Please keep in mind that this and all the studies contained within this website are my own personal studies, they do not necessarily represent my Church's views or my Pastors'... Be blessed!
WAIT! There's Wisdom in Waiting! By: Richard P. Duffield (Mexico - 03/01)
(Please keep in mind that some formatting is often lost when converting to HTML, if you'd like the study in it's entirety in MS Word, e-mail me & ask. it's free!)
Introduction
Are you just like me? I mean, do you often have a problem with getting ahead of yourself? Or even worse, do you often make it a habit of getting in front of God? Ever pray for patience? Ever wonder if it's just you or does everybody strive to do things in God's timing? Have you ever had the experience of being impatient with your ministry, your walk with God, your family, or the people around you?
While not suggesting that I've mastered the art (or better-stated discipline) of waiting on God, please allow me to share with you what God's been speaking to me about this all-important characteristic of the truly victorious Christian life!
I'll begin by making the following statement:
If we learn to wait on God we'll not have to wait to learn how to walk victoriously with Him!
The process of actually walking victoriously with God can take many years to learn, some will walk with Him all their life on this earth and never experience true victory as described in :
Romans 8:37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
1 Cor. 15: 57 "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
And finally 1 John 5:4 "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith."
Do the preceding passages accurately describe your walk today with God? Allow me to qualify that question!
We know that the above is the truth, we know that in the spirit realm we are victorious to the full extent of these passages BUT in the reality of your everyday life, are you feeling so victorious? Maybe I'm alone in my complaining, maybe it's just me that oftentimes feels like there must be more success and less failure to be expected in my walk with Jesus
Quite possibly I'm the only one who feels like there could be just a little more victory in this my Christian walk! If you agree that I'm alone here, please simply read on to get a good laugh or some amusement from my rantings but if you feel the same way, if you're not quite satisfied with the victory you are experiencing TODAY in your walk with God, dig in here and see if what God is saying to me can be of use to you!
You know, God is no respecter of persons, (Acts 10:34) and He might be speaking through me to you as well! He's used a mule before, (Numbers 22:30) it certainly wouldn't be the first time...
All of the above having been said, allow me to begin, and as always the best place to begin is in God's word!
What the Bible says about waiting on God.
Let us start with a number of scriptures that reflect what God would have us to do as per the instruction He gave us through His wonderful word
Job 35:14 Although you say that you do not see Him, yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him,
Psalms 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalms 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Psalms 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
Proverbs 20:22 Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and He will deliver you.
Think about those for a while, ponder what is being divinely transmitted through the writers of the Bible to us in regards to how we should approach our walk with God Meditate on the many times we are encouraged to wait upon God, there is definitely a principle working throughout these verses!
Would God repeat Himself through the various writers who penned the above verses if it were not an extremely important principle that He expects us to learn and thereafter live according to? I think not!
There are a lot more such instances but before going there, lets take a side trip to some of the divine promises that God's made to us who will learn the principle of waiting and will discipline ourselves to do so!
I did say it would take discipline, I know to many that is a bad word but never the less it is a word that we must grow familiar with if we are to live a victorious life in Christ Jesus!
God's promises to those who will wait on Him.
Allow me to go through three of the most powerful promises found in God's word concerning those who wait upon Him. There are more, we will cover most if not all of them before this study is completed but at this point I think these three will prepare us for the rest to follow.
Isaiah 30:18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!
The word of God through the Prophet Isaiah says very clearly that:
1. Those who wait upon God will be blessed!
2. They will be shown compassion!
3. They will experience the graciousness of God!
We can clearly see that there are benefits to this process called "waiting" on God! Do you agree that it behooves us to learn as much about this principle or better stated "discipline" as we possibly can?
Let's continue to more promises, yes, there are more!
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not grow weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
The above scripture shows us more benefits associated with waiting on God, these are in fact so wonderful that it defies reason to not receive them through waiting on Him! The benefits include:
1. Renewed strength to our body and Spirit!
2. The ability to rise above any problem, any circumstance, any situation that confronts us!
3. The ability to run on the course God's given us without growing weary. (Supernatural endurance!)
4. The ability to walk through any fiery furnace that we need to experience without getting burnt!
Tell me, are those absolutely the most wonderful promises you've ever seen? Wow! There are at least four ways listed in that scripture by which we can benefit supernaturally from waiting on God! Is that super or what? Wouldn't it make sense for you to perk up your ears right about now and get serious about hearing what the Spirit is saying here?
