Bible Truth Foundations
Part 2 of 3: Growing in Christ
Please begin by answering this question honestly in your own words.
What is the prayer you have almost stopped praying? What conclusion has the delay been quietly teaching you about God?
1 John 5:14–15
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Twice the verse says "we know". Confidence in prayer is not presumption; it is the stated inheritance of those who ask according to His will.
The central idea of this lesson
God answers prayer offered in faith according to His Word; when answers tarry, the delay is in the delivery, never in His willingness to hear.
Every believer has prayed prayers that seemed to vanish into the ceiling. Notice the lesson's title says seem: Scripture insists that prayers according to God's will are heard and answered, and then explains, with unusual candour, why the manifestation is sometimes slow. The explanation changes how you wait.
Matthew 7:7–8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Everyone who asks receives; the words could not be plainer, and Jesus never retracted them. God is Spirit (John 4:24); He answers in the spiritual realm, and faith is the receiver that brings the answer through into the visible: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). A radio studio is full of music a dead receiver never plays; the broadcast is not the problem.
Daniel 10:12–13
Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me."
Twice Daniel prayed. Once the answer arrived while he was still speaking (Daniel 9:22–23); once it took three weeks. Same God, same Daniel, same hearing "from the first day". The difference was opposition in transit: a demonic prince withstood the messenger for twenty-one days. God had answered instantly both times; the second answer was delayed in delivery, and Daniel's persistence in prayer covered the gap.
Note
God does not change between your fast answers and your slow ones: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). The variables are elsewhere: opposition, people, and the state of the asking heart. Fixing the diagnosis on God is the one error that kills prayer altogether.
Many answers must come through human hands: provision especially, "give, and it will be given to you… will be put into your bosom" (Luke 6:38) describes people giving. People can be slow, reluctant or interfered with, which is another reason manifestation lags decree. Keep praying; prayer moves the hands the answer travels through.
James 4:3
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Scripture names honest blockages on the asker's side: motives bent toward self-consumption (James 4:1–3), a mistreated spouse hindering prayers (1 Peter 3:7), and asking outside God's revealed will (1 John 5:14). The remedy for each is simple and immediate: adjust the motive, honour the spouse, align the request with the Word, and pray on with clean hands.
Mark 11:24
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
The tense of faith is present: believe you receive when you pray, and you will have. Receiving happens at the asking; having follows. This is the posture that carries a believer through any Daniel-gap: the request granted, the delivery contested, the heart already thanking. Prayers do not go unanswered; they go opposed, misrouted or mis-asked, and every one of those has a remedy that keeps you praying.
Practical Tip
For your longest-standing prayer, do three things this week: check it against the Word, check the motive, then thank God daily that it is granted and in transit. Thanksgiving is what faith sounds like in the gap.
Work through these on your own before your group meets. Type your answers directly into the table below. Your answers are saved automatically in your browser.
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| Question | My Answer | Group Discussion Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 John 5:14–15 grounds confidence in asking "according to His will". For your biggest current prayer, what Scripture tells you it is His will? If none comes to mind, what is your next step? | ||
| Daniel's answer was dispatched on day one and arrived on day twenty-one (Daniel 10:12–13). How does knowing about the gap change how you pray during one? | ||
| James 4:3 names asking amiss. Take one stalled prayer and examine the motive honestly: who is the answer really for? | ||
| 1 Peter 3:7 links home relationships to hindered prayers. Is there anything relational you need to put right before you pray on? | ||
| Mark 11:24 says believe you receive when you pray. What would daily thanksgiving in the gap sound like for your longest wait? |
These questions are designed for open conversation at any level of experience. There are no trick questions and no single correct answer.
The gap between granted and manifest is where faith does its finest work. Consider these areas.
| Context | How I Apply This |
|---|---|
| Personal life | Take your longest-standing prayer through the three checks: Word, motive, relationships. Then move it from pleading to thanksgiving: daily, specific thanks that it is granted and in transit (Mark 11:24). Memorise 1 John 5:14–15 as your confidence. |
| Church community | Keep a group answer-book: record requests and dates, record manifestations and dates. Nothing builds corporate faith like documented Daniel-gaps closed, and nothing sustains a waiting member like a group still standing with them at day twenty. |
| Difficult seasons | In the longest waits, guard two things: your picture of God, He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and your persistence, the answer may be contested precisely because it matters. Do not build a doctrine out of a delay; build an altar in it. |
Tap each card to reveal the answer.
What confidence do we have in Him?
1 John 5:14–15
"That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
1 John 5:14–15
Who receives, finds, and has doors opened?
Matthew 7:8
"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."
Matthew 7:8
From which day were Daniel's words heard?
Daniel 10:12
"Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words."
Daniel 10:12
What delayed the answer for twenty-one days?
Daniel 10:13
"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me."
Daniel 10:13
When do we believe we receive?
Mark 11:24
"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
Why do some ask and not receive?
James 4:3
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."
James 4:3