E. M. Bounds said, "I think Christians fail so often to get answers to their prayers because they do not wait long enough on God.” Often the most difficult period of waiting for God to answer our prayer is the time beyond prayer—the time of patient waiting. I can wait in prayer trusting God to help, but if I truly wait on Him beyond prayer—

Karen Mains said that she once hated housework. “The thing I hated most about it was that it kept me from doing the things I felt I was suppose to be doing. I pointed my finger at it. How could I write, visit lonely friends, make my significant mark upon the world? Knee holes etc. and all these things were interfering with my real goals.”

As I stood to speak on Saturday morning of a women's retreat, I looked down at my notes and knew the Holy Spirit did not want me to use what I had prepared. The message in my spirit was clear: "If you forge ahead, you are on your own."

For 14 months, Czech missionary Petr Jasek endured imprisonment in Sudan where he was tortured by fellow cellmates.• But Jesus supernaturally imparted peace during his confinement and he became a bold witness, winning many to Christ.

“I had a wonderful prayer time today on the way to work,” a friend commented. Another lady wrote that when she prayed at work, she “felt connected.”

One of Scripture’s most instructive prayers is Hannah’s prayer of praise in 1 Samuel 2. Several of its points can serve as patterns for our praying.

Emma’s teenaged son had trouble at school and manifested a very bad attitude. She said, “We didn’t dare side with our son against school authorities, nor did we dare ignore a situation that could have been the beginning of a downward trail. To scold or threaten or punish was not enough. We were not sufficient for the problem, but God was! What a wonderful weapon He had placed in our hands—prayer!”

When our daughter Arla was dating Kris (her future husband), they talked on the phone every night they weren't together. One evening when it was almost time for us to go to bed and for Kris to call, I reminded her of her finals the next day. "It might be better if you would get a good night's sleep rather than talk to Kris for two hours."