At some point in our walk with the Lord, we have all received a promise, a prophetic word, or a vision for our lives. These messages may have been a personal prophecy from a person, or come directly from the Lord Himself. They may have been about a ministry, a family, a career, or even a project. Some of us have had situations arise in our lives which made our God-given visions seem as if they were figments of our imagination. Many times we've wondered, "If this is a word from God, why hasn't it come to pass yet?" And then we've questioned God, "Will it ever come to pass?"
Eight Reasons for Delayed Promises
The Holy Spirit showed me a variety of reasons why our prophetic promises and prophecies may be delayed.
The first reason is that sometimes prophetic words are for an appointed time. Just as a pregnant woman does not see the baby immediately when she conceives, but goes through a nine-month process before giving birth, the vision has a due date, and it is for an appointed time.
It may seem as if the circumstances are against you, but if you know it's a promise from God, wait on that vision. Continue to nurture and protect the vision that has been placed inside of you. Recognize the process of development, knowing that you will give birth to that vision in due season.
The second reason is that sometimes the enemy will try to stop the word from being fulfilled. You will have to wage war with that prophetic word.
In 1 Timothy 1:18, Paul was encouraging Timothy to wage a good warfare concerning the prophecies that were given to him. This implied that Timothy would face spiritual warfare in fulfilling his prophecies. Fight the good fight of faith by standing on your prophetic words.
The third reason is that sometimes God tests our integrity. Psalm 105:19 speaks of Joseph, saying, "Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him."
The fourth possible reason is that there is unforgiveness in our hearts toward someone. Forgiveness is not just letting go of resentment toward the person; it's also freeing ourselves from the bondage of bitterness. If we don't forgive others, that anger will fester and continue to grow into hatred. If it's not dealt with, it will lead to bitterness or rage. It could also cause sickness and disease.
The fifth reason is sin. In John 8:34, Jesus said, "...everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin." And in Romans 6:16, the apostle Paul said, "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" If anyone of us has an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or pornography, we need to get clean and get our hearts right so that we can be vessels with pure living water flowing through us.
The sixth reason is that we still need deliverance from things in our past. We can't move forward with God if we are still living in our past. If the Lord has a promise for our future, holding on to things from yesterday will hinder the process. If we are holding on to old habits, they will weigh us down and hinder us from walking into our destiny. He can't put new wine into old wineskins. Jesus wants to set us free.
The seventh reason why a prophetic word may be delayed is that we are connecting with the wrong people. Recently I read a post that said, "Hang out with warriors, the conversation is different." Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? We need to be sure that we are in alliance with godly Believers. (Photo via Unsplash)
The eighth reason may be because we've been misled by a false prophecy. Some Believers want to prophesy so bad that they fabricate their own prophecies. This is not only dangerous, but it could have a negative impact on the receiver's life.
It's crucial to be cautious and discerning so that we don't make any life-changing decisions from a prophetic word that we are not sure of. False prophecies can lead others' lives astray. It's important to stay vigilant, question, and discern the authenticity of the word and the one that gave it. If someone is truly called, their gift will make room for them.
For some of you, there are promises that the Lord has made to you which have died. Some of you have ministries that were once thriving, but are now nonexistent. Some of you used to pray for the sick, and people were healed, but now you feel as if the glory has left you. The Lord wants to resurrect the gifts and callings that feel as if they have perished. He is about to breathe into those situations that seem impossible in the natural.
Just as Elisha brought the Shunammite woman's dead son back to life, He is going to resuscitate you with His breath and revive those dead dreams and areas in your life. He is breathing life into Believers in this season for great exploits. Don't look at things in the natural, because Jesus is about to commission you in what He has called you to do.
As you rise up and decree and declare that "all is well," Jesus will honor your faith and raise that which is dead back to life.
"I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.
"Then the LORD answered me and said: 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.'" (Habakkuk 2:2–3)
"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." (Galatians 6:9)
"This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare." (1 Timothy 1:18)
The Ninth Reason
The ninth reason why our prophetic promises may be delayed is because we are doubting God and trying to fulfill the promise on our own.