This is serious stuff!
The last of these three promises is actually to my understanding
the strongest promise found in God's word, it's promised to those
who wait upon Him and if we can see the importance of this
discipline, this promise will be ours!
Please don't miss the significance of this powerful promise
of Jehovah God!
Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world Men have not
heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides
You, who acts for the one who waits on You.
Wow, do you see what that verse says? It says that if we
simply wait upon Him that He'll act on our behalf! Wait
a minute, does that mean we should just sit there with our hands
in our pockets? We'll get into that more thoroughly a little later,
for now lets simply say that most assuredly we need to take an
active position of waiting, we need to be tuned into what He is
saying, praying and meditating on His will in any and all situations!
However, in the above verse, there is no implied duty on
our behalf to stimulate His action on our behalf apart from "waiting"
on Him! He expects us to wait upon Him, to depend on Him,
to love and cherish Him and trust Him to do the things that are
impossible for us to do alone!
Isaiah 64:4 says, GOD WILL ACT ON BEHALF OF THE ONE WHO
WAITS ON HIM!
What a tremendous promise from the one who stretched out the universe
and created everything that was ever created! Remember too that
as is often the case in the precepts and principles of God, if
you do not do what He requires of us to receive the promise, then
in contrast you will not receive the stated benefit. I am saying
that by waiting on God we can obtain His assistance in anything
we are going through! In fact He will act on our
behalf is what the scripture promises On the opposite
side of the coin we find that by not waiting, we in fact remove
God's assistance from the equation! When we do not wait we
remove God from the situation and as such have to get through
the problem by our own power. Not a good situation!
Back to Isaiah 64:4, what does Isaiah say is our part to play?
Wait on Him! That's it, after being saved and adopted
into His family our number one priority is to wait upon Him!
We can as such surmise that waiting on Him actually unlocks
the power of God into our situations!
We'll get into more of what "waiting" means in the pages to come
More of What the Bible says about waiting on God.
Please do not let what was just made apparent in the above text go over your head and be careful to understand the importance of this principle! It would behoove us to spend time pondering this extremely important concept and give it the importance it deserves and requires in our daily meditations. You should soon begin to see as I am now beginning to see that within this discipline lies the secret to walking victoriously as Christ has called us to do! Make no mistake, in this area we all lack, some more than others but never the less we are all found lacking to one extent or another
Having clearly seen in the promises above the importance of the discipline of "waiting on God", allow us to continue on and drink in more of God's life giving word concerning this subject.
Lamentations 3:22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the one who seeks Him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
The prophet Jeremiah couldn't make it any clearer! He is saying in the above verses that THE LORD IS FAITHFUL, COMPASSIONATE, AND GOOD TO THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM!
He also shows that SALVATION itself is found in waiting on God! Please grasp what is being said here!
Hosea12:6 But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
Micah
7:7 Therefore I
will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation:
my God will hear me.
Zephaniah 3:8 "Therefore
wait for me," declares the LORD, for the day
I will stand up to testify.
God is not repeating Himself so many times just for lack of better
things to say! This is a serious precept that we have to work
on and develop much the same as an athlete needs to work on
and develop muscles! We do not just get blessed with this Godly
characteristic, we have to develop it as we walk with Him!
It comes through trials and situations that come into our lives
to refine us and strengthen our spiritual muscles.
I can however say this, the sooner we understand the importance
of this discipline, the sooner we are able to decide with our
wills and in obedience take steps towards strengthening our ability
to better utilize it in our walk!
As long as we're ignorant of the power contained therein, we are stuck with having to learn the hard way!
How many people can agree with
me and say they are tired of having to go around the mountain,
they'd much rather learn in an easier manner such as by someone
else's experience than having to go through all the trials and
tribulations themselves? Am I all alone here?
I think that by better understanding the importance of this discipline
we can shave years off of our wilderness journey and walk victoriously
much sooner than if we remained ignorant!
