Judges 13 - God's Response to Prayer

Prayer is vital to the Christian life. It is a privilege to speak to the Creator and offer our thanksgiving, our praise and our petitions. Prayer however is often neglected in the Christian life, perhaps because we lack discipline; perhaps because we are more focused on the temporal: perhaps because we don't see God's immediate response. In any case, we are the ones who forfeit the blessing of fellowship with our Lord. 

In the case of Manoah and his wife (unnamed woman of great faith) they had prayed. Doubly burdened:  they had lived under Philistine oppression and occupation for forty years and did not have the child they longed for. Unlike today where children are sometimes viewed as a burden to their parents forcing them into commitments they were not ready to make, in that day, children were considered a blessing from God. To be childless was a shame and a curse to a couple. God came in human form to deliver great news. 

Sometimes God does not answer our prayers immediately. Manoah and his wife had long been childless without answer to their prayers, but now they would have the child they prayed for and even more, this child of promise would begin to deliver the nation from the Philistines. A double shot answer to prayer; a child and the hope of deliverance!  God does not always immediately answer our prayers. When He does it gives him even greater glory to see that longing finally fulfilled. 

Manoah so startled by the news brought from his wife's encounter with the Angel of the Lord that he prays for a confirmation. God heard this prayer and promptly returns to Manoah's wife in the field. She comes to get him to see with his own eyes this messenger from God. Sometimes God hears our prayers and responds quickly. Our faith is confirmed and our resolve is strengthened.

God sometimes refuses to answer our prayers. In Judges 13:12, Manoah asks a question that is outside the boundary for him. He asks to know the future for this boy. God has already said that he will have a son and this son will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines, but God offers no more information, He merely restates what has already been given. Sometimes God does not answer our prayers, because there is no good purpose served in their answer. Can we trust God even then?  

When the Lord ascends to heaven in a flame, Manoah realizes he has been in the presence of God Himself. Perhaps he remembered what God told Moses, that no one could see God's face and live. His wife demonstrating her great faith assures her husband that if God was going to kill them He would not have offered this message of promise. (Note to wives: we can be a tremendous blessing to our husbands by encouraging them when they are afraid. We can assure them of God's greatness in the midst of any situation). 

There is a fellowship we achieve in prayer that cannot be replicated in any other way. It is God's prerogative to choose when and how to answer, but we as His people have a wonderful promise: His Spirit is with us and we are not alone. We can wait in faith knowing that He loves us and has sacrificed so much already. This problem we face is small in comparison. Let's us regularly bring our praise, our worship, our confession of sin and our petitions for His mercy before the throne of grace. We can trust that whether the answer is delayed, refused or immediate, that God's answer is best. 

May God richly bless you as you seek Him and as you serve Him.