Why Does God Answer Some People Faster Than Others? by Apostle Emmanuel Iren: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

One Problem Can Have Many Causes

Why does God seem to answer some people faster than others? Why does a faithful, devoted believer continue to suffer while a new convert or even an unbeliever is healed of the same condition?

Consider a simpler question first: why are some people poor? The answer is not one thing. It could be the fallen world. It could be lack of opportunity, exposure, family background, or personal choices. The point is that one problem can have ten or more likely causes.

This is exactly the kind of question you cannot paint with the same brush.

The Problem of Defining "Late"

In the timetable of God, it is very hard to define concepts like "late" or "early." Someone received a testimony early. Someone received a testimony late. How do you define that?

Consider Elizabeth. From a biological and socio-cultural standpoint, one might say she had a child late. But in retrospect, from the prophetic history of the Bible, did she have a child late? No. The timing that the child came — even though it might appear delayed by human reckoning — was the kairos time so that John could fulfill his destiny as the forerunner of the Messiah. Until it was time for the Messiah to be born, Elizabeth would wait. And the Bible tells us Elizabeth and her husband were righteous, loving the Lord, serving him faithfully — yet they were barren. The reason was not failure. The child they were going to have was simply that significant.

This is the kind of limited view that our finite perspective gives us. Someone will see a delay and think there is a problem. Someone looking with a prophetic lens will say — something big is about to happen.

This is why Jesus gives a generic and helpful perspective on suffering in John 9. When they said a man was born blind and asked who sinned, Jesus said: never see it that way. See it as an opportunity for the glory of God to be revealed. As someone who is encouraging or administering to people, don't conclude that unanswered prayer is a flaw in the faithfulness of God. That's a very large conclusion to arrive at from down here with a perspective this limited. Pray for the person, encourage the person, and understand that God can receive glory in many ways.

The Multiple Layers of Unanswered Prayer

The honest answer is that there are many aspects and many layers. In some cases:

• The issue genuinely is the faith level of the person seeking healing
• In some cases, there was not enough supernatural power manifest to move the problem
• In some cases, faith level and power level are both present — but God wants to establish something in his divine purpose and his divine timing

As someone grows in ministry and in revelation, results increase. Testimonies seen in one season that weren't seen in an earlier season are not evidence that God was arbitrarily choosing to heal some and not others — they are evidence that growth in revelation produces growth in results.

A human tendency in the face of sickness or deficiency — because it is so uncomfortable — is to want an explanation. The person receiving the ministry says the minister didn't have enough power. The minister says the recipient didn't have enough faith. As Jesus was correcting in John 9, the first instinct is to assign blame. It's okay not to understand why.

The Finality of the Gospel

There is no single prayer for healing that has not already been answered in the gospel. It is a matter of time. When Christ comes and believers receive their new bodies, there will not be a single person with a speech impediment, hearing deficiency, blindness, or missing limb. Every question is answered in the gospel.

From a finite standpoint, living eighty or ninety years is a long time. But it is seemingly insignificant in comparison with the eternity that God promises.

It wasn't even everybody who died while Jesus was physically present that he raised up. The finality of charismatic power is in salvation. If you raise all the dead, they will still die. The real power of God unto salvation is in the gospel.

Pain and suffering is an uncomfortable reality that believers have to navigate until Christ finally returns. That is not defeatism — it is the honest biblical picture. Healing will be seen. Miracles will happen. Sometimes in ways that make no human sense. But the goodness of God, even when it cannot be seen in the immediate, is always visible in Christ. See it in the gospel.