Let's look towards examples of other anointed and appointed saints
of God and see what they have to say on the subject! We'll begin
with King David, someone who God Himself said (1 Samuel 13:14,
Acts 13:22) was a man after His own heart! Surely we'd have to
count him as a good role model who was mighty in battle, made
mistakes, showed unrestrained emotion before God and his people
and in the end received God's nod of approval. I would have to
believe that within his declarations found in the Psalms that
there'd be much fine gold and silver to glean!
Come now, let us glean from the experiences of King David
Psalms 5:3 In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; in the
morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.
Psalms 25:5 Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou
art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day.
Psalms 33:20 We wait in hope for the LORD; He
is our help and our shield.
Psalms 38:15 I wait for you, O LORD; You
will answer, O Lord my God.
Psalms 40:1 Of David. A psalm. I waited patiently
for the LORD; He turned to me and heard my cry.
Psalms 52:9 I will praise Thee for ever, because Thou hast
done it: and I will wait on Thy Name; for it is
good...
Psalms 59:9 Because of His strength will I wait upon
Thee: for God is my defense.
Psalms 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God;
for my expectation is from Him.
Psalms 69:3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried:
mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Psalms 104:27 These wait all upon Thee; that
Thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
Psalms 119:166 I wait for Your salvation, O LORD,
and I follow Your commands.
Psalms 130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in His word I put my hope.
Psalms 130:6 My soul waits for the Lord more
than watchmen wait for the morning,
Do you see what over and over again King David is declaring?
Is he not declaring that his life was made up of primarily
one specific act? This act being waiting upon God...
Wouldn't you agree that throughout the Psalms this "scarlet
thread" is running? King David, King of all Israel, openly
declared that the secret of his success and favor in the eyes
of Jehovah God was attained by always waiting on God! Why should that surprise anyone?
It goes throughout the entire written word of God, from Genesis 49:18 when Jacob/Israel declared, "I have waited for your salvation, O Lord." It continues on through the Books of the Prophets, Psalms, and Proverbs mentioned above to Isaiah 25:9 "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." And again in Isaiah 26:8 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your Name and renown are the desire of our hearts. 9 My soul yearns for You in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for You. When Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness." Wait, over and over again, WAIT! Waiting on God! Can you see and as a result agree that the discipline of waiting on God was in fact a common practice of those we look to as Patriarchs? Can you see that those chosen to represent the people of God throughout the printed word of God are the very same ones who openly and repeatedly declared that they continuously waited on God? They waited!
More examples of waiting on God...
The entire process of our Christian walk is intertwined with the process of waiting! Once we've been born again, immediately
there are certain things we are instructed to wait upon, not the
least of which is the second coming of our Lord!
Romans 8:23 "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the
first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly
for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
Philippians 3:20 "But our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord
Jesus Christ,"
1 Corinthians 1:7 "Therefore you do not lack any spiritual
gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ
to be revealed."
1 Thessalonians 1:10 "And to wait for His
Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which
delivered us from the wrath to come."
2 Thessalonians 3:5 "And the Lord direct your hearts
into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for
Christ."
The above scriptures all speak of the discipline of waiting
on God! They encourage and admonish us to wait patiently for
His deliverance, for our physical adoption into His
family, for the redemption of our bodies, for Him
to be revealed, and for His second coming! All of this
predicated on our waiting on Him!
Hear me saints of God, we need to get used to this discipline
of waiting! Not idle waiting with our hands in our pockets
but aggressively waiting on Him! By this I mean seeking
His will in every matter, by reading and meditating on His
word, by praying, by fasting and praying, by seeking Godly council
from our Elders!
In other words allowing His will to be the motivation of
our life, not acting or reacting to external stimulus except
after hearing His will in the matter! Waiting, listening,
and acting as per His will!
Waiting also implies absolute trust! By waiting for His
will to be made known in every matter we also give Him our absolute
trust in everything! Waiting and trusting! WAITING and TRUSTING!
Let's look at some more scripture...
Hebrews 9:28 "So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."
There you have it, repeating that of Lamentations 3:26 above (26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD ) we see how salvation itself is entwined with the process of waiting on God! Again and again we see the ultimate importance of waiting on God, this really is not an optional thing that we can choose to do or not! While I cannot try to imply that salvation itself is based on the discipline of waiting; that we can positively determine from God's word is an unmerited gift of God in and of itself, but we can see that waiting on God is clearly connected with the process! Are you getting it yet? Read on please...
