When the Promise Seems Delayed | P. Lorena Gamba

We are all waiting for something.

A restored marriage, a prodigal child returning home, healing, an open door, or an answer from God. But while we wait, God is not absent. He is at work in us.

In Psalm 27, David teaches us how to remain anchored when the promise seems delayed.

In this message we learned:

✨ We can declare God's victory before we see it.
 ✨ God's presence is more important than simply getting an answer.
 ✨ Seasons of waiting deepen our relationship with God.
 ✨ Fear should not define our reality.
 ✨ The final word over our lives belongs to the goodness of God.
 ✨ A delay is not a denial.
 ✨ God remains present while we wait.

👉 The promise may seem delayed, but God is still faithful.

Transcript

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Welcome to Mission Orlando's podcast. We hope that through this word you will get closer to Jesus. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you new messages every week. Have a blessed day.

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Um and today we're starting a new series. We're calling it Songs of Summer or Psalms of Summer. Um, so we're gonna be talking about the Psalms, the book of Psalms. You know, if you want to know how to pray, many times you don't know how to pray. A great way to learn how to play, pray is by reading a psalm. Uh, and I want us to to to do the declaration that we have as a church. Let's say it all together. Jesus is first in my life, his word is my guide, and I am what he says I am. He called me to be salt and light on this earth, his mission and purpose will be fulfilled in me. Amen. Do you believe it? Amen. And today I want to talk about when the promise seems delayed. When the promise seems delayed. We're gonna be talking about Psalm 27, which is one of my favorite Psalms. And uh a few weeks ago, we were with our Go Group, with our small group, we call them Go Groups, and we were praying for each other. We said, like, let's pray in groups of three, and we were talking about mercy, and we said, Okay, let's pray for mercy, but for other people. Because a lot of times we just we're human beings are just focused on themselves, right? That's the way we're wired. We're just focused on ourselves. But we said, is there a friend, is there a family member that's going through something that we can all pray for each other? So everyone shared what their sibling or what their dad was going through. We prayed for addictions, we prayed for people who had family members in jail, we we pray for people who are going through rough times in their marriages, and it was so powerful because we said we're gonna pray as if it was our own problem. If we were going through those things, and the presence of the Lord was just in a place, and it was so powerful. So everyone here is waiting for something, is waiting for uh a promise, maybe a marriage to be restored, the prodigal to come home, a healing that hasn't come, waiting for a door to open, or maybe even for God to become visible. But when Psalm 27 was written, you know who wrote this psalm? David. David wrote the psalm, the the worshipper, the king of Israel. When the Lord speaks about David, he's he sees he says, a man after God's own heart. So that David. So David was anointed when he was 15 years old. So Prophet Samuel prayed over him. He put oil over his head, and that was the promise. One day you're gonna be king. And then yet he was 15 years later, almost 15 years later. And you know what he was doing when he wrote the psalm? He was hiding from King Saul because King Saul wanted to kill him. And that's when he wrote many of the Psalms. Many of the Psalms was when he was hiding. And I wanna talk to you about three anchors for this season when the promise seems too late. I don't know if you received your guide, you can write them there. Number one, declare God's victory over your life. Declare God's victory over your life. We're gonna go to Psalm 27, verse 1. It says, The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? Can you say that with me? Say, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Then it says, The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army beseech me, my heart will not fear, though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. And I love this first verse because it's talking about God. You know, so David begins with a declaration, not without a complaint, right? Because a lot of times when we're going through things, the first thing that we say when we're praying is, God, look at my problems, look at the things I'm going through. But David begins by saying how good the Lord is. And you know what? The biggest enemy we have is fear. A lot of times we we can see, or David was looking at armies, even war, but he knew that the greatest enemy was fear. So when the promise is delayed, it fear rushes in to fill the silence. And you know, one of the things that we need to learn as Christians is the what the weapons we have. A lot of Christians don't know these weapons. And one of the weapons is the word of God. Look at what Romans 4 7 says. He is our Father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Say with me, the God who gives life to the dead. So you gotta declare that dead things come to life because the enemy wants to silence you, and that's the God in whom we trust. And Proverbs 18 21 says, the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. So it's very powerful what we speak. Every day, pretty much every day, we're constantly reminding our kids there's power in your words. Today, my even this morning, our oldest daughter was saying, Oh God, uh mom and dad, you feed me too much. I eat too much. And we're we're telling them, No, you don't eat too much, you eat what you should eat because there's power in your words. So we're constantly telling them, you know, there's power in your words, decide to be a prophet, decide to speak life. So