Plant, Water, Wait

Reminded February 22, 2006
Notice I said "reminded" above. That means that god gave me this revelation a couple of years ago but reminded me of it this morning, so here it is.

When we pray for something or we give something God's told us to give, it's like planting a seed in the ground. Now, I'm a gardner and I know when I plant a bean seed, my responsibility for that seed is not over. In fact, I had to do some preparation even before planting. I had to get the right seed for the plant I wanted, prepare the soil to receive it, and then make the effort to plant it. Once the seed's in the ground, I have to water it, maybe fertilize it, make sure the animals don't dig it up, and then.......wait.

I've planted beans before so I know, since I put it in the fertile ground, it will come up. Even if I plant something new, I can read about it, (words), and believe if I follow instructions, it will come up and produce the crop I need. But the waiting is crucial. If I don't think anything's happening beause I can't see it, and go dig the seed up to see what's going on, I've destroyed it. I've got to wait, believe it's growing even though I can't see it, and wait some more.

Prayer and giving are the same way. First we prepare by learning what God's Word says about the situation, we pray according to that Word, and we wait. We speak words of belief and faith, (watering), and we wait for the result. The answer is not usually something that comes quickly; we have to wait. If we say things like, "Oh, this is not working." or "I'm never gonna get out of this.", what we're doing is digging up our seed.

Leave your prayer or giving seed in the ground, water it with faith-filled words, and wait. God will make it grow. "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6"