What did Jesus say about the method of obtaining His promised power from on high?
Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye (translated: WAIT!) in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Acts 1:4 On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about.
Here we can see that it took waiting for the disciples to receive power from on high! Waiting! Can we see and therefore agree that this principle runs throughout the entire word of God? Waiting goes hand and hand with exercising our faith! It is by faith that we would refrain from acting and wait for God's will to be made known to us! The word WAIT is defined by the words faith and trust! In order to wait on God we must exercise our faith and trust in Him! Don't miss the fact that the power of God was unleashed as promised in Isaiah to the disciples in the Book of Acts by their "tarrying" or translated, waiting on Him!
God's power was unleashed then and it is still unleashed today by our waiting on God!
Hear me saints of God, this is HOT OFF THE PRESS! Wait on God! I pray God opens your understanding right now to show you how important this discipline is in order to walk victoriously with Jesus Christ!
A summary of things we can do to better wait on God.
We can generally agree that God for the most part today speaks to us through the following 5 methods:
1. Through His word. (God will place emphasis on scripture we are reading, we will receive revelation from reading His word that applies specifically to our circumstances or needs.)
2. Through His Holy Spirit. (During prayer or while meditating or doing some other task His Holy Spirit will speak into our spirit man revelations from God.)
3. Through other saints of God. (Other believers or our Pastors / Elders will give us a word of knowledge or speak the word of God into our lives concerning the area we are needing God's wisdom on.)
4. Outward circumstances in our lives. (Outward things will by their very nature tell us the will of God on certain issues we are facing. Example being doors of so-called opportunity closing over and over while we think the change is for the better. God will close doors or open doors to reveal His will to us in issues.)
5. Manifested presence of Jesus or His angels. (This of course is the rarest form of receiving God's revealed will but as it has happened before, it isn't impossible to happen again!)
Although the above is the most common ways in which we can ascertain God's will for us we should never put God in a box! He is God and we're not, therefore there are a myriad of ways He can reveal His will to us with if He deems it necessary!
Having made that disclaimer, allow me to say this The above 5 ways, and more likely the first 4 ways are going to be the main ways He'll speak to us and as such we must grow very familiar with these ways!
We should begin to develop them much like we'd develop muscles (by repetitions, by constantly using them) whereby we are constantly gaining God's input on whatever we do!
Nothing is too small to wait on His will for! He wants us to trust Him and as such depend on Him for our every decision! Am I saying that He wants robots that don't think for themselves? NO! Of course not!
Keep in mind that even after we know what He'd have us do we must still choose to do it!
What God wants is for living, loving humans, created in His image to love Him for who He is and as such trust and wait on Him! If we were all honest right now we'd have to agree that without any doubt God knows what's best for us in every matter and has the power to make it come to pass. He says He'll act on our behalf if we only trust Him and wait upon Him! What part are we missing? We are clueless when we try to compare ourselves with Omniscient Jehovah God but never the less we do things without asking Him for His input in the situation! What is that all about? Couldn't it be classified as utter stupidity? Should I say that? Well, what do you think? What would you call it?
If you have problems with your car, where do you go for help? Does the dealership come into mind?
If your computer breaks, do you fix it? Do you call the manufacturer?
What about your garbage disposal? (Maytag?) Your wristwatch? (Watchmaker?) Your VCR? (Warranty?)
When the cable goes out, do you call your wife or husband or Adelphia?
What am I saying?
God made us, He made everything that we'll ever encounter on this or any other planet and in His word He tells us that if we'll have faith in Him, trust Him, and wait on Him that He'll act on our behalf!
Do you get it? Wouldn't you agree that He has the infinite knowledge and ability to do whatever it is we need Him to do in a much more efficient way than we could ever do? Heck, that's a no-brainer!
Empowering recap of the promises of God to those who wait...
The following is a list of promises that we can appropriate simply by waiting on God, there are more but I'll name just a few of the most prominent ones to refresh our memory as to the importance of waiting on God!
