How well do we handle waiting on God to answer our prayers?
I’ve been writing novels for thirteen years. And, for twelve of those, I’ve sought traditional publication. Not gonna lie; the waiting has, at times, been hard. I’ve battled discouragement. Grown angry with God. Even fallen into depression briefly. And I’ve prayed time and again for a positive answer to this prayer.
I’ve sometimes struggled to believe God hears my prayers, especially when I’m sharing my heart with Him. I fully believe He hears others’ prayers. But mine?
Umm, not always.
Recently, as I read Psalm 116, the psalmist’s words spoke to my heart. I do love the Lord. I’m growing in confidence that God does hear my voice and my supplications. Why?
Because He loves me. He loves each of His children. Putting this into a visual, God leans down to hear our prayers, much like we bend down or lean into our children or grandchildren to listen to their words.
Why do we do this? Because we love them. Why does God lean down to hear our words, our pleas, our praises, our confessions, our gratitude, our heart’s yearning?
Because He loves us.
Even when we haven’t walked as closely with God as perhaps we should, He still loves us. Because He loves us, we can rest in the truth that He will answer our prayers.
We’re assured of these truths
- We can call on God all of our days on this earth
- He will hear us. Our Father will answer our prayers in His perfect way and time
- Even when we struggle with God, His love for us doesn’t change
What we can do when we’re waiting on God’s answer
We’ll talk more about how to wait well in a different post, but here’s what we can do now:
Remember truths from God’s word
- He has loved us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3)
- When we draw near to God, He draws near to us (Jeremiah 29:12, James 4:8)
- Throughout the psalms, we read of how God heard the psalmists
Focus on God’s character
- He is faithful (Psalm 36:5)
- God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)
- God keeps His promises (2 Peter 3:9)
- The Lord is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 147:3)
- Our Father loves us, even when our love for Him falters
- God has good (though not necessarily easy) plans for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11)
- He is trustworthy
- Our Father sees beyond what we see and knows what’s beyond our knowing (Phil 4:7)
Keep seeking God
Spend time in His word. Continue praying, pouring out our hearts to our Father. Worship Him. Be honest about our doubts, frustrations, and fears in the waiting. God is big enough to handle all of these.
And, He’ll keep loving us.
Find a Bible verse to memorize
and cling to when the emotions in the waiting become too much. God’s word strengthens us when we become discouraged.
Trust that God does hear our prayers.
And He will answer them in His timing.
Truths for the waiting times
God’s timing has always been different from mine. Example: when I received my first teaching position. Met my husband and married. When my Father made me a mama. When He will answer my prayers to become a published novelist. My plans and timing are very different from His.
When we can’t see Him working, and the Lord seems silent, we must choose. Will we believe what we know about His character? Will we continue to pursue a relationship with Him anyway? Will we trust Him to answer prayers?
If we can answer yes to each of these questions, our hearts will wait better.
It’s natural to ask God why He’s not answering. I’ve found there are many reasons for His silence, most of which I don’t understand.
Example of a waiting season
When we struggled with infertility for years, I cried out to God and asked, “Why?” Anger filled me and, like a toddler, crossed my arms and turned my back to Him.
And He still loved me.
When the sorrow turned to despair, I realized I needed the Lord to walk through that trial. He revealed my heart to me . . . I’d made the desire for motherhood an idol.
As I laid down the yearning to be a mama at God’s feet and gave Him the place on the throne of my life, I came to terms with the fact He hadn’t answered prayers for a baby.
In the waiting, God has work He wants to do in our hearts and thoughts. He yearns for us to trust Him in the not knowing, the not understanding.
If we allow Him, the Lord will unearth our hidden sins and clean us up. Because he loves us, God will bring to light the lies we believe and cause them to shrivel under the gravity of His truth and grace. He’ll shower His love in our lives and strengthen us when we feel weak.
Conclusion
I’m still talking with God regarding His direction about publishing. While waiting, I continue to seek Him and to write. I’m praying for my Father’s guidance and timing.
When we find ourselves in a waiting season for God’s answer to our prayers, let’s look to who He is even more than what He’s capable of doing. As hard as this can be to embrace, God’s plans go further and deeper than we can comprehend.
The best thing we can do when we are waiting for answered prayers is to stand firm in our belief that God hears us and loves us.
What about you? What helps you when waiting on God for an answer to a prayer? How do you keep your faith strong when God seems silent?
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Our stories are so similar – and your insight so very true! One day, with this writing dream He put in us, we’re going to sit back, take a long sip of a cup of tea and see it all, whispering, “Well played, God! Well played” admiring the story He wrote for each of our lives!
Maryleigh, please forgive me for not responding sooner! We traveled for Spring Break last week, and some things slipped through the crack. So sorry responding here was one of them. I love your visual of this writing journey. Living fully present in each moment is the best way to walk it out, yes? May we each live our own story fully and for His glory.
I’ve been waiting for God to answer one prayer for a loved one for fifteen years. I believe He will but I’ve asked “why” many times. Your words encouraged me today, friend.
Blessings,
Tammy
Tammy, I’ve got a couple of those prayers too . . . I’m so glad you found encouragement here, friend!
Waiting is a hard discipline when it’s something I want. But as I write that, I think about all the other ways I don’t mind waiting—I’ll patiