Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

an extended time for God to answer your prayer. This is especially true when your answer is connected with someone else—that person may not be serving Christ or presently be in God’s will. It may require time for God to set up the circumstances and to alter on earth what He has decreed in heaven before you will be able to experience the answer. When Job lost his ten children, their home, all of his livestock, and his health, three of his friends arrived to share in his grief. After seven days, all three began a series of discourses to give their personal explanations as to why God had sent such devastation to Job. God knew that Job had integrity (Job 2:3). However, the friends felt they needed to defend God’s integrity and gave a series of spiritual reasons for the disasters. Like many others, they believed there must be a reason why bad things happen to good people. T HREE W AITING Z ONES After many years of ministry, I have discovered that you may need to travel through three spiritual zones prior to your prayer being completely answered. Let’s look at these waiting zones . The wilderness zone The father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, was given a detailed prophecy concerning the birth of his son, including his name before he was ever conceived (Luke