But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard and your wife Elisabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people for the Lord.” Luke 1:1317
Luke is referred to the beloved physician in the bible and he was anointed by God to collect all the details of the birth of Jesus Christ and write a letter that would endure for over 2,000 years. He is the only writer of the synoptic gospels who was not one of the original disciples. It is easy to see his diligence as he narrates the most important event in human history. While Matthew started his narrative with the lineage of Jesus to prove He had the right to be the Messiah, Luke went into detail about John, the forerunner of Jesus who would preach repentance even before Jesus’ ministry would begin. During King David’s reign, he chose twenty-four male descendants of Arron to perform the priestly duties including the animal sacrifice and burning of incense. The twenty-four descendants and their children formed a division of priest who were assigned specific times of the year they were to go to Jerusalem and perform their priestly duties before the Lord. On this day, it was Zacharias duty and honor to serve as a priest before God, something unexpected and unusual happened. During the hour of incense, Zacharias went into the temple and burned incense before the Lord while the whole multitude of people were outside praying. While Zacharias thought he was just going into the temple to offer incense, God had a divine encounter waiting for him. Can you imagine how he must have felt, he was busy burning the incense and all the sudden he looks at the alter and on the right side of the altar is an angel of the Lord waiting to talk to him?
Gabriel is not just any angel; he is the messenger angel that brought a direct word from God that would change human history. I have never seen an angel with my eyes, and I am not sure what my reaction would be but seeing Gabriel troubled Zacharias and caused him to be afraid. Gabriel came to tell Zacharias God had heard his prayers and was answering them. Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were in their old age, and they were never able to have children, because Elizabeth was barren. Year after year they attended baby showers for their friends and celebrated the birth of their children and year after year their prayers went unanswered. Then they began to watch their friends’ children have children and still not have the joy of holding a child of their own. When the answers to our prayers are delayed, it is easy to become discouraged and think God is not going to grant our requests. The enemy even wants us to think we have sinned and made God mad enough that He will not answer our prayers. Luke took the time dispel this lie of the enemy, he wrote “They were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Luke 1:6. In this narration, we find Zacharias was an old man who had walked blameless before God regardless of the fact his prayers were not answered. The first words out of Gabriel’s mouth were “Do not be afraid.” God is so very compassionate, and He knew the appearance of Gabriel would bring fear on Zacharias, so He told Gabriel to speak to the fear Zacharias would experience. Then Gabriel told Zacharias “Your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” Then Gabriel gave him a glimpse of why the answer of his prayers were delayed. John was going to be the forerunner of the Messiah, preaching repentance under the anointing of Elijah.
Have you really believed God for something, trusting that He will answer your prayers and after many years of waiting in faith, the prayers are not answered, there seems to be silence from God? It takes great faith to continue to trust and walk with God through the disappointments of unanswered prayer. I am convinced Zaharias was disappointed and did not understand why the people around him could have several children even though they were not righteous before God, and him and Elizabeth could walk upright before God and have no children. It may be human nature to slowly put away dreams that go unanswered and unfulfilled, talking ourselves into believing God has a better plan for us and to quit hoping for that prayer to be answered.
Proverbs 13:12 tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick. Zacharias finally gave up on the dream of being a father, when month after month, with each new cycle, they would face the disappointment of not being pregnant. According to the bible, Zacharias never quit serving God, but he was convinced he and Elizabeth would never have children. Verse 18 “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” Zacharias tried to convince Gabriel, the angel from God why his words would never happen. Gabriel told him “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you and bring you glad tidings.” Gabriel’s visit was supposed to be a visit that would bring extraordinary joy to God’s faithful servant, but Zacharias allowed his disappointment to cloud his belief system so much that Zacharias could not even believe a message from God through an angel. Gabriel went on to tell him, “But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak, until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” When Zacharias came out of the temple, the people perceive he had seen a vision that caused him to be able to talk. For the next nine months or so, Zacharias was unable to talk. As a child, I thought that God was punishing Zacharias for his unbelief. After a life of walking with God and learning His ways, I believe God causing Zacharias to lose his speech was a huge blessing. Scripture does not say why God took away his ability to speak, could it be that God did not want Zacharias to kill his promise? Proverbs 18:21 teaches us “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Zacharias would have left the alter of incense and let all the years of disappointment of unanswered prayers spew out of his mouth complaining to his fellow priest or to Elizabeth when he got home. I believe God knew Zacharias would not speak words of life but instead death and kill the promise God gave him. There are many times in the bible when God promised something to someone, and they allowed fear and disbelief to cloud their vision and they talked themselves out of God’s promises. I wonder how many promises God has given me personally, that I have aborted with my words because I could not keep my mouth shut. After the children of Israel witnessed the faithfulness of an impressive God, the still walked around grumbling and complaining. God sent snakes to bite them to stop the gripping. When the children of Israel were instructed to march around the walls of Jericho, they were instructed not to say a word until they were instructed to shout for victory. Our words matter!
Is there something you have been asking God for and still have not seen the answer to your prayer? There are several things both in my personal life and in our nation, that I am believing God for, that have not happened yet. Zacharias and Elizabeth did not cause the delay in their prayers, but God was waiting for the perfect timing and putting everything in place for the birth of His son, Jesus. What we see as unanswered prayers can just be the time it takes God to put all the pieces together for something so much bigger than what we think we are believing God for. We need to be like the psalmist when he prayed “Set a guard over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity, and do not let me eat their delicacies.” Do not come into verbal agreement with what you see or hear that is contrary to the word of God. Give God time to fulfill His promises and do not kill them with your negative words. If you are unable to verbally agree with the promises of God, keep your mouth shut and let no evil words come out of your mouth. My Christmas prayer for you is
Ephesians 1:16-19 “I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ , the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.”
Cathy Nesmith