maybe you grew up in a home where you all you heard was like people cursing or saying bad things to you or saying bad words, but you can decide to bless. And there's a powerful verse that I love, if you can memorize it, it's incredible. It's in Isaiah 54, 17. It says, No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from me, says the Lord. Can you say with me? No weapon formed against me shall prosper. You you gotta believe this with all your your with all your strength, because you you know who you are. You are a daughter of God, you are a son of God, and you have to stand up with confidence and say, God, there's no weapon that's gonna prosper, that's gonna that's coming against me. And every tongue, because there are voices that are rising against you to say, Oh, you can't do that, or you know, I remember when we were about to start our church, many people were saying, Oh, you shouldn't do it. Many people have tried it, oh, you should just stay here, and they just want to discourage you. So every tongue that rises against you, you shall condemn, because this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. And as we we've been going through many things, but this lately with my husband, that he's he's been in his process of healing. This is one of the verses that we've been also declaring over his life. Also, Isaiah 53. We've we've been declaring by his wound we've been he's been healed, and we pray that every day. There's another verse that says, No weapon formed against me shall prosper. You know, my husband started having like a lot of pain in his ear at first, and with noises, it was like very annoying for him. So, you know, we have three kids, hallelujah. So a lot of times they can't control how loudly they speak, and and my husband was like, please keep it down. So he's been doing way better, praise God, with his ear. You know how I found out about his healing? Because we were at a kind of like a restaurant, but it was outdoors, and there were two chihuahuas like behind us, and you know, they started barking so loud, you know, and then and I'm like, I see, I look at my husband and he's fine. I'm like, wow, you're healed. That didn't bother you. So he's healed in the name of Jesus. So we've been declaring those things over him, and and that's when you start seeing healing. And even even when David, you know, he was as I told you, he was anointed at 15, and then he had to face Goliath, and it was a huge giant. But the first thing is that he did was to declare victory. Amen. And and he said, This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. So before facing his giant, he was already declaring the victory, and that's what you need to do. And I remember when we came here to to plant the church here in Orlando, we've always had a good marriage, thank God. We've been best friends for many, many years, before even before we got married. So we, you know, you go through difficult things and situations, but you you go and then you're fine, you know. Like we we were able to always uh work through things. But when we got here, there were many things. Literally, we felt like what Isaiah 54 says like many weapons were formed against us, not not only to destroy our calling, but to destroy our marriage. And like never before, we we started going through difficulties in our marriage through external circumstances, you know. And we even had to go through we we even had to go and find help somewhere else through a counselor, which he was an incredible blessing to us. So we do believe in counselors, and when when your marriage is in crisis or when you're going through things like that, you should look for one. But one of the things that really helped us during those seasons of trials was a powerful prayer, and it was based on Isaiah 54, the verse that I just read, and it was by Dr. Derek Prince. You know, he wrote a prayer, a declaration. So I'm gonna I'm gonna say it to you guys, we're gonna read it together. Uh, you can find it also in the book Pray First. Isn't it an incredible book? It's a great book, an incredible resource for you. But a lot of times you don't know how to pray. How many of you have come into your room, your secret place, and you don't know how to pray, right? You don't know what to say. But the best way is to always pray with the word of God. So during that season that we were struggling with our marriage, that we were struggling on the inside, that many things were coming against us. Our refuge was the word of God. It's just like David. He was in a cave, he was hiding, and his refuge was the Lord. His refuge was saying, God, you're the light of my life, you're my salvation. Whom shall I fear? That that was his refuge right there. So your refuge needs to be the word of God. So I want us all to, if you can see it on the screens, you can say it with me. If not, you can just repeat it, all right? And let's say together: no weapon that is formed against me shall prosper. And every tongue that arises against me in judgment, I do condemn. This is my heritage as a servant of the Lord, and my righteousness is from you, O Lord of hosts. If there are those who have been speaking or praying against me or seeking to harm me, or who have rejected me, I forgive them. Having forgiven them, I bless them in the name of the Lord. Now I declare, O Lord, that you and you alone are my God, and beside you there is no other, a just God and a savior, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and I will worship you. I submit myself afresh to you today in unreserved obedience. Having submitted to you, Lord, I do as your word directs. I resist the devil, all his pressures, his attacks, his deceptions, and every instrument or agent he would seek to use against me. I do not submit. I resist him, drive him out from me, and exclude him from me in the name of Jesus. Specifically, I reject and repel infirmity, infection, pain, inflammation, malignancies, allergies, viruses, every