Streams in the Desert April 18 Daily Devotional

And he shall bring it to pass (Psalm 37:5).
I once thought that after I prayed that it was my duty to do
everything that I could do to bring the answer to pass. He taught
me a better way, and showed that myself-effort always hindered His working, and that when I prayed and definitely believed Him for
anything, He wanted me to wait in the spirit of praise, and only do
what He bade me. It seems so unsafe to just sit still, and do
nothing but trust the Lord; and the temptation to take the battle into our own hands is often tremendous.
We all know how impossible it is to rescue a drowning man who tries to help his rescuer, and it is equally impossible for the Lord to
fight our battles for us when we insist upon trying to fight them
ourselves. It is not that He will not but He cannot Our interference hinders His working. --C. H. P.

Spiritual forces cannot work while earthly forces are active.
It takes God time to answer prayer. We often fail to give God a
chance in the respect It takes time for God to paint a rose. It
takes time for God to grow and oak. It takes time for God to make bread from wheat fields. He takes the earth. He pulverises. He
softens. He enriches. He wets with showers and dews. He warms with
life. He gives the blade, the stock, the amber grain, and then at last the bread for the hungry.
All this takes time. Therefore we sow, and till, and wait and trust
until all God's purpose has been wrought out We give God a chance in this matter of time. We need to learn this same lesson in our
prayer life. It takes God time to answer prayer. --J. H. M.