Waiting on the Lord: What's the point?

In a recent conversation with a good friend, I was asked why God so often delays when it comes to answering our prayers. The conversation arose because this particular friend was beginning to feel that all his heartfelt prayers were futile, and needless to say he was both frustrated and confused by the situation.  With each unanswered prayer, he has begun to ask himself what’s the point? 

This question seems to be one that many people wrestle with, even the strongest of Christians.  I truly believe, however, that our Father has reasons that only He knows for keeping us waiting.  I think that often delayed answers to prayer are God’s way of showing us His power and sovereignty in order that He may remind us that the power to give and withhold lies with Him and Him alone.  At other times, God may keep His children waiting in order to refine their desires.  For example, waiting on God may serve to create in us a more ardent desire, whereby we more fully realize our need for God and seek Him more earnestly.  And so, when God does finally answer His child’s prayer, that child will prize God’s merciful hand even more.  I also believe that there may be times where God withholds His hand because there is something wrong within the seeker.  Maybe we have imposed our will on God’s, or perhaps we still cling to our self-reliance instead of trusting completely our Lord and Savior, and so God waits until these wrongs are righted before He finally bestows His joy on us.  As a whole, however, I believe that God’s delayed answers are an act of mercy, whereby His desire in making us wait is so that He may more fully display the riches of His grace to us in His proper timing.

And so, as many of us often find ourselves asking, what is the point?  The point is that we may rest assured knowing that our prayers are not forgotten, but rather that they are heard and filed safely away in Heaven.  An unanswered prayer is no reason to despair, and the wait is not meant to draw us into silence, but rather to continue in earnest supplication.