Practicing Patience

It may seem strange when we have a righteous desire and we feel like we have sufficient faith, and yet our prayers remain unanswered in the manner and the time that we desire. Our purpose in this life is to learn to become like God. One of the realities of being God is having to deal with people (everyone, really) who don’t do what you would like them to do in the manner and time that you would like them to do it. We can’t force God to answer our prayers on our terms, because God won’t force us to obey Him on His terms. If we ever want to become like God, we have to develop patience, and longsuffering, and hope. We have to develop the patience that comes from having a righteous desire and praying with faith in Christ with real intent and having that prayer go unanswered. God gives us the opportunity to exercise patience with a perfect Being now, so that when we progress to be like Him, we can have the patience to deal with imperfect beings. God always has a righteous desire, and He wants all of us to progress as quickly and as completely as we possibly can, and He has patience and endurance and hope that we will eventually choose to follow Him on His terms.