Yesterday, I met to pray with someone who is in a time of real transition. Recent decisions have placed him and his family in a state of not really knowing what the future is going to look like. This is hard. He’s been asked to pray about another opportunity he's been offered and wait before making moving forward. This is even harder.
Why is it so hard to pray and wait? Most of us struggle with this. I’m sure there are many cultural and social factors that enter in, but sometimes it just comes down to the fact that we want to act NOW. We seem to have an intrinsic desire to move; to take the next steps, to feel productive, to take control of our destiny! And there lies our biggest problem. We want control.
Scripture reminds us that we can’t both have control – God and us. One must surrender to the other. Either we seek God in prayer and surrender to not only his will, but his timing. Or, we have our own way and surrender the blessings or calling God might have had for us.
We can pray. We can intercede in prayer alongside those who are waiting and seeking God. We can implore God. We can even try to reason with God – explaining that we’re on a time frame here. This assumes God is not aware of that. That, my friend, would be a bad assumption. God knows exactly where we are and what we need.
Let’s face it. It’s hard to wait because waiting means we stay in that “no man’s land” of not knowing. You know the place. The place we find ourselves when we must wait and TRUST God. I think often of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, in this situation. She had been waiting a long time for the child God promised Abraham, so she decided to help things along and just give her servant Hagar to Abraham to have a son. I’m sure it seemed like a good plan to her. But…it didn’t work out AND God had a much better plan!
So, what happens when you are called to intercede for someone in prayer that is tired of waiting on God’s timing? I have a choice to make when this happens. As God’s intercessor I continue to ask the Lord to help them not only in seeking the answers, but also to help them in the waiting. I’ve even asked God to please bless them in the waiting. Bless them as their faith grows. Give them peace in this time. Provide all they need as they wait. But, bless them with your good and perfect will in your good and perfect timing that they may have all you would give them.
Today, I am waiting for an answer in prayer. I will be praying for myself just as I would for those I intercede for. Even though the waiting is hard, I would still choose it because God’s blessing that comes only in his timing is always worth it!
By Jacqui - One of God's Intercessors