Encouragement for an Unanswered Prayer

I feel like there are those who just need to be encouraged to not give up on particular matters that you are praying for in your lives. I remember many years ago this certain person who prayed fervently on a very regular basis for a certain something to happen. I remember thinking, "Why do they waste their time?" You see, at that time in my life, I did not have the faith that they had, therefore, I surely did not have the understanding that they possessed either. James 5:16b speaks of a certain kind of prayer that gets results; a prayer that God pays attention to, and moves on your behalf to bring it to pass . It says, "...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." When we continue praying for something that we know for sure is the will of God, and we believe wholeheartedly for the answer while refusing to allow doubt or reasoning to overtake our mindset, God will orchestrate events to cause that answer to come to pass because we trust Him. It will most assuredly not be within our timing, though, but nevertheless, He does promise that to us. Effectual is a word that simply means effective, capable of producing a desired result. Fervent is another word for impassioned, and both words mean to be characterized by intense emotional feeling and sincerity that are capable of stirring equally intense responses. The word righteous simply means to be in right standing with God; proceeding from a sense of what is right in God's perspective. Wow, This means that when we are abiding in Christ and are praying forth petitions from our hearts that are sincere & passionate linked with faith in God's ability to bring them to fruition, that our prayers are certainly getting God's attention. His Word says that He will perfect those things that concern us. Now, Back to the person who prayed relentlessly for an answer from God. Well, they died and never saw the answer to their prayer come to pass, but with my very eyes I have had the privilege to watch their prayers be answered! Did God fail them? No! Just maybe God needed to use that as an example for me to learn by. You see, their prayers were sent into the universe because sound never ends. Sound goes on and on and on. I believe that even after they passed on from this world, their prayers kept meeting Christ as He intercedes for us. This person continually sowed, therefore they reaped their harvest. After all, they did not pray to see it, but that it would just be. If you plant a seed in the ground and tend to it, it will be there for many days appearing unproductive because you cannot see what is going on beneath the soil. Also, some seeds take much longer to spring up than others. However, at some point life it will begin to spring up. What if the one who plants the seed & cares for it dies, does the seed stop growing just because the caregiver is no longer there? Why, no; at some point it will begin to spring to life, grow strong, and even reproduce. I have planted seeds and left them alone just to come back at a later time, and at my surprise find growth. Keep sowing those prayers and God will make sure that someone is there to water them, tend to them and harvest them. The most powerful thing that we can do in desperate situations is to pray. The effectual fervent prayer stirs the heart of God. God is hearing your prayers, and if by chance you pass on into eternity without seeing the desired result with your eyes, know that the Lord will still honor your prayers. I learned a valuable lesson. If the just shall live by faith and not by sight, as the Word says, then our prayers must be prayed by faith and not by sight, also. Shut your eyes and ears to the circumstances around you; refuse to believe what you see & hear in the flesh. We must never trust what happens in the natural, but rather know that God is moving in the realm of the Spirit. That is where we get our breakthrough. The devil will always try to make you believe that you prayers are non-productive and a waste of time. However, always remember that you cannot see beyond the surface of what is happening in the spirit when you pray, but it's still happening. You just got to believe. You've got to know in whom you put your trust! I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help, Ps. 121:1. The Lord God Almighty is moving on our behalf when we pray...He really is.