By J.P. McCamey
If your prayer answer seems delayed, read about Jairus in Mark 5:22-43. This synagogue ruler asked Jesus to come to his home to pray for his 12-year-old daughter who was near death.
Notice how Jairus approached Jesus: “He fell at his feet” (v.22). The first requirement in bringing our needs to Jesus is to humble ourselves.
You might practice Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” Think of being able to travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). In 2 seconds you
would pass the moon; in 8 minutes you would pass the sun. Four months later you would leave the solar system; 5 years later you would reach the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. In 100,000 years you would finally
leave our galaxy; in 1.5 million years you would reach the next galaxy.
God could have made the universe half this size and impressed us. Its vastness should cause us to humble ourselves before Him.
Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you are. A man returned a necktie to a store because it was “too tight.” Much of the time we fail to take the blame. We need to humble ourselves.
We need to verbalize our faith as Jairus did. He said if Jesus would come and lay His hands on her, “She shall live” (v.23).
While it is important to believe with our hearts (Romans 10:9,10), we must also confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord.
Notice also that Jesus went with Jairus. He will come where you are in that crisis.
A grandfather heard his grandson begging him to take him out of the playpen. “Out, Gramps, out!”
But the baby’s mother said, “No, you have been naughty, and you can’t get out of that playpen!” She left, and the grandson continued to beg his grandfather to take him out. His grandfather didn’t want to
counter-mand the mother’s orders; instead, he got in the playpen with his grandson.
Jesus gets into our situation with us. He will not condone sin and may not be able to take us out of the situation at present, but He will be there with us.
Some tried to discourage Jairus on the road, telling him his daughter was dead and not to bother Jesus any longer. The Greek text reads that Jesus “ignored them.”
There may be delays when answers of prayer seem far away. We wonder why the wait. Second Chronicles 32:31 peaks of Hezekiah: “God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.”
As in school the teacher talks constantly until test time. Then he or she is silent. If God is silent, it may be it is test time in your life, and God wants to see if you will trust Him in that silence.
In response to discouraging words Jesus told Jairus, “Be not afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:36). “Keep on believing,” He said. Jesus then raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead.
Jesus cares for you. Humble yourself before Him, call on Him verbally, profess your faith. He is in your situation and will help you through it.
(The above information was published by the PENTECOSTAL EVANGEL, February 1990)
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