Yes, it was. Sometimes we can’t understand why the wait takes so long. But Jesus does not cram salvation down our throats. He is patient. If we don’t respond one way, He works another way. He chips away at the hardness of the heart. He allows the rays of his sunshine to warm people to the gospel message. Sometimes it takes a long time and the “between times” stretch out into years. Sometimes the answers come in a very short time. When we are consistent in our prayers, we should be seeing answers coming in all the time. The due season should be coming. “Let us not be weary in well doing, for we will reap if we faint not.” Our due season is coming. Look for some answers today. Look for them tomorrow. Keep your eyes open for the answers. Learn to recognize them when they come.
Is God concerned about us during the “between times?” Yes, He is very much so. John Wesley said that God is working on us from the very beginning and his grace continues to work throughout our lifetime. He is patient with us. Shouldn’t we be patient with others.
CONCLUSION: Our faith needs to be active at the time we first pray as well as continue throughout the “between times.” Once you pray about something don’t forget all about it. After the “Amen,” nurture it with praise and thanksgiving until the answer comes. Let God know that you are interested in what you are praying about. You may not be at this point asking and asking over again. When you pray through on something, then you can move into the next stage thanking and praising God with confidence and making preparation for the answer.
When you believe at the time you pray, begin to say WHEN instead of IF when you are in the “between times.” Check your self talk to see what you really are saying about the situation.
Give God time to work. Be patient. When distractions come, and they will, stay focused. Don’t let circumstances dictate to you. Cast out the doubts by knowing what God says about it. Learn to agree with God’s opinion of it. Know what the Word of God says about your situation. Stand fast over the long haul. Verbally thank God for bringing the answers.
Let us Pray:
