Waiting In Prayer - Part 1

Waiting on God for an answer

There are two kinds of waiting in prayer. The first is waiting on God for a response to a specific request that we have made. The second is waiting in God's presence. In this post, I discuss the first kind of waiting. My next post will look at the second type of waiting.

When we make a request of God in our prayers, he basically answers us in one of three ways. He can say “yes” or “no” to our petition, or he can respond by saying “wait.” Accepting God’s “yes” answer is easy. Adjusting to God’s “no” answer is difficult, but we can accept it because we have a definitive answer, and we know that God is sovereign and knows best. It is the “wait” answer that we struggle with the most. Waiting is never easy, for we are basically impatient people. I believe this is the reason patience is one facet of the fruit of the Spirit.  Our natural impatience must be tempered by the supernatural act of the Spirit creating patience in our spirit. Waiting is hard! We want answers immediately. We live in an instantaneous society of fast everything. Our lives are full of quick responses. And, just like a friend answering our text, we expect an answer from God right away! However, waiting on God is an essential aspect of our spiritual formation. King David said…

“O LORD, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.”- Psalm 5:1-3 NLT

In Psalm 5, David shows us how to wait for an answer from God. We are to wait expectantly! But what exactly does it mean to wait expectantly? David gives us three actions that frame waiting expectantly.

WORSHIP

In last week’s post, I said that our first action in prayer is worship. Our prayers are to begin with worship, but our worship should not stop there. Our waiting on God should be permeated with worship. As difficult as it might be, we are to continually worship God while we wait. David declares…

“Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe. …But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever.” - Psalm 5: 7, 11a

OBEDIENCE

The second action David mentions is our continual obedience to God. When God says “wait,” his answer is pending not from his perspective but from ours. He already knows how he will answer our prayer but we need to wait for his answer. In retrospect, the reason for his response to wait may become obvious, but we do not know the hidden things of God. So, we wait, sometimes never really knowing why. But no matter the specifics or the length of waiting, we must remain obedient to what God has called us to do.

David asks the Lord…

“Lead me in the right path, O LORD, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.” - Psalm 5:8 NLT

But waiting is hard!

Even in the midst of worshipping and being obedient, waiting is still hard. I am what the StengthsFinder assessment calls a “futurist. I am always looking for what’s next - wanting to go over the next hill to find new windmills to attack. This means that I have a tendency to run ahead of God and inadvertently keep asking him to catch up, which prompted me to write the following.

My Lord and Christ,
enable me to place complete trust in you,
and so to live in the present moment.
For you are ever present in every moment
Help me not to run ahead of you,
but to savor each moment as a gift from you.
Help me to be still, to soak up your presence.
And with every breath,
discover afresh the wonder
and greatness of your love.

TRUST

The third thing David says that we are to do when waiting on God for an answer is to trust him.

“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O LORD; you surround them with your shield of love.” - Psalm 5:11-12 NLT

When we wait for God to answer our specific prayers, we can trust him to answer the request and to surround us with his love and protection.

Waitng on God to answer our prayers is never easy. We want answers right away. However, waiting on God for an answer has the potential to bring us closer to him through worship, obedience, and trust.

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As you wait upon the Lord for answers to your heartfelt prayers, may you lift him up in worship, obey his leadership, and trust him completely! As you do so, you will become more like Jesus, whose earthly life continually reflected this pattern.