PATIENCE & BOLDNESS
11th Feb 2026
It is not easy to understand why many of our prayers do not get answered as quickly as we would like. It is at such times that we can lose heart and give up praying, or we may become aware that our prayers have grown infrequent and be tempted to lose heart.
In Hebrews 6:12 it says, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
I clearly remember when Joyce told me that, as she was praying for her father, the Lord had assured her that he would not die before he had received Jesus into his life. My response was, “He’ll live forever!” because he was so antagonistic towards our faith and Christian lifestyle.
I was wrong. Many years later, he went to visit his daughter in South Africa. While walking in the Kruger National Park, he fell, which shook him badly. Back in his rondavel, he prayed. “God, get me back to England, and I will sort myself out with you.” He returned very shortly and met a member of the community where we were living, and came to personal faith in Jesus. When Joyce asked, “What happened to you while you were praying with Francis?” His answer was, “My sins were forgiven.”
He was a changed man, got hold of a Bible and read it like a novel, and about two years later he went to be with Jesus, with peace and assurance.
In Hebrews 4:16 it also speaks of the way we pray. “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Patience needs to be mixed with boldness as well as faith, and we will be surprised by how our prayers are answered.
Hebrews 10:35 in the NRSV version says, “Do not, therefore, abandon that boldness of yours; it brings great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised.”
George Müller of Bristol, who cared for thousands of orphans, prayed for four specific people to come to living faith. Two responded quite quickly, one took many years of persistent prayer, and the last came to faith after George had died.
by Charles Sibthorpe
