There comes a time when every believer to stops to ask themselves a simple question: Why am I still waiting?
I am not talking about waiting on the Lord in prayer or being patient while faith is working. Those are scriptural. There is another kind of waiting that is not faith at all. It is procrastination dressed up in religious clothes. Many times we say we are waiting on God, when the truth is God is waiting on us.
The Lord told Joshua:
“Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people…” — Joshua 1:2 KJV
Notice what God said. “Arise, go over.” He did not tell Joshua to sit there and think about it for another forty years. He did not tell him to pray about whether the promised land was still His will. God had already spoken. The land was already promised. Now Joshua had to get up and act on what God said.
That is where many good Christians miss it. They know what the Bible says and what belongs to them. They have heard sermons, read scriptures, stood in prayer lines, and asked others to agree with them. But somewhere along the way, they never acted on the Word for themselves. Faith is not just knowing what God said. Faith acts like God told the truth.
The Lord continued to tell Joshua:
“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.” — Joshua 1:3 KJV
There was something God had given them, but there was also something they had to tread upon. If they did not do any treading, they were not going to do much possessing. That is not hard to understand. If someone gave you a house, but you never went and took possession of it, you could sit outside and say, “That house is mine,” and still never enjoy one night in it. The promise may be real, but you still have to possess it.
The same thing is true with the promises of God. Healing, provision, and every promise belongs to us. But we have to learn how to receive from God and stop putting off what we already know to do.
Jesus gave us instruction:
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” — Mark 11:24 KJV
There are some simple things in that verse.
First, there is desire. Not a casual wish. Not a religious hope. A real desire. Something you want from God that lines up with His Word.
Second, there is prayer. You take that desire to the Father.
Jesus said:
“And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. [24] Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” — John 16:23-24 KJV
We ask the Father in the name of Jesus. That name gives us access. Thank God for the name of Jesus.
Third, you believe that you receive when you pray. That is where many people lose it. They pray, then wait to see if anything happened before they believe. But Jesus did not say, “Believe you receive after you see it.” He said believe when you pray.
That does not mean you deny natural facts. It means you take God’s Word as final authority. You get the scriptures that promise what you are believing for. You put those scriptures in your mouth. You meditate on them. You keep them before your eyes and in your heart until the Word becomes more real to you than the trouble.
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night…” — Joshua 1:8 KJV
God told Joshua to keep the Word in his mouth and in his mind. That is still good instruction. If you want your life to go in the direction of God’s promises, get your mouth going in that direction. Stop talking defeat and delay. Stop saying, “One of these days God is going to do something.” If He promised it in His Word, then begin to say what He said.
There is a place where praying has to become believing. Believing has to become speaking. Speaking has to become acting. And acting on the Word will move you out of the place where you have been stuck.
So quit procrastinating.
Get the Word in your mouth, your mind, and your heart. ray to the Father in Jesus’ name. Believe you receive when you pray and then act like the Bible is true.
The promised land is not for those who sit and wonder. It is for those who arise and go over. God is with us!
