Beggars must not be choosers!
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"I called Him—but He gave me no answer." Song of Solomon 5:6
Prayer sometimes tarries, like a petitioner at the gate, until the King comes forth to fill her bosom with the blessings which she seeks. The Lord, when He has given great faith, has been known to try it by long delaying's.
He has allowed His servants' voices to echo in their ears—as from a brazen sky. They have knocked at the golden gate—but it has remained immovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges! Like Jeremiah, they have cried, "You have covered Yourself with a cloud—that our prayer should not pass through."
Thus have true saints continued long in patient waiting without reply—not because their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were unaccepted—but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according to His own pleasure.
If it pleases Him to bid our patience to exercise itself—shall He not do as He wills, with His own! Beggars must not be choosers—either as to time, place, or form—of the answer to their prayers.
But we must be careful not to take delays in prayer—for denials! Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our prayers—they are not blown away by the wind—they are treasured in the King's archives!
This is a registry in the court of Heaven—wherein every prayer is recorded! Tried believer, your Lord has a tear-bottle in which your costly drops of sacred grief are stored away—and a book in which your holy groanings are numbered. Can you not be content to wait a little?
Will not your Lord's time—be better than your time? By-and-by, your prayer shall be answered—to your soul's joy, and make you put away the sackcloth and ashes of long waiting—and put on the scarlet and fine linen of full fruition!
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