With so many instant forms of communication today, our impatience with hearing a reply from others is sometimes laughable. Someone I know sent an email to his wife and then called her on his mobile phone because he couldn’t wait for a reply!

Sometimes we feel that God has let us down because He does not provide an immediate answer to a prayer. Often our attitude becomes, “Answer me speedily, O Lord; my spirit fails!” (Ps. 143:7).

But waiting for the Lord can transform us into a people of growing faith. King David spent many years waiting to be crowned king and fleeing from Saul’s wrath. David wrote, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart” (Ps. 27:14). And in another psalm he encourages us with these words, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He . . . set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps” (40:1-2). David grew into “a man after [God’s] own heart” by waiting on the Lord (Acts 13:22; see 1 Sam. 13:14).

When we become frustrated with God’s apparent delay in answering our prayer, it is good to remember that He is interested in developing faith and perseverance in our character (James 1:2-4). Wait on the Lord!

Author

Dennis Fisher

Topics

Our Daily Bread