2-Day Shipping

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I love Amazon Prime.  

I admit, the 2-day shipping has spoiled me.  I no longer have to get into a cold car and drive on snowy roads to go shopping.  I can cozy-up with a blanket in my favorite place on the couch, turn on the electric fireplace and watch TV while I shop on my iPad.  

 This kind of shopping is crowd free, no lines, no coat, boots or gloves and no wobbly shopping carts.  (Don't you just hate it when you get a bad shopping cart?)  

Checking out couldn’t be easier. I simply push two buttons and I’m out the door, so-to-speak.  With that awesome 2-day shipping, most of the things my order will be in my hand within 48-hours. 

Wouldn't it be amazing if prayer worked like 2-Day Shipping?   How awesome would it be to shop through the list of all that God can do, make my selections, then proceed to the one click check-out?  Done!  I'd immediately get my conformation email that said, "Your prayer will be answered in 2-days.  You may track the progress of your pray by following this tracking number 777-777-777."  

That would be sweet, if prayer worked the same as Amazon Prime, but we know that's not how prayer works.  

In the Bible, answered prayer seems to take much longer than 2-Day Shipping.  Just because we ask, doesn't necessarily mean we get!
  • David fasted and prayed for 7-days for his son to live, but the baby died.
  • Daniel prayed 21-days and still was held in captivity.
  • Jesus spent 40-days in prayer and fasting that ended with temptations orchestrated by none other than Satan and all this happened when Jesus was at His weakest physically.    
  • The 120 prayed in the upper room for 10-days waiting for the promise.  And that was 10-days well spent! 
In my lifetime, I've seen many answered prayers, some answers came fast, some evolved over time while others simply didn't turn out the way I’d hoped-at all. 

Waiting isn't  something I do particularly well.  When the customer service places me on hold, or the line is so long I can't see the cashier or the restaurant says there's a 45-minute wait to be seated, my first response is, "Nope, not waiting!"  My life is in a constant state of hurry with a sprinkle of impatiences.    

But when it comes to meeting with the Lord, this is what Psalm 27:14 (NLT) says...

Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

When we learn the treasure of waiting patiently for the Lord, we'd probably all opt out on that 2-day Shipping  because after all prayer is more about meeting with God than it is about asking and receiving.

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