Subscribe 
Feeling lonely and hopeless? We’re here. Talk to us.
Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EST.
“But the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John’” (Luke 1:13, NIV).
I love the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth. It is a story of hope; a powerful story revealing that our God is One who listens to our hearts cries and hears our prayers.
Recently, I had been reading through the story of John the Baptist’s conception and Christ’s birth in the gospel of Luke.
When the angel of the Lord came to Zacharias he said, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard”. Zacharias and Elizabeth were old in age and remained barren. As we know, in those days it was a shame to be barren. When I read this story however, I began to wonder what it was truly like for Zacharias and Elizabeth. What was it like to live knowing within themselves that they probably would never conceive, (unless it was a miracle) only for this moment to occur?
I began to imagine the years that Elizabeth and Zacharias spend in tumultuous prayer, weeping before God, and grieving within their hearts over their barrenness. I could almost hear their cry and see their faces turn numb over the years. Their hearts must have broken from grief and sorrow. I’m sure they questioned and doubted where their God was in this seemingly “unanswered prayer”. I thought about how they might have questioned God, but still remained faithful to Him and His Commandments.
And all the while, I could almost hear the voice of God calling from Heaven saying, “Just wait your time is coming! You have no idea what I have in store for you. You don’t even have a clue of what I am about to bless you with. Please wait and hold on a little longer! Keep hoping, and even if you lose hope, I have still heard because I am God. I am the One who hears the needs and the desires of my people. And I have a purpose in all of this. If you just wait, it will come to pass, and you will have what you desire.”
In truth, Zacharias and Elizabeth had no idea the plan that God had for them. For years they had to trust God and stand on His faithfulness. Eventually, out of Elizabeth’s womb would come the greatest Prophet of Old, paving the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ Himself!
Here’s the thing: God is in the business of resurrecting our dreams! He longs for those things that He has placed inside of you to be accomplished. And even when we lose hope, our prayers are never ever lost, rather they are heard by God, and God remembers them.
I want to encourage those of you who have prayed, and have longed for things to come to pass. God hears your prayers and your cries! He knows your hearts’ desires. And, maybe, just maybe, He is holding out for something you couldn’t have even imagined! And if you just hold on, He will bring back to life and resurrect those desires that seem to have died long ago, in His perfect time.
Our God is a God of resurrected dreams! Know that with God, nothing is impossible.
Heavenly Father, I pray for all those reading who have dreams that have died. I pray God, that the Word over their lives would be accomplished and that you would fulfill the desires of their hearts. I thank You for hearing their thoughts and knowing what You have placed within them even before the foundations of the earth were laid. I thank You that You are faithful to perform Your Word. I pray for a measure of hope to be reinstalled within them, and a faith to believe that with You, nothing is impossible. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Questions: Can you tell us about a time when you felt that God was not hearing your prayers? How did you keep on trusting Him in spite of the situation?
About the Author Brigitte Straub
Talk to a Mentor
Need Prayer?
Join Chat
Life Lessons
1-800-247-3180 | 604-514-2135
linda r thanks for your shareing it was very meaningful
Just want everyone to know that I’m praying for you! May Jesus help us all move in the ways that HE would direct us. Whatever relationship is not of Him, I pray for grace and strength to get away. I have been there too. Was involved in a horribly dysfunctional one when I first became saved and the Lord showed me I HAD to leave it behind. It takes JESUS’ strength to put it behind. It can never be done on our own. But God has GOOD plans for our lives and whatever may hurt to leave behind, the BEST is waiting AHEAD!
Linda R. thanks for posting the words to Adrae Crouch’s song. Sometimes it does feel that God is not listening, or cares, especially when you pray for the same thing over and over again. Like another responder above, I also pray that all my children have a close relationship with God. I do see him answering prayer in other areas. And I know God listens to the prayers of a praying mother, so in time, my prayers will be answered. Love you Lord
God bless you,and thanks for the prayers
We as Christians all go through disappointment and hurt here on earth none of us are immune from it. God never promised us a Rose garden but He did promise to Always be with us through the good and the bad. I think one thing we all forget sometimes is when we pray even though we have our personal prayers ultimately we should want and be praying God’s Will not ours. I believe that Nothing Happens to us Good or Bad that first doesn’t pass by Jesus and He says yes that is okay for that person to go through it. He Never makes a Mistake and says oh that person shouldn’t have died,NEVER or oh dear I forgot to heal that person, or That person was suppose to get married or have a family and I forgot about that. NEVER!!! He see you hearts desires but the bottom line is do we want to be In God Will or do we want Our will? One quick example is I remember when my first husband passed away and we had a 10 month old daughter well after a year or so I so, so badly wanted to get remarried but it wasn’t happening and then I thought what if it is God’s will for me to Never remarry and just be a single mom for the rest of my life (I was 20 yrs old at the time). Well I had to Truly and Honestly come to the point where I said God if it is Your Will for me to never get married again then okay I will still serve and love You with all my heart and REALLY, REALLY MEAN IT. God did answer that prayer and 3 yrs later I married a wonderful Christian man. But I so believe God wants all of us and for us to Totally Want His Perfect Will in our life not His permissive will. Please don’t get me wrong I know how it hurts to loose a husband, then 15 yrs later loose a teenage daughter in a car accident and live in constant pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia and be diagnosed with Bipolar depression that sometimes isn’t always under control. But all I can say is Through It All I Have Learned To Trust In Jesus more and more just like Andrae Crouch’s song. I pray this will in someway encourage each one of you lovely ladies. Remember “Keep Your Eyes On Jesus” Hugs, Linda
Through It All
Verse 1
I’ve had many tears and sorrows,
I’ve had questions for tomorrow,
there’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consulation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.
