If someone asked me what I thought was the one area that I should work on , I would say it is patience. I have a tendency to want things happen when I want them to happen. Often times God sets the record straight by saying, “dudette, it’s only been 3 days!” (and yes, He calls me dudette sometimes).
During my devotion time, I read something similar:
“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it”. Romans 8:25
How many of us can humbly admit that patience is not our strongest quality? We expect microwaveable results where we pray and God pops the blessing!
Having faith in God requires us to be patient. “Patience” here means ‘to wait in continuous expectation’ . For example, have you ever called for a cab and told the service person that you needed a cab at ___am? What do you do then? You prepare and then wait for the cab to show up. right? It’s the same thing with faith. When we pray to God, we must believe that He will come through, but we must also have patience knowing fully that He will come through. So what do we do? We sit and patiently wait (i.e. continually looking for the things we are believing for, with expectation)
So often when we pray, if we don’t see the results according to our own deadline, then we ABORT our faith. NOT COOL!!!! The moment we stop believing God for His promises to us, we tie His hands. Faith is the impetus that stimulates answered prayer. Have you ever considered what would have happened if you had kept believing a little longer for your situation to change? Have you ever stopped to think what would have happened if you didn’t abort the vision or dream God had given you? Sometimes we give up on Him at the brink of our breakthrough. How disappointing eh?!!
So S, how long should I wait for? Cuz I’ve been waiting a long time and nothing has happened.
To be honest, I don’t think God tells us how long we should keep believing. It’s funny, but God doesn’t seem to exist in our small minded understanding of time. His word says one day is like a thousand years in His eyes (2 Peter 3:8). So how long is long enough for God? It certainly isn’t according to our time table. So that means that we believe until we receive. Did God speak? If so, continue to have faith in what He said and be patient about it. It might be 1 day, it might be 50 years. But the strength of your faith is determined on your ability to keep believing in what He promised until He answers.
When God doesn’t answer right away, don’t abort. The longer you wait, recognize that He is trying to teach you something. It’s probably Patience! 