1. Those who wait upon God will be blessed! (Isaiah 30:18)
2. Those who wait upon God will be shown compassion! (Isaiah 30:18)
3. Those who wait upon God will experience the graciousness of God! (Isaiah 30:18)
4. Waiting on God gives us renewed strength in our body and Spirit! (Isaiah 40:31)
5. Waiting on God gives us the ability to rise above any problem, any circumstance, any situation that confronts us! (Isaiah 40:31)
6. Waiting on God gives us the ability to run on the course God's given us without growing weary. (Supernatural endurance!) (Isaiah 40:31)
7. Waiting on God gives us the ability to walk through any fiery furnace that we need to experience without getting burnt! (Isaiah 40:31)
8. Isaiah 64:4 says, GOD WILL ACT ON BEHALF OF THE ONE WHO WAITS ON HIM!
9. His deliverance, our physical adoption into His family, the redemption of our bodies, His fullness to be revealed, and His second coming, all of these are predicated on our waiting on Him! (Romans 8:23, Philippians 3:20, 1 Corinthians 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and 2 Thessalonians 3:5)
10. Salvation itself is deeply entwined with the process of waiting on God! (Hebrews 9:28, Lam. 3:26)
In further recapping, remember the following statements and their pertinent scriptures as previously stated:
The Lord is faithful, compassionate, and good to those who wait for Him! (Lamentations 3:22-26)
God's power was unleashed at Pentecost and it is still unleashed today by our waiting on God! (Luke 24:49 & Acts 1:4)
Waiting on Him actually unlocks the Omnipotent power of God into our situations! (Isaiah 64:4)
These promises and statements
are real, they are true, they convey the truth of God's word and
should not only be taken seriously but put immediately
into action in each of our lives! Wait on God, that is
the key to all the above mentioned promises! Nothing more
complicated, however nothing less complicated!
We are to unreservedly wait on God in every situation in
order to allow Him to decide the outcome of every matter in our
favor as it best suits Him! Could we possibly disagree with the
fact that God knows what is best for us in every situation? I
certainly hope you agree that He knows us better than we do ourselves
and He also knows what's best for us in every situation! If you
don't agree I have to admit that you have a small problem
Seriously, God knows what's best, in every instance,
every single time we do anything and by waiting on Him we
receive His absolute protection and ensure ourselves the most
favorable outcome as a result!
Absolute protection from God and guaranteed favorable outcome
in our favor!
What could be easier? WAIT ON HIM!!! That's it, WAIT
ON HIM!!!
Practical application of the discipline of waiting on God.
Yes, I know, this is the part we've all been waiting for! You say, can you quit beating a dead horse and bring this home to where the rubber hits the road
First and foremost we should look into the life of our Lord Jesus to see if He left us any clues to go by!
Let's look at His gospel letters and see if there is any pattern in His life that can help us in our walk
Matthew 14:23 After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, (ALONE IN PRAYER!)
Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." (WENT OFF BY HIMSELF TO PRAY!)
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. (WENT TO A SOLITARY PLACE TO PRAY! BY HIMSELF,NO DISTRACTIONS!)
Mark 6:46 After leaving them, He went up on a mountainside to pray. (LEFT THEM AND ALONE WENT TO PRAY!)
Mark14:32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." (PRAYED!)
Luke 4:42 At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. (to pray!) (ALONE HE WENT TO SPEND TIME IN PRAYER!)
Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (HE OFTEN WITHDREW ALONE TO PRAY!)
Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. (PRAYED ALL NIGHT!)
Luke 9:28 About eight days after Jesus said this, He took Peter, John and James with Him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed (PRAYING, PRAYING, PRAYING!)
Luke11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples (MORE PRAYER!)
Wait a minute, There appears
to be a definite pattern forming there! I can see that Jesus
the Christ, who was God and was man, when walking on this planet
earth was CONSTANTLY IN PRAYER! Think about this, if He
was in fact God, (the Bible proves it: 9:6, Isaiah John 1;1, 14,
8:58, 20:28, Col. 2:9, Rev. 22:13, etc) why then did He need to
pray? Who in fact was He praying to? The Bible states that He
prayed to and did the will of God the Father, (found throughout
the Gospels) that is a foregone conclusion but why did
He need to pray?
Why indeed He was in a man's body, probably not Omniscient as
He is today, much like we are He was only empowered by the Holy
Spirit and as such was leaving us clues as to how we would
have to walk this walk on earth as a Christian. He spent His 33
years on this earth not only to redeem lost man BUT also
to leave us an example or pattern of how we would have to think
and act if we were to follow in His steps!
Please don't miss the point here! These lessons He gave us came
at such tremendous cost! We really must see them for what they
are and do all that's within our power to replicate them!
In order to wait on God we must know His will in all things
we encounter and as such we must pray regularly and earnestly
to do so!
How else would we know His will if we are not in constant communication
with Him?
Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see and agree that in order
to master the discipline of waiting on God and thereby receive
all His wonderful promises regarding same, we must become a prayer
warrior as Jesus was!
We must constantly and earnestly seek God's face and will in every matter we face!
Were there any more clues we could
find in the Gospels? Did Jesus specifically address prayer and
the seeking of God's will during His time here on earth? Read
the following and let's see
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray so that you will not fall
into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the
body is weak."
Mark 14:38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into
temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body
is weak."
THE HOLY SPIRIT REPEATS HIMSELF ABOUT WATCHING & PRAYING,
WHY DO YOU THINK HE DID THAT? COULD IT BE THAT THE PRINCIPLE
IS IMPORTANT?
Luke18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show
them that they should always pray and not give up.
ALWAYS PRAY AND NOT GIVE UP! THAT IS WHAT Jesus SAID, NOT
ME!
Luke 21:36 Be always on the watch, and pray
that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen,
and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
ALWAYS ON WATCH AND PRAY!
O.k., we can see that this is
an important discipline in our Christian walk! As I said before,
we look always to role models, Jesus of course being the principle
One, there are others however that we can look at to see if they
left us clues as well Lets dig a bit into the New Testament and
see what we can find!
Acts10:9 About noon the following day as they were on their
journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof
to pray. PETER WENT OFF ON HIS OWN AND PRAYED!
1Thessalonians 3:10 Night and day we pray most earnestly
that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
2 Thessalonians 1:11With this in mind, we constantly
pray for you, that our God may count you worthy
of His calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good
purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.
PAUL AND THOSE AROUND HIM PRAYED EARNESTLY NIGHT AND DAY!
3 John1:2 Dear friend, I pray that you may
enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your
soul is getting along well.
Revelations 1:10 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit,
and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
The Apostle John prayed often, prayed with words and in
the spirit often! His life was mostly prayer!
Jude prayed and often in the Holy Spirit! He admonished us
to do the same! See scripture below...
James told us that we were to pray and pray often for all of
our ills! James is covered below also...
More hints and examples of what it takes to wait on God.
Are there any hints as to how we might better pray? What suggestions, admonishments, commands can we find in God's word to help us better understand?
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. KEEP PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT!
1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually; SHORT AND TO THE POINT! PRAY CONTINUALLY!
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. WHEN WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO PRAY, PRAY ANYWAY! PRAY IN THE SPIRIT!
Jude1:20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
MORE WORDS OF WISDOM FROM JUDE, Jesus' BROTHER! PRAY IN THE SPIRIT!
James 5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. IN TROUBLE? SICK? JAMES SAYS TO PRAY OR GET PRAYED FOR! THAT'S THE APOSTLE'S ADVICE ON THOSE ISSUES!
THEN HE GOES ON TO TELL US WHY HE SAYS THAT IN VERSE 16 BELOW:
James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous powerful man is and effective.
POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE IS HOW OUR PRAYER TO GOD IS DESCRIBED!
Closing comments, last minute tidbits.
Now I hope everyone can see that in order to wait on God we must pray! The two disciplines go together hand in hand! Waiting is the listening side of prayer... Keep in mind however that we cannot simply pray for 2 minutes and then do what we were going to do originally without even waiting on His reply! We must pray to God, for however long we need to and then WAIT! Wait for however long is necessary!
This is not asking God to "bless our mess", this is seeking God's will in every circumstance and waiting until He reveals it and then taking immediate action to fulfill His will!
In so doing the situation will already be solved (in the Spirit realm) before we ever touch it ourselves!
The outcome will already be sealed and God guarantees that it'll be in our favor!