Chorus
Through it all,
through it all,
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
I’ve learned to trust in God.
Through it all,
through it all,
I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.
Verse 2
I’ve been to lots of places,
I’ve seen a lot of faces,
there’s been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own
Chorus
Verse 3
I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I’d never had a problem,
I wouldn’t know God could solve them,
I’d never know what faith in God could do.
Trish,
I hear myself in your post. Please know that you are going to be in my prayers. There is so much ahead, plans for hope and a future. Again, I feel like I know a little bit about where you are. Much love and blessings to you.
Every testimony here is a mirror image of my own. Suffice it to say our God is more than able. As a young woman, I also led a promiscuous lifestyle. Once I surrendered all to Jesus, I met and married the man of my dreams (and we’re still together twenty-six years later!). I had 3 miscarriages in our first 3 years. God healed my body and gave us not one but TWO amazing sons. After a fourth miscarriage, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I use a wheelchair and am on drug therapy. I am full of faith God will miraculously heal me – SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY. He keeps his promises and it’s on that fact I stand!
Thank you so much for today’s insight. I did not know the Lord when my 4 children were little but now that I have a relationship with my Lord, my deepest desire is for my children to be saved. I have been praying this for years and I admit that sometimes I’ve lost hope that this would happen. Today’s message spoke to my heart in such a big way. I know that God is faithful and He hears my prayers and knows my tears and wants all to be saved and that includes my children too.
Thank you Brigette for sharing the truth of God, I believe the Holy Spirit lead you to share this day what I need so desperately to hear. My son will be coming home soon, he has lead a life of in & out of prison for approximately 15-years. He is now coming home and I am so very concerned about how he will do and whether he will be rejected by family, friends, hopefully not by church family and those who know him because of where he has been. And most importantly, whether he will make it this time. He is a beautiful son and says he wants so badly to be free. I pray always that satan release him and no longer keep him a prison in his mind. The anger haunts him from what happened to him as a child. I pray he will serve Jesus in a might/powerful way, and have a desire to get into a support group and seek counseling. So many conerns…I need to take one day at a time and in all things give God the glory for how far he has brought us and wait expectantly for the great and might work He is doing in his life and how He is working to resurrect my dream of having our son back. I
My husband and I have been together 27 years. Thanks be to God, he was addicted to cocaine for 20 years and I prayed for God to deliver him so we could be happy. Well my timing and ways are not God’s. Long story short. God put him in a place where he could mold him for 21/2 years and my husband has come through as prue gold. He is now the minister of a Church and we have unspeakable joy. While God was dealing with him I keep my mind stayed on thee by reading the word and hiding it in my heart.
Seems like it’s relationship we all hunger for deep within our hearts isn’t it? When my first marriage started going down the tubes i kept trusting God to save my husband yet it never happened. i stayed single for 14 yrs hoping and praying my marriage would be restored in the LORD’s salvation. It never was. After being persued by a Christian man for over 3 yrs, i finally consented to marraige with him and within the first year it was a complere faliure as i discovered he was a seceret alcoholic. After that divorce i cried and prayed for a man who would love me the way God would and for the past 6 yrs i’ve been in love and trapped in a relationship with a loser. i’ve tried several times to get away but we always wind up back together. We love each other yet the fears and disappointments from both our pasts keep us distant and cold. It’s horrible. Sorry, no happy God answered prayer from me today.
Unlike you all, i’m still single and is above 30 and desire so much to be married by now.I’v lived in immorality but rededicated my life to Christ again and since then, i’v been praying for a husband. I’v had break ups but still believe that’s not the best for me.Some times i still feel like God is slow in my own case but i still believe whatever the delay, is for my good. Thank you for the divotional.
Thank you for this. It is hard to keep hoping as sometimes hope hurts. I really have no idea what to do anymore so I just try to keep the faith and know that His will, not mine, be done. It is not an easy thing but I feel Him holding me up when I cannot.
That is SO great Danielle! Bless your HEART in Christ! He has answered the SAME prayer for me as well! Doctors told my husband and I that we’d NEVER have a child on our own. In fact, from the time of his birth, my husband was diagnosed as infertile. Jesus gives us His ALL! We now have a 5 year old girl!
I had a miscarriage in August, it was a very difficult time for me. I had a void in my life, and I felt I wouldn’t be happy unless it was filled. My friends and family were very supportive. I never blamed God for the miscarriage, I just longed for the baby. I would pray for God to take the strong desire of having a baby away, or to bless us with another baby. My loved ones were praying for me faithfully, and in January I got pregnant, I’m 11 1/2 weeks. I’m in Awe of God’s Faithfulness! I know nothing is impossible for God, but there are days that I still can’t believe that I’m having a baby! Wen I started praying for a baby I was discouraged for months when I didn’t get pregnant, because I desired a baby so badly. I’ve learned that God’s timing is perfect, and that God wants us to be happy!
AAAAAAAAMEN!! This is SURELY the GOD I know TOO!! Over 22 years ago, when I gave my heart to the Lord, I wondered if I’d ever get married, due to the incessantly promiscuous lifestyle I had once lived. I knew I desired it, but just couldn’t see how it could ever be for me after all I thought I had done. But, JESUS spoke a word to my heart, way, way back then when I doubted, and He told me that He WOULD bring me love like I had never known. And, after 10 years of waiting and praying and NO prospects at ALL, He brought me my wonderful husband. There have been many other wonderful things I never thought I’d have that God has brought to me. Oh, how I LOVE my SAVIOUR, JESUS, TODAY!!
Thank you for sharing this VERY encouraging word!!