Genesis 17:7 – And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed (descendants) after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed (descendants) after thee.

Covenant – An agreement, a promise  –  Descendants – An offspring of a certain ancestor, family, group

The God we serve is a God that keeps His promise; He makes good of His word. God cannot lie, when He gives you a promise, no matter how long it takes for the promise to manifest, believe God’s Word, hold on to the promise He has given you. God made a covenant with Abraham as well as Abraham’s descendants as long as they walked before God according to His instructions.  God blessed Abraham spiritually (justification because of his faith in God’s promise), naturally (children born to him through his wives) and wealth.As the people of God, He desires to bless us as He did with Abraham, but for us to come into the blessings, we must be as faithful to God as Abraham.  Throughout the Bible there are promises, and the promise always comes with the word “if.”  For example, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and  it shall be given unto (for) you – John 15:7, and the word “believe” And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive – Matthew 21:22.

If you study the Bible, you will see the majority of the time when an individual prayed or was given a promise it didn’t come right away except for a few occasions. Don’t think because your prayer hasn’t been answered, God has not heard the prayer, or He has denied it, the prayer is delayed, but not denied. God wants us to have “Now faith” in every situation and circumstance. There is nothing too hard for God, nothing impossible for Him. Whatever you may be going through and it seems impossible, then it’s an opportunity for God to show Himself in your behalf. The delay is to build your faith in God and not what you’re going through.

There was a woman in the Bible with an issue of blood for twelve years; she went to different physicians seeking to be healed.  She spent all of her money and didn’t receive healing, a matter of a fact, the Bible states she became worse because it was nothing the doctors could do for her.  She heard about Jesus and decided she would try Him. She said to herself, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be made whole.” Because of her faith in Him, she received her healing. There is no sickness, disease or infirmity that is greater than God.  Sometimes we receive sickness and diseases because of the way we have treated ourselves, and there are times, we have been attacked by spirits of sickness and disease. No matter if it’s physical or spiritual, God is the God that heals, He is the Great Physician!

There was a woman in the Bible bound by a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years she was bent over, she couldn’t raise herself, but when she came in contact with Jesus when He prayed for her, she was healed from the infirmity. Infirmity is a weakness; it can be either physical or spiritual. If it’s a weakness you should know it didn’t come from God and if it didn’t come from God, it came from Satan, and you don’t have to accept what Satan offers you. You have the choice to accept or decline.  Pray until you see a manifestation of your prayer being answered.  Don’t let anyone tell you if you pray more than once, you don’t believe. Jesus gave a parable about a woman who was petitioning a judge for her son. The judge didn’t fear God nor man, but because the woman continued to come to him making her request,  the judge granted her request. Jesus said, “and shall not God avenge his elect which cry day and night unto him” (Luke 18:6-8). Continuing to pray does not mean you don’t have faith, but you are doing it according to the Bible continually.

Know when you pray, Satan will try to stop you from receiving your prayer by giving you doubt and fear because he knows if we doubt it doesn’t please God. So what Satan will do is make you have fear, something God has told us He hasn’t given us ( 2nd Timothy 1:7 – For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind). When Daniel prayed, the Bible states, God heard his prayer as soon as he prayed; God sent an angel to give him the answer, but the Prince of Persia (Satan) withheld him from bringing the answer.  People of God too many believe there is a God, but when Satan is mentioned, it’s like it’s a fairytale. Satan is real, and he has an army. When Satan rebelled against God, the Bible states, a third of heavens angels followed him. The angels that followed him are the angels that come against us today. The world is in the state it’s in because there are evil spirits ruling while people keep denying there are evil spirits. Just as God uses human vessels to manifest Himself, Satan uses people too.

There is a realm of the spirit when you begin to fast and pray and seek the face of God; you will sometimes feel the evil spirits presence as well as see them as the  Lord allows you to see in the spirit.  We’re  spiritual beings living in a natural world. Satan and his imps will try to do everything they can to stop you from receiving what God has for you, but you have to come to a conclusion, Greater is He that lives within you, than He that lives in the world. The God you serve has given you a portion of  His Spirit that lives in your human body, no way you can lose unless you hand it over to the enemy. The Bible says we’re more than conquerors (Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us – Romans 8:37).

Satan wants to keep us ignorant to Him, that’s why it’s so hard for many Christians to have a prayer time. Taking time to read the Bible. Satan will make sure he steals your time away from God if you allow him. When we pray consistently, making time for God, He will give us the revelation of things happening around us, giving us instructions on what to do, and what not to do. What to pray for and what manner of prayer we should pray. Do you believe God loves? Do you know He wants the best for you? No matter what you may be going through, God has a plan for your life, God’s thoughts towards you are not evil, but good to bring you to an expected end. God gave His best for your life; you are in God’s eyesight, the very hairs on your head, He is aware of it (But the very hairs of your head are all numbered – Matthew 10:30).  So you should know since God knows how many hairs are on your head, don’t you think He would know what you’re in, what you’re going through, what you need?

People of God, we must take the time to pray and study the Bible, don’t just skim over it, but take time and compare Scripture reference, pray and ask God to give you understanding.  As you dedicate yourself to prayer, studying the word of God, you will begin to see a spiritual change in your life. You cannot keep coming in contact with God, and your life doesn’t change. Everyone in the Bible that came in contact with the Master, they were changed, from a non-believer to a believer, they were changed from sickness to health, they were changed from being blind to sight, deaf ears were open, vocal cords were healed, the dead were raised. He did it for them, He will do it for you! When you pray, believe what you’re praying for will be answered, when you are praying according to the Word of God, and the will of God (s And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired (asked) of him) – 1st John 5:14-15).

God wants to answer your prayer,  just as much as you want Him to answer it, but you have a part to play in receiving the answer to your prayer. You must believe your prayer has been heard and God is going to answer your prayer. When you pray, believe!  (Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them – Mark 11:24).  Secondly, you cannot be in fear; fear is the opposite of faith, fear is from Satan, it’s not from God. Neither can you be double-minded, you can’t go back and forth, today you believe, tomorrow you’re wondering if God’s going to do it, and if so, how long will it be before your prayer is answered. The Bible states a double-minded person will not receive anything from the Lord. So purpose in your heart, God has heard the prayer, and He’s going to answer the prayer. Sometimes you have to encourage yourself in the Lord when you don’t see the prayer being answered; sometimes things will get worse before they get better. When it gets worse, say to yourself, my prayer is answered, God is working on the problem,  providing the need, the answer will come at its appointed time!