Your call is important to us. Please remain on the line, beloved daughter of Mine. Do you ever feel God has placed you on a heavenly hold? Intervals of praise and worship music play as you’re regularly told to continue waiting. How long will this last? I need answers. I need direction.
It began three months ago, during an upper respiratory infection. As I sat on the couch texting a friend, my ears popped, like when you travel on a mountain. But they never opened. I had just seen my doctor, so I called to see if I should come back concerning my hearing loss. She diagnosed it over the phone as fluid or pressure. Wait two weeks.
Two weeks passed with no improvement, except in the right ear. Since my doctor was vacationing, I went to Urgent Care where they diagnosed it as an ear infection. I was reassured that it takes time for the fluid to drain.
Two more weeks pass, and I saw a specialist who gave me the bad news. Sudden Sensory Neuro Hearing Loss. A rare condition, likely caused by the infection. All the waiting had pushed me outside the “window of opportunity.” We tried the few treatments available, but I still have moderate hearing loss in my left ear.
I believe in prayer. I believe God heals. But my faith gets fainthearted. I have cried, “Lord, help my unbelief!” I have asked over and over. I have sought for the answer, and I have just about knocked heaven’s door down.
No answer. No healing. No provision for the hearing aids my insurance won’t cover. Just wait. Please continue to hold. Your call is important to us.
You have been on that same line, holding on, waiting. Never getting disconnected, but never hearing anything from God. You know the anxiety that arises as you anxiously wait. Your faith begins wilting. Your prayers have gone unanswered. Don’t sit me on a pedestal because I write about faith. I still struggle. I am human. In “Eyes of Faith: Winning the Battle Between Our Feelings and Our Faith,” I included a section about prevailing in Prayer. As I share the key points from these three chapters, I am reminded about my experiences. The difference between my past and my present; God wasn’t silent. God cheered me on when I learned to live as a blind person. God encouraged me when I traveled to New York City to get a guide dog. Trusting is easier when God speaks, but when He remains silent, we still must trust.
The first key to prevailing in prayer is to abide in Christ.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:7 NKJV)
I know I can do nothing apart from Jesus. I never attempt it, but I haven’t spent the time I should with my Lord. We need to hang out with Jesus. Could God be silent because we have grown silent?
I talk to my guide dog as we walk. I talk to my husband when he is home, even during his favorite TV shows. But do I talk to God like that? Do we pray without ceasing? Do we include Jesus in our conversations?
The second key is believing. This goes beyond believing in Jesus as our Savior. This is the faith necessary to move mountains, and it only needs to be the size of a tiny mustard seed.
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Mark 11:24 NKJV)
The three important words here are ask, believe, and receive. Does this mean all we have to do is believe, and we’ll have our prayers answered? No. First, believing is difficult. That is why the father of the demon possessed boy told Jesus, “I believe; Help my unbelief!” (Mark9:24b NKJV).
Believing in full assurance that God will answer your prayers doesn’t contradict seeking God’s will. We believe God is able to do all things, exceedingly abundantly beyond anything we can think or ask (Eph. 3:20). at the same time, we desire God’s will.
Confession time. It was easy to believe God when He reminded me everyday to believe. I came across Mark 11:24 constantly, but this year, He sits quietly. I know, even in His silence, He is at work.
The final step to prevail in prayer is to exercise our faith.
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7 NKJV)
Faith isn’t what we believe in our heads and hearts. Faith is the demonstration of those beliefs. We walk by faith. It is no longer talking. It is walking. When I learned to walk with a white cane or a guide dog, I had no idea where my foot would land. You and I have no idea where tomorrow will take us, nor the next hour, nor the next minute. But we walk by faith. We don’t just talk about trusting God. We exhibit it in our lifestyle.
Fear tried strangling me when I had to leave the security of my small town and fly to New York City. I knew I could trust God. Anxiety rose when I learned I had a layover, but God provided a friend of a friend to escort me to my connecting flight. Less than twenty-four hours before my flight, another terrorist attack occurred in New York. I wanted that guide dog, so I walked in faith.
And today, I want the ability to hear better. Today, I must dust off my shield of faith and my helmet of salvation, preparing for battle. I will continue to wait.
Will you join me? Miles separate us, but let’s resume hanging out with Jesus. He might remain silent, but we can talk to Him, reminding Him of His promises. We can water our mustard seed faith and watch it grow into the fifteen-feet tall tree it’s meant to be. And we can start walking by faith. We can show the world that our God is able, and even when He puts us on hold, we still trust Him.
Our calls are important to Him, and we will sing along with the praise music as we hold on, waiting because our faithful God is able!
A great resource is:
Eyes of Faith: Winning the Battle Between Our Feelings and Our Faith
Originally posted on September 18, 2020 @ 10:55 pm