There is a story in the Bible about a great man of faith named Abraham (who was formerly known as Abram). God came to him in a vision in Genesis 15 and made a covenant with him, promising him a son. But his wife Sarai considered her age and told Abram to go have a child with her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, so that she and Abram could start a family. In the natural, Sarai was way past child-bearing years.
We should never underestimate a promise from the Lord, regardless of our age or current circumstances.
Abram obeyed his wife and had a baby boy with Hagar, whom she named Ishmael. This was not the child that was promised to Abram and Sarai.
Don't try to fulfill your prophetic word in the natural. When we try to birth things out of the flesh, they are usually not God's best choice. Although Abram and Sarai had trusted the Lord all along, they came to a situation where they no longer trusted His guidance and provision. The Lord is not a man that He should lie. If He said it, He will bring it to pass.
After Hagar conceived, there was a great division between Sarai and Hagar, even though Sarai first wanted her to have the baby.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him again, and repeated that his wife Sarai was going to have a baby boy the following year. He told him that He would bless him and make him the father of many nations. He said, "'I am Almighty God [El Shaddai]; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.' Then Abraham fell on his face..." (Genesis 17:1–3, brackets mine).
God then changed his name from Abram ("exalted father") to Abraham ("father of a multitude" or many nations), and his wife's name from Sarai to Sarah. He said that she would be "a mother of nations" (Genesis 17:5, 16).
In Scripture, whenever God changed a person's name, He was changing their identity. He was changing their destiny and giving them a new direction. He was giving them a new authority, and a new anointing. (Photo via Pexels)
When God told Abraham a second time that he and Sarah were going to have a baby, he fell on his face and laughed. Although he was a man of faith, this sounded ridiculous to him. He said, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" (Genesis 17:17). The Lord said that Sarah would bear a son indeed; his name would be Isaac. He said that He would bless Ishmael, but that His covenant would be established with Isaac. Then the Lord sent three men to Abraham's tent, and they told him again that Sarah would bear a child (Genesis 18). God confirmed His word.
Sarah was inside the tent and overheard the conversation. She laughed to herself, thinking, "...'After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?'" (Genesis 18:12). Then the Lord said to Abraham, "...'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, "Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord?...'" (Genesis 18:13–14). The reason why they had to wait was because the Lord had to first establish His covenant with them and change their identities.
Some of you need to re-establish your covenant with Jesus. Go back to your first love and renew your vows. You've become so discouraged because you haven't seen God move, but you are the one who made the move away from Him.
Some of you have been drawn away by an addiction. An addiction is an enslavement to something in the natural that appears to be stronger than you. It can be anything that has stolen away your time with God.
Abraham and Sarah had Isaac one year later, when Abraham was a hundred years old, just as the Lord had promised. When the baby was born, Sarah said, "...'God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.' She also said, 'Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age'"
(Genesis 21:6–7).
Some of you are more advanced in years, but the Lord will not go back on His promise. You are about to birth everything that Jesus has promised.
Some of you are tired of waiting on God's promise and you are about to settle for an Ishmael. Refuse to give birth to an Ishmael, because the Lord has an Isaac planned for you, if you wait on Him. If you follow your natural instincts, you will not produce what He has for you. Don't try to make things happen in your own strength. Avoid rushing into situations that may lead to undesired outcomes. In Hebrews 11:12 it says that Abraham was deemed "as good as dead" before the miraculous birth of Isaac.
By waiting on God, you pave the way for extraordinary blessings beyond your imagination.
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)
"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4)
"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
"By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." (Hebrews 11:8–12)
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Elaine Tavolacci
A Word in Season
Email:Â Elaine@awordinseason.info
Website:Â www.awordinseason.info
Elaine Tavolacci resides in Staten Island, New York. She has been a student of the Word for twenty-nine years. She has a prophetic gift as well as a ministry of encouragement, which teaches the Body of Christ to walk in the fullness of what the Lord has called them to. She teaches others how to be overcomers in every area of their lives and understands the power and authority that Jesus has assigned to them. Her ministry, "A Word in Season," has been an encouragement to others for nine years. She has learned the transforming power of the Word of God and encourages others that nothing is impossible with God.
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