form of witchcraft and every type of stress. Finally, Lord, I thank you that through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, I have passed out from under the curse and entered into the blessing of Abraham, whom you blessed in all things: exaltation, health, prosperity, victory, God's favor, and God's friendship. Amen. Give Jesus some praise. So this prayer was incredible, and we used to pray it almost every day because it's based on a verse. When you're declaring, Lord, if there are voices that are coming against me, I reject them, I do not accept them over my life, but also I declare today that by the blood of Jesus, I am, I have been completely set free. And then you also say, I forgive those people who have spoken against me. Amen. And not only are you gonna forgive them, but you're gonna bless them. Amen. That's the Christian thing to do. You know, my my daughter actually on Friday, they're going through, they're going to camp, to uh gymnastics camps, hallelujah. Who can say amen for or hallelujah for camps? They're amazing for parents. Anyways, she was there, and then when she came home, she she said, Mom, there was a lady or a girl, like the same, same age as her, and she says, uh, she says, she told me I have a good energy. And then she she she said she could tell the future, and then she said she could uh she's into spells or something. And then she wrote something on my hand, and I'm like, oh, praise the Lord. Uh so uh me and my husband, we didn't panic, we didn't, yeah. But we said, you know, anything that she said to you, we cancel it in the name of Jesus. And we're gonna pray the blood of Jesus over your life, and we say, never again. If somebody says, Let me read your palm or let me say something for you if I can read the future, never accept it into your life. And then we prayed for her, she understood, and we play, we pray the blood of Jesus, we plead the blood of Jesus over her life, and we're declaring she's free completely from anything that any girl wants to put. And we say many many times that those people don't know because the occult, the occult seems fun, right? The occult seems like fun, you know, horror seems like something fun. But those the the spiritual world is real, and and the enemy is is very wise, and he wants to plant it into your heart as a seed that is fun. Oh, horror movie, horror nights, it's fun, everybody's doing it, but there's power, and you gotta be extremely like like you gotta be extremely aware of these things and say, I my my mind is the most precious things, and I'm not gonna accept any image or anything that comes from the occult. So you gotta be extremely radical with those things and say, and you gotta understand that there's a spiritual world, and the enemy is after your soul, the enemy is after your mind, and he he's very wise and he wants to come into your mind with little games or things or fun or ah, let me read your hand, let me say tell you your energy. But all of that we told we told our daughter straight up that's witchcraft. We don't you don't accept that into your life. And we declare by the blood of Jesus that all those things that were said unto you, we cancel them and we rebuke them in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Just to say that the the occult is real, so you're gonna declare victory over your life. And if perhaps in the past you've accepted those things into your life through games, someone reading your hands, someone saying things like that, we're gonna cancel those things today in the name of Jesus, and you're gonna be set free as well. Number two, seek his presence, not just his answer. So after after David starts saying, The Lord is my lad and my salvation, whom shall I fear? declaring already the victory, then it comes and it goes into verse 4, which is one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. It says, One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. That's what you're called to do. You're called to seek his presence. So why do you go into prayer? Is it because you need an answer, or is it really because you need his presence? You know, he could have asked for protection, he could have asked for deliverance, he could have asked for justice, for victory, but he says, One thing I seek. Can you say that with me? One thing I seek, and it's his presence. And then verse 8 says, My heart says of you, seek his face, your face, Lord, I will seek. So why do you pray? Why do you pray? You know, is it because you have an agenda? Is it because, Lord, you have to do this, this, and this over my life, or is it really because you're seeking his presence? You know, Jesus and the in the Lord's Spirit, he says, Your kingdom come, your will be done. So we need to practice the presence of God. And in order to practice the presence of God, you need to shut the distractions in your life, you need to practice the way of Jesus. And something that I encourage you to do is like maybe shut your or eliminate your notifications because the world is after your mind, your distractions. But when you don't have notifications, when you don't have and you when you don't respond immediately, maybe to every meal, every email, every text message, every notification in social media, then you're more aware of the presence of God. You know, we gotta be extremely intentional about these things, and maybe the Lord's gonna put in your heart what to do. But how many of you know that not every text message is urgent, right? It's not a matter of life and death situation. If it's really urgent, they're gonna call you, they're gonna find a way. But what is what it is urgent is your soul. That's what's urgent. What is urgent is your presence, is God's presence in your life. That's what's really urgent. So you gotta like eliminate many distractions in your life and practice the way of Jesus. You know, as I said last time I spoke, Jesus was never in a hurry, but he was always seeking his God's presence. So