Have you ever felt envious of a Patriarch of the Bible? Ever wish you had the faith and Christian walk of the prophet Daniel for example? Take a moment to see what could have been his secret
Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, as was his custom since early days. Could this example help us to see how important it is to communicate with God through prayer? Daniel knew that the temple had been destroyed and all it's contents stolen by the Babylonians who took him captive and that God is Omnipresent. He didn't need to pray openly after hearing the decree but he would not compromise! His prayers that day more than likely were to seek God's will on the issue! Instead of devising a plan, forming a scheme, he ran to God in prayer and thereafter waited on God's response! Now look at how he reacted when being faced with having to face the hungry lionsHE WAITED! He waited confidently on the Lord to act on his behalf! He didn't try to get himself out of the apparent jam, he rested in and waited upon God!
Moses twice spent 40 days fasting and praying to God, he prayed constantly for himself and the children of Israel! Abraham was in constant prayer and communication with God! Moses declared the following promise: Deuteronomy 4:7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to Him? WHAT A WONDERFUL PROMISE OF GOD!
Job, in the midst of his mess never ran away but ran to God! See Job 22:27: You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. 28 You will also declare a thing and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.
A very practical way of determining
God's will in anything we face is by praying to Him and thereafter
asking ourselves what would Jesus do Charles Sheldon certainly
had stumbled onto something when he wrote the book, "In His
Steps"! What would Jesus do indeed? There's inherent safety
in that query!
The only problem there is that it requires a thorough knowledge
of God's revealed will in His word. We can gain such knowledge
of His word only by reading and meditating, spending time in the
Bible. It takes time!
Without even having that knowledge we can approach God in prayer
as Jesus and the other great saints of God did (as described above)
and God will Himself somehow reveal His will to us! (Usually by
one of the 5 methods listed above...) That's a promise!
A promise of God...
James 1:5 "If any man lacks wisdom, let him
ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and
it will be given to him." THAT IS GOD'S PROMISE, NOT MINE!
The word of God says: Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul. And again in 2 Chronicles 15:2 The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, And I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you that Jesus said, "Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Repeated verbatim in Luke 11:9 & 10, and the same idea presented in John 14:13, 15:7, 16:24. Over and over again we see that if we ask (pray, communicate with God) and wait on Him, He'll make it come to pass! He'll act on our behalf! Our only obligation is to approach Him in faith, trust Him and wait for His delivery! NO MATTER WHAT WE FACE!
I hope this study has opened your
eyes, it did mine! I've heard this all before, I'm sure you did
too BUT never quite this way! Never quite as focused as the Holy
Spirit has prompted me to put this study together.
God has spoken on this subject and the message He's trumpeted
is quite clear, WAIT ON HIM!
Through prayer, in faith, trust in Him as we wait for Him
to act on our behalf!
Please allow me repeat that, it's the meat of this entire study:
Through
prayer, in faith, trust in Him as we wait for Him to act on our
behalf!
Isaiah 64:4 promises that
OUR GOD ACTS ON BEHALF OF THOSE THAT WAIT ON HIM!
It'll take some time I'm certain to work itself out in our daily
lives but the revelation has been revealed and now it's
up to us to decide what we'll do with it!
What'll you do now?
Will you dare to unlock the power of God into
your life?
Will you save yourself untold trips to the woodshed? Will you
take hold of the principles revealed here to make your Christian
walk victorious today? Will you learn from this study or will
you insist to learn the hard way? It all boils down to what you
decide to do with this study
Hear today what the Spirit is saying, Saints of God, wait on
Him, WAIT ON GOD!
I pray now for you to be empowered by these words and that God's Holy Spirit will make these words flesh in and through you from this time forward! Let it be so, LORD, let it be so I humbly pray in Jesus' Name!
Amen.
WAIT!
There is wisdom in waiting!
I pray that somehow this has inspired you, helped you, or made you realize how important this easily overlooked principle is in releasing the power of God into our lives! This study is designed to stimulate your thoughts and I pray that you'll seek the Holy Spirit's revelation to you personally on this discipline! Start living a truly powerful, victorious Christian life today!
As always, remember that God doesn't need people who've already arrived, He needs common sinners, saved by His grace, like you and I!
Be blessed!
In His service,
Richard P. Duffield
(Please feel free to send comments, suggestions, criticisms, whatever if you read this study!)