Friday Fight 228: Action Before Answers

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF228.

When we pray and God answers, how do we feel about it? Our reaction may be uncertainty mixed with astonishment, maybe the answer comes too quickly, feels unexpected, or leaves us not feeling ready. We go to God with our requests, but answers may not align with our expectations. We may feel afraid and pause for a while. What does this potential cycle reveal about our spiritual lives, and how can we address it?

Action Before Answers:

We are all familiar with cycles and how often we find ourselves stuck in one, struggling to break free. There is the famous procrastination cycle of feeling overwhelmed, avoiding our task, then rushing at the last minute. You may recognize the self-sabotage cycle of setting a goal, making progress, and then, in a haze of self-doubt, giving up only to start again later—there are countless cycles we all fall into.

The cycle I am sharing begins with prayer, then receiving, but in fear and doubt, it moves to hesitation. In the next part of the loop, we begin to complain or critique what we have received from God. Lastly, in our hesitation, we miss the opportunity and the blessings that follow. We ask God for something, but when the answer comes, we hesitate for various reasons. When God opens a door and we hesitate to walk through, believing we are not ready, it means we treat His answers as inconvenient rather than divine. God knows what we are ready for better than we do.

Imagine that pattern again and again. Eventually we start to feel like God is no longer answering in the way we want or expect. We fuel this cycle with our fear, doubt, or lack of faith. In our clouded mindset, we forget all of the previously opened doors that we stood in front of, much like having spiritual amnesia.

Envision for a moment God opening a door to a small room. As we stand in the doorway, we are hesitant about what we see, so we remain still rather than walking inside. What we can’t see from outside the door is a hidden room only apparent when inside the room. Often, God’s blessings lead to other blessings that we cannot know until we take that first step. In other words, obedience must come before clarity. Areas of our lives that God is waiting to bless only become apparent when we are willing to step into the unknown. James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” We will be blessed by what we do, not just what we hear, meaning there is an action involved. Our actions before answers become more clear.

If this post is weighing heavily in a particular area of your life, pause and pray. Doubt can delay us in receiving what we have already been given. Maybe you or someone you know is standing on a doorstep. You may have an open door right in front of you, but it feels too soon or not what you expected. Sometimes we step through the door into the room, but we fail to stay inside long enough to see the hidden hallway filled with more blessings. How do you respond to answered prayers?

This week, talk to God about any doors that have opened, about which you are hesitant to walk through, and consider what it might look like to be obedient before understanding. Don’t stand on the edge of obedience; take a step and see what God has in store for you. Faith does not wait for our full understanding!

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In His Grace,

Pastor Shannon

River Church