when you go out this morning, I went out for a run, and I was just praising the Lord. I said, Lord, you're so good to me. And I was just practicing the presence of God, looking at the sky, saying, God, I I want to be aware of your presence when you're in the car, when you're home, you know, pause and practice the presence of God. And and that's what the word says in Matthew 6.33, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. You know, there's a translation which is called the message, which is kind of like a paraphrase version. And look at the words of Jesus, Matthew 11 28 says, Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion? Come to me, get away with me, and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I will lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you'll learn. To freely to live freely and lightly. So it's awesome. I really like that. What it says at the rhythms of grace. Learn the rhythms of grace. And this is what we need to learn when we really practice the presence of God. And this is what David did in the cave years, those years in the waiting. His promises, like you're gonna be king, but that promise was delayed. It was 15 years, and he still he was nothing. He was hiding because they wanted to kill him. And during those cave years, you know what he did? He wrote many of the psalms. You know, out of the 150 Psalms, he wrote 73. He was worshiping, he was writing songs, he was there just seeking his presence. He wasn't worried about, oh God, when am I gonna be king? He wasn't rushing to get his way, but he knew that God had a promise for him. And number three, remain confident in God's goodness. Psalm 27, 13. It says, I remain confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. He remained confident in the prize in the promise. He says, I remain confident because I will see the goodness of the Lord, and that's what you need to do. You need to remain confident in God's goodness. Romans 8:28 says, and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. And you know, David was tempted to get his way when he was in the cave ears. There was a time when his enemy, King Saul, who was after him, who was trying to kill him, he was in the same cave. And then his men were told David, Go, this is your chance. Kill your enemy so you can be king. And and he didn't, he only cut a little bit of his rope. And he says, No, the Lord's gonna do it his way. I don't want to rush things. If he hasn't made me king, it's because it's his way. I'm just gonna trust in the promise. And he waited, he didn't kill him. And later on, you know, the Lord made everything so he could be king. But he he waited, he waited, and then Psalm 27, 14, it says, wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord. Can you say wait for the Lord? That's what you need to do. If there's a promise over your life, you know, there's a promise that the Lord says, You're my kings, you're my priests, you will dwell in the house of the Lord. There's a promise over your life, and maybe you haven't seen that promise come through, and you're maybe you want to rush it your way, but the Lord says, wait for the Lord. So, three declarations for the waiting season. Say with me, I will open my mouth and declare God's victory before I see it. Say, I will open my heart and seek God's face, not just his hand. I will plant my feet and remain confident in his goodness. So when the when the promise seems delayed, you gotta do those three things. Say with me, declare God's victory, seek his presence and remain confident in his goodness. That's what David did. So I encourage you to pray this week with Psalm 27 and go into his presence and say, Lord, one thing I I desire, Lord, and it is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Amen. Why don't you stand and just lift up your hands and say, God, thank you for for Psalm 27. Thank you because when the promise seems delayed, I choose to trust you, Lord, all the days of my life. Father, I choose to remain confident, Lord, that I will see the goodness of God. Can you say the Lord has been good to me? The Lord has been good to me, Lord. And thank you, Lord, because as David, maybe you're going through the cave years, the Lord has declared a promise, promise over your life and you're not seeing it. And you're in the waiting season, but you're gonna say, Lord, you're my light, you're my salvation. Whom shall I fear? You're gonna declare God's victory over your life. You're gonna say, No weapon formed against me shall prosper, Lord. Today, Father, I plead the blood of Jesus, Lord, over everyone here, Father. If there are voices, Lord, that have risen against them, Lord, if there have been curses, Lord, if there have been forces from the occult in the name of Jesus. I plead the blood of Jesus and I declare, Father, that we've been set free, Father, from the power of the enemy, Lord, and we walk in the light, Jesus. Every every weapon that's come against them, Lord, every word, Father, every type of the occult of witchcraft, Lord, we rebuke it in the name of Jesus, and we declare we've been healed by his blood. And we declare today that we're gonna live in presence, Lord. We're gonna walk with you, we're gonna learn the rhythms of grace, Lord. Father, and we're gonna remain confident of your goodness. Thank you for everything that you do. We worship you, Lord. In your name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. If this is your first time here, and maybe you've never taken a step to give your heart to the Lord, I want to give you the opportunity to do it. So put your hand over your heart and just repeat after me say, Lord Jesus, I accept you as my Lord and Savior. Write my name in the book of life and never erase it. I want to get to know you as a friend and start a relationship with you. In your name I pray. Amen. Amen. If okay, praise Jesus today. Give him a round of applause.

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