Luke 1:8-17: a reflection

8Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division 9according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17He will 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 prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”

When the angel appears to the aged priest Zechariah at the altar of incense, his first words answer a prayer long since offered and, perhaps, long since given up as unanswered. Don't be afraid, Zechariah, the angel says, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son. Zechariah and Elizabeth were old, and had been childless all their years; the prayer for a child was surely one they had prayed long ago, and by now, in their old age, may have set aside as hopeless. Yet the angel says, your request has been heard. God had heard, and now, in his own time, long after the prayer was first offered, he answered. God hears and answers prayer, even after long delay, even when we have given up hope of an answer; his timing is not our timing, and a prayer we thought forgotten may be answered when we least expect it. The answer, long delayed, was not too late; God had heard all along.

Notice when the answer came: long after the prayer, when hope had likely faded. Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a child, surely, in their younger years; but they were old now, childless, and the prayer must have seemed long since unanswered, perhaps abandoned as hopeless. Yet the angel tells Zechariah his request has been heard, and will now be answered. God had heard the prayer all along; the long silence was not refusal, and the long delay was not forgetting. In his own time, God answered. This tells us that God's hearing and answering of prayer is not bound to our timing; a prayer long offered and seemingly unanswered, even one we have given up hope for, may be heard and answered in God's time, when we least expect it. The delay is not always denial; God may be answering in a time better than ours. A prayer we thought forgotten may yet be answered. God's timing is not too late, even when it is long.

That is worth taking to heart, for God hears and answers prayer even after long delay, when our hope has faded. We can pray for something long, and, hearing no answer, give up hope, concluding that the prayer was not heard or will never be answered; but Zechariah and Elizabeth, old and childless, were told their long-offered prayer had been heard, and would be answered in God's time. God's answers are not bound to our timing; a prayer we have given up hope for may yet be heard. Do not conclude that a long-unanswered prayer was not heard; God hears and may answer in his own time, as he answered Zechariah's long-offered prayer. Take heart that God hears and answers prayer even after long delay, when hope has faded, as he told the aged Zechariah that his long-offered request had been heard and Elizabeth would bear a son; for God's hearing and answering of prayer is not bound to our timing, and a prayer long offered and seemingly unanswered, even one we have given up hope for, may be heard and answered in God's own time, so that a long delay is not always denial but may be God answering in a time better than we would have chosen.

Lord, when the angel appears to the aged priest Zechariah at the altar of incense, his first words answer a prayer long since offered and, perhaps, long since given up as unanswered. Don't be afraid, Zechariah, the angel says, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son. Zechariah and Elizabeth were old, and had been childless all their years; the prayer for a child was surely one they had prayed long ago, and by now may have set aside as hopeless. Yet the angel says, your request has been heard. You had heard, and now, in your own time, long after the prayer was first offered, you answered. Show me when the answer came: long after the prayer, when hope had likely faded. Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a child in their younger years; but they were old now, childless, and the prayer must have seemed long since unanswered. Yet the angel tells Zechariah his request has been heard. You had heard the prayer all along; the long silence was not refusal, and the long delay was not forgetting. In your own time, you answered. This tells me that your hearing and answering of prayer is not bound to my timing; a prayer long offered and seemingly unanswered may be heard and answered in your time, when I least expect it. The delay is not always denial. Take that to my heart, for you hear and answer prayer even after long delay, when my hope has faded. I can pray for something long, and, hearing no answer, give up hope; but Zechariah and Elizabeth were told their long-offered prayer had been heard. Keep me from concluding that a long-unanswered prayer was not heard; you hear and may answer in your own time, Lord, as you answered Zechariah's long-offered prayer, in a time better than I would have chosen.