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By John Joseph Griffin



I leave you with a true story,



The apostle Paul said in chapter 11, verse six of his epistle to the Hebrews, âBut without faith it is impossible to please him.â Websterâs defines faith as a firm belief in something for which there is no proof: complete trust.

I have often wondered why God always waits âtill the last minute to answer my prayers. One day, I asked Him why He does that, and He enlightened me. Allow me to bless you with the same understanding.



God Doesnât Want Spoiled Kids



Think back, if you will, to when you were growing up. Remember the kids in your classes that had everythingâthe spoiled ones, if you will, who always had the new kicks, the newest bike and the newest clothes? And remember how they always had to throw it in your face? Many of their moms and dads were buying their love with things and stuff. The rest of us called them punks and a few other thingsâremember?

They were the kids that had all their needs and all their wants met to the point that they were never satisfied with what they had. They always wanted more, and somewhere in the mix it became clear that it didnât even matter to them what they had as long as they had it.

Imagine for a moment what it would be like if every time we asked God for somethingâa need or a wantâHe just gave it to usâ¦right thenâ¦no waitingâ¦no second asking. Well, at first that sounds pretty cool, but if that were the case, the problem would be that we would be just like those kids in school that we hated. We would be a bunch on non-praying, spoiled, faithless brats with a bunch of stuff that we could care less about because we didnât have to do anything to get it but ask for it. Now please do not misunderstand me. I know God wants to bless us with material things. However, He wants us to own our stuff; He does not want our stuff to own us.



Accepting Godâs Perfect Answer



When I asked the Lord to reveal to me and give me the understanding of why He waits âtill the last minute to answer my prayers, He opened my eyes to this one simple truth. God wants our complete trust to be in Him. He stretches our faith to the max to draw us closer to Him, so ultimately we can please Him. I believe that as Christians we do want to please Godâwe certainly do not want to be spoiled brats before His throne. Thus, He must wait to answer our prayers and stretch us and mold us and shape us spiritually. Through that process, He develops our character.

When I pray, I thank God in advance for what I am asking for. I believe it is so before it ever is. God could always answer my prayer right then, because He is God; however, He waits âtill the wanting is gone and the need is great before He delivers. Now He could deliver the answer right awayâif He chose to do so. In my case, God always waits âtill the 11th hour.

Imagine when you pray, seeing Jesus Christ standing before you holding up the universal peace sign and saying, âPeace be unto you; I will deliver you by the 11th hour.â As this New Year begins, I want to encourage you to praise God and thank Him all the way through the 11th hour. Trust Him when there is no proof that He will come through. Have faith that the Lord will answer you and deliver you. As you do so, it will be pleasing unto the Heavenly Father.