Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”
One of the favourite tools of the devil is delay. To delay means to defer, to postpone, to suspend, to pause. The devil uses delay to distract, discourage, and destroy. Whether it’s delayed marriage, childbearing, education, breakthrough, or promotion, delay is painful and can lead to frustration and depression. The ultimate aim is to deny or deprive you of what you badly need to make your life comfortable and happy. Disappointment is the difference between expectation and reality. There is pain in unmet expectation.
I understand the pain of delayed expectation. It was painful when I had to wait an extra year after primary school to enter secondary school because according to my dad, he could not afford to send me to secondary school due to the project he was handling at the time. I cried as I watched my classmates become my seniors. I have also suffered delay in some other areas, and I can tell you it can be very painful.
There are situations in which you can wait, but there are situations in which you cannot afford to.
3 Scriptural Reasons For Delay
1. God. God can orchestrate a delay in your life because He is arranging a divine appointment up ahead. It is not the usual thing in the lives of most Christians as to why delays happen, but it can happen. Understand that there is a due season for everything, when you do, it eliminates the frustration. Habakkuk talks about the vision being for an appointed time. Jesus came at the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4). Here is the thing, God promised to answer your prayers, but He did not say He will do it according to your own timetable. God can have another plan up ahead. The timing may not be right, and you may have a divine appointment awaiting you. For instance, God scheduled an appointment between Joseph and Pharaoh for two years after Pharaoh’s cup bearer was released. Until Pharaoh had his dream, he had no need for Joseph. God has scheduled an appointment between you and some people in the future; you will not miss it, in Jesus Name!
2. Satan. Angel Gabriel was sent to deliver a message to Daniel, but the Prince of Persia delayed him. God had sent the answer, so He was not the reason for Daniel not receiving it. It was the devil. It was the operation of territorial spirits, forces of delay and frustration- e.g. Witchcraft manipulation. Delay is a spirit. Lateness can be a spirit (Daniel 10:12-13) and is sometimes transmissible like in the case of the family of Abraham. Would it have been wise for Daniel to get angry with God? NO! In 1Thessalonians 2:17-18, apostle Paul revealed how they were hindered by Satan.
God promised Abraham a child from his wife Sarah, but that child did not come until after 25 years. Isaac took 20 years to have his own kids, Rachael, the one loved by Jacob took many years to conceive. Could there have been generational curses? You see a pattern clearly. It was a family of late starters.
In this case, it was childbearing. In most cases finance is affected also.
3. You. Satan is behind many of our delays, but let’s not blame him for everything. In most cases, we need to re-evaluate our lives to see what we’ve done to create a delay. You could be responsible for the delay in your life through many reasons. Ignorance, negative thoughts and beliefs of delay and lateness, procrastination, habitual lateness, negative confessions can postpone your breakthrough. Ignoring biblical principles, disobedience to divine instruction, redeem vows, disrespect to spiritual authority, prayerlessness, etc. are things that open the door for the spirit of delay.
Two factors were responsible for delay in Abraham’s case. First, Abraham’s destiny was compromised by a faulty foundation. He came from a family of idol worshippers. Joshua 24:2. Secondly, it took Abraham several years to believe God especially when he and his wife become old and was now physiologically impossible for them to have children. And God had to do a miracle to reverse the situation. God will do a miracle today to reverse delay in your life, in the Name of Jesus! Get ready for a miracle of divine acceleration, in Jesus Name!
How Do You Reverse Delay?
1. Follow divine protocol and timing. Comply with divine instruction. 1Samuel 13:12, “Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.” He was neither a priest nor a prophet. He violated the command of God and lost his throne. 1Samuel 13:13-14. Do not force yourself or your way. Don’t force yourself to get a husband or anything. Clarify divine approval and timing. You may not understand the reason for the delay, but God has a purpose for everything. Ask God for patience and endurance when dealing with divine timing. The vision is for an appointed time, and it will surely come to pass. Rats deliver after a few weeks of pregnancy, humans 9 months, elephants after 20-22 months. Avoid unprofitable impatience. No matter how anxious a woman is to have a baby she will not want to force the baby out until it is due.
2. Find out what preparation you need to make that you have not made and make it. Understand that God will prepare you for what He has prepared for you, and until you are ready, you will not have it. Galatians 4:1-2. You cannot make your ten-year-old son the CEO of your conglomerate until you are sure he is fully matured, trained and ready for it. Jesus did not start ministry until He was thirty years old. He had to be mature and ready. The Bible says Jesus grew in wisdom and in favour. That means He was learning; He was acquiring relevant knowledge. Are you prepared for what you want? Are you prepared for marriage, ministry, business, politics, or whatever it is you want? Are you prepared for the expansion you want? Find out what preparation you need to make or what training you need to undergo in order to be ready for the breakthrough you want. Clean up if you want divine acceleration.
How Do You Reverse Demonic Delay?
1. Analyse the history of your family to detect any pattern of delay. You may be dealing with a curse in your bloodline. There are different scenarios, late start, good finish, late start, poor finish, early start, good finish, early start poor finish. Worse still, some families never start and never make it at all. Have you sat down to analyse your family?
2. Consciously attack the paradigm of lateness and replace it with a new paradigm of punctuality.
3. Get more committed. Satan wants to get you offended at God. Decide to obey divine instructions and live by biblical principles. Pay your tithe, vows, etc. Pray more, serve more, give more, fellowship more instead of being discouraged. That way, you can provoke divine acceleration. Get ready for divine speed, in Jesus Name!
4. Get ministered to. Covenants and curses must be broken. Full-scale deliverance is required.
5. Pray for divine acceleration. God promised it. Jeremiah 1:12. God promised to bring about rapid expansion in Isaiah 60:21-22. King David prayed in Psalm 31:1-2 and asked God to deliver him speedily. Warfare fasting is often required to go along with prayers. Pray and ask for divine guidance. Pray for divine assistance. Ask God to activate your angels to clear demonic obstacles causing delay. Divine acceleration can only occur if there is a divine take-over. And divine take-over can only occur if there is divine hand-over.
The hand of the Lord came on Elijah and he ran faster than the king who was riding on the fastest chariot.
As you pray, the power of God will come upon you to set you free from every form of delay! Any ancient door slowing down your progress, breaks down now, in the Name of Jesus.
Bishop Dr Charles Olowojoba is the General Overseer of Dayspring Bible Church Worldwide with HQ in Abuja, Nigeria & President, Dayspring Christian Ministries Int’l.
