Happy New Year.

Some things don’t expire.

Honey, white rice, salt and sugar can live forever, or at least so Google says. I discovered this on New Year’s Eve when I had everything I needed for my Christmas cake. Everything except  wholesome essence as the bottle I had was a year past its expiration date.

Speaking of things that don’t expire there is one thing I’m really glad makes the list… and no, my source is much higher than Google.

Prayer.

I guess we all know that to be true technically, but the reality is, when you’ve prayed about something for so long and nothing has happened, it’s pretty easy to assume that either you wasted your time or God said no and try to find a way to move on.

Especially when circumstances no longer favour a positive answer to that prayer.

A classic example is what happened with Zechariah[i]. As priest in the line of Levi, he spent a lifetime in prayer.  I have no doubt there was a time his number one prayer was for the completion of his family; a prayer to have a son of his own – back when he was young – back when Elizabeth could possibly conceive.

Time had thrown that possibility out of the window and these days his prayers were for the nation. The old prayers and dreams had long been replaced by resignation and I suppose he was just grateful that at least he and Elizabeth still had each other.

Knowing this, imagine his surprise when an Angel ambushed him in the Holy of Holies with the news that his prayer had been heard.

I’m going to assume that if during my prayer time an angel appears and says my prayers have been heard, it would be in reference to whatever I was praying about at that particular moment (of course there needs to be a second assumption that I don’t faint with fright).

That’s the picture I have of Zechariah listening to the heavenly being talk about a twenty-year old prayer in the present tense.

It’s a feeling you probably have an inkling of.

With the passage of time, some of your prayer requests drop off, not because you’ve stopped believing, but because the calendar no longer favours your lofty desires.

It’s a brand-new year.

For a lot of people, it’s a brand-new start. Fresh year, fresh month, fresh days, fresh enthusiasm.

For more than a few though, it’s another year that God didn’t come through. Another year when they are further away from where they believed they would be. For some, it is a time to strike off some prayer requests because so far, their hope has turned to disappointment, and reality urges them to resign to fate.

I’ve got news for you.

2021 may be expired but not the prayers you prayed in it.

When Jesus talked about prayer, He let us know prayers being answered didn’t depend on their length, their eloquence or where they were said. By all indications, God’s answer also does not depend on how long ago those prayers were said.

It is possible you believed 2021 to be your year and it wasn’t. It is possible you think your needs and hopes have sunk into oblivion with the old year. It hasn’t.

Continue in this new year with the assurance that we have a God who has a long memory when it comes to your requests.

We’re given a glimpse into the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth after John is born and that glimpse is beautiful. “The boy will be a delight to you[ii]”, words from God’s messenger when he talked of what was to be given to Zechariah and Elizabeth on account of John.  The laughter that had been absent for decades in Zechariah’s household would be restored. The unfettered joy of Elizabeth chasing babbling infant John was probably something to behold.

When God did answer, He answered with beauty.

And God hasn’t changed.

Even if the date has.

Happy New Year.

 

[i] Luke 1v5-24

[ii] Luke 1v14