Welcoming answers to prayers from a distance
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. Hebrews 11:13
“These people all died controlled and sustained by their faith, but not having received the tangible fulfillment of [God’s] promises, only having seen it and greeted it from a great distance by faith.” Heb 11:13 Amp.
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed–the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Romans 4:17
Some things that we pray for must be welcomed from a distance until God actually brings them to come to pass. George Muller prayed for some things for years.
In fact, I would say that the Bible says, the Bible commands us to receive all the things we pray for from a distance before it will be hours. When you read Mark 11:24 and 1 John 5:14-15, you see that we are asked to “believe that we have received it”, and it will be ours. That’s receiving from a distance. The only difference between this and what is recorded in Hebrews 11:13 is the length of the distance. That length of time is long and far into the future. But for most prayers, the length of time will be relatively short from seconds to minutes, to hours, to days, weeks, months, and a few years. But the great people of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11:13 had to believe God for things that would take centuries to happen!
This idea of praying and receiving things at the time of prayer before they will become ours in the future is a different way of spiritually representing what the late leadership expert, Stephen Covey described as the first and second creation. Everything that has ever been created is first created in the mind, through envisioning. This is the first (or spiritual creation). Then it is actually created in the physical world (second creation). Prayer is a pathway to the first creation or spiritual creation. Everything that is in the visible came from the invisible world.
The fig tree that Jesus cursed withered took 24hrs. (Mark 11:12-25). Jesus had to welcome the withering of the tree from a distance until 24hrs later before it could be seen. It can take 24hrs or years to receive something physically but we must welcome it and receive it from a distance before we actually see it.
This calls for patience, a fruit of the spirit.
When Jesus says: “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 and
When James says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8
“You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:23
When John says: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15
The only way that I think we can reconcile all these verses is for us to believe that we are guaranteed to receive what we pray for when we ask according to God’s will with good motive. In fact, it requires a new kind of receiving, a spiritual receiving where you ask by faith, and receive it by faith, and start confidently celebrating your success while you patiently but confidently await what you have received to be sent to you (like a material good that needs to be brought to you) or manifest in you (like healing or a change in behavior or something which needs to merely change to meet what you have received by faith). It’s like receiving the title deed of a brand new Mercedes with clear pictures of what the car looks like before the car is produced and sent to you from Germany. But you are sure and have faith that you will receive it because making Mercedes cars is what that company does. So it may take you months but you will certainly get it. Another example is ordering a handmade car or product and waiting for it to be made and sent to you. In fact, the certainty of God’s assurance is greater because when God promises something, he can never lie. If you want to put it in terms of the Mercedes company, it would not only be an order that is paid in full but one that has insurance and a legally binding contract that they must send the car to you according to the specifications even if the company were to close down. They couldn’t simply refund your money (even with interest) and say they are sorry. No degree of guarantee from a human agency (not even the best insurance) can compare with the assurance that comes from God’s promises. God’s reputation and integrity of character are the signet ring that seals every promise that he makes. He will fulfill his promise even if he has to move heaven and earth to do so. He literally can move heaven and earth. He actually plans to destroy this heaven and earth and make a new one!
