Pray, Be Patient, Pray Again

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"It is time for the Lord to act; they have frustrated Your law."    
- Psalm 119: 126

   Man's weakness - pride and patience. We have been raised in a society that says if you want it go get it and worry later about how you will afford or deal with the consequences. Live for today and satisfy the desire of youre heart now, for you never know if tomorrow will come. This self centered thinking occupies the mind of most people raised in the later 20th and early 21st century. When we come before the Lord with requests for change, purpose or direction; so many times we are expecting these changes to be immediate. It is so easy to put aside the reality that the Lord's timing is perfect.

  Lack of visible interaction from the Lord often leads an individual to grow weak in their faith. This desire for immediacy is solved in so many areas of our lives that we become agitated with the things we can't control on our time table. When times are good, it's so easy to take control from the Lord and walk with confidence in our ability against the struggles that come our way. When the tide turns and the times become more difficult, we reach out for the Lord to solve our problems. We expect that He will work them with the same urgency that we would have applied if we had control.

  A few data points to consider the next time you go before the Lord with a prayer request:

        - Jesus Christ walked the earth for 30 years before He called His first disciple. But when the time was right the Lord acted swiftly and with precision for 2 years to influence and touch as many people as possible.

        - David was a teenager when Samuel came and ordained him as the future king of Israel. It was not until he was 30 years old when he was actually made King of Israel.

        - Moses spent 40 years with Pharoah in Egypt, but was continually drawn to compassion for the Hebrew slaves, one could say this was an early sign of how God would use him. After fleeing Egypt, he spent another 40 years in Midian before God appeared to him and chose Moses to lead the people from Egypt to the Promised Land. He followed God's directions to bring the people out of Egypt, and then spent another 40 years in the wilderness leading the rebellious children of Israel. In these 40 years he wrote the 1st five books (Torah) of the bible - revealed firectly from God and also received God's laws directly. Moses like all of us though did not always listen to God and was denied entry into the Promised Land because of his transgressions.

  These are just 3 examples of God's perfect timing and the willingness of these men to abide in His plan and control. We all lack the patience required to truly serve God, because our pride gets in the way. Our desire to control the outcome typically gets in the way of our ability to see God's plan through to fruition. The sooner we come to an understanding that His plan for our life is so much greater than anything we can imagine; and then become comfortable that God's timing will be perfect and will not likely meet my desires; the sooner we can get to work for God.

  You want to know His purpose in life, follow the very next thing He tells you to do and do it - no matter how small or how large it is. Abiding in His directions shows obedience to His will and strengthens our ability to hear from Him.

  You want to know why God's not responding to your prayers, keep praying and listening. God desires for you to trust in His plan, and to give Him control. Trying to solve your problems on your own shows just the opposite. If you don't hear an answer immediately, be patient and keep trusting that He heard you and has already designed a timeline for the solution. Swallow your pride, pray, be patient, pray again - that's my philosophy. I suggest that it will work for you as well.

             

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