We don’t like to wait. We want what we want when we want it.
As we continue this series on prayer, we must understand that prayer requires patience. It requires waiting patiently on the Lord. There are many passages that speak to the idea of waiting on the Lord with patient prayer. But how do we know if we are not praying with patience? Here are five ways to know when you are not patiently waiting on the Lord:
1. When the waiting causes you to doubt God’s love.
When we are convinced that what we want is right and good, we begin to think that it is not loving or God to make us wait for it. We need to be careful to not doubt God’s love just because we perceive that something should be ours right now. We need to be careful to never define God’s love as equating to us getting something we want when we want it.
2. When the waiting causes you to resent God.
You may look around and think: “What is going on? Why are the wicked blessed and I am in God’s waiting room again?” Without even realizing it, we begin to resent God for holding back good things from us. This also leads to much trouble for us.
3. When the waiting causes you to question God’s plan.
This happens when we think, “if only this happened, my life would be so good.” Or, “If God would just allow this or that then…” It could even be when we despair over the possibility that God may never answer this prayer the way we want, which could cause us to think, “Why would I want his plan if his plan doesn’t include what I want?”
This leads us to question God’s plan and it leads to dark despair as we begin to see our future as having no hope, all because we have determined that if this one prayer is not answered as we hope, it will mean that all of my hope in life is gone forever.
4. When the waiting causes you to covet and become envious of others.
You are not patiently praying and waiting on the Lord when you look at other people and their lives and want what they have. You begin to covet other people’s lives, and their things and it leads to envy. “I prayed for healing, the new job, the new relationship. Why are they getting exactly what I prayed for?” This also leads to doubting God’s love because we think if God loved us as much as he loves the other person, then we would get what they have.
Envy is nothing more than self-pity combined with an intense desire to have what someone else has.
5. When the waiting causes you to become passive and spiritually lazy.
You are not patiently waiting on the Lord when you decide to quit serving the Lord until he does what you want. You cannot hold God hostage until he answers your prayer the way you want. We may even spiritualize this by saying, “God is asking me to step back.” But the truth may be that we are not happy with God because of something he has not yet done for us, so we are holding out on him.
Do not stop serving God while you are waiting on him. In fact, serve him with all of your heart as you wait, and see how he blesses you.
The Purpose of Patient Prayer
The purpose of patient prayer is not to simply endure until we get what we want. The purpose of patient prayer is to allow God to change us as we continue to seek him and trust him during the waiting. So wait on the Lord with patient prayer and see the great work he will do in you.
