Waiting on God to hear your prayers

Psalm 40:1-4 (NLT)

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see what He has done and be amazed.  They will put their trust in the Lord. Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols. 

There are so many passages in the Bible that teach on the virtue of waiting for the Lord (e.g. Psalm 27:14, Psalm 37:7, Psalm 62:1, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:25-26, Luke 12:36, and Acts 1:4 and many others).

John Wooden, the famous basketball coach, and, more importantly, wise teacher, wrote these words of wisdom: “It’s what you learn after doing it all that counts.”  To me, being patient in life, allowing life to teach you, learning from your mistakes (another Wooden wisdom quote:  “If you are not making mistakes then you are not doing anything.  A doer makes mistakes.”), and never giving up all contribute to you reaching a point in your life where you will have “a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God”.  This is what really counts for eternity.

True patience is not a human characteristic.  That’s why it is one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).  Yet true patience is absolutely essential in developing true faith.  Waiting on the Lord is something that you learn; no one is immediately good at being patient and waiting on the Lord.  Waiting is a spiritual discipline and takes time to develop.

The word “patience” in the Bible really means “to suffer”.  Waiting patiently involves some aspect of suffering because anytime you have to be patient, it is a suffering experience.  Waiting during a traffic jam, waiting to hear news about someone or something important to you, waiting during some kind of healing process, waiting for an arrival that is delayed, and, indeed, waiting on God to answer a prayer----all are suffering experiences to some degree.

Here’s what Andrew Murray says about waiting patiently on God---you need to concentrate and read several times to be inspired by this:         

“In waiting on God it is of infinite consequence that we not only submit, because we are compelled to, but because we lovingly and joyfully consent to be in the hands of our blessed Father. Patience then becomes our highest blessedness and our highest grace. It honors God, and gives Him time to have His way with us. It is the highest expression of our faith in His goodness and faithfulness. It brings the soul perfect rest in the assurance that God is carrying on His work. It is the token of our full consent that God should deal with us in such a way and time as He thinks best. True patience is the losing of our self-will in His perfect will. Such patience is needed for the true and full waiting on God. Such patience is the growth and fruit of our first lessons in the school of waiting. To many a one it will appear strange how difficult it is truly to wait upon God. The great stillness of soul before God that sinks into its own helplessness and waits for Him to reveal Himself; the deep humility that is afraid to let our will or our strength work nothing except as God works to will and to do; the meekness that is content to be and to know nothing except as God gives His light; the entire resignation of the will that only wants to be a vessel in which His holy will can move and mold: all these elements of perfect patience are not found at once.”

As the Psalmist writes and as you might feel as you allow Murray’s words to sink into your mind and heart, oh the joys that result in waiting on God, in putting your trust in Him rather than allowing your human impatience to control your life.  May these words give you renewed hope and peace as you deal with something in your life right now that requires you to wait patiently for the Lord to help you.  Your patience will pay off and what you learn through your willingness to be faithful while waiting will have eternal value.

“Patience with others is love, patience with self is hope, patience with God is faith”—Adel Bestavros