The Moment You Pray
This article was written and published by Joel Osteen
We all have things we’re believing will change. We’re fighting an illness, struggling with an addiction, or dealing with fear, anxiety, or depression. We know that God promised He will restore our health, that our children will serve the Lord, that we will be free from the fear. We prayed and believed, but we don’t see anything improving. What you can’t see is that the moment you prayed, the source of what was coming against you in the unseen realm–the fear, the addiction, the sickness–was cut off. What’s feeding it has been cut off, and it’s dead. Don’t get discouraged because you don’t see anything happening. It’s just a matter of time. What God promised you is on the way.
One day Jesus saw a fig tree off in the distance. He was hungry and walked over to get some figs, but the tree was barren. He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (Mark 11:14). He cursed the tree. But when He said it, nothing on the outside changed. The disciples had seen Jesus speak and the sick were healed and storms calmed immediately, and I can imagine they wondered what went wrong. But the next morning “the disciples saw the fig tree had withered from the roots.” When Jesus spoke to the tree, nothing happened on the outside, but the source was cut off in the roots. When the roots are dead, the tree is dead. It may still look alive, but it’s just a matter of time before the outside catches up with the inside.
The moment you pray, God cuts off the source. That addiction looks alive, but if you could see the roots, you would realize it’s dead. That sickness seems permanent, but have a new perspective: The roots have been cut off and it’s dead. Don’t get discouraged because there are still leaves on the tree. The Scripture says, “I will break the strength of the wicked, but I will increase the power of the godly” (Psalm 75:10). The power of everything that’s trying to stop you is being cut off. It’s only temporary. Every day it’s withering, getting weaker. On the outside it may look the same, but it’s drying up inside.
God has already cut off some of the things you’re worrying about. You haven’t seen it, but in the unseen realm things have changed. The anxiety that you’ve been praying about is already dead. The source of the trouble at work has already been cut off. Now do your part and stay in faith until it manifests. Keep thanking God, keep talking like you’re free, keep thinking like you’re healthy, keep acting like you’re victorious. You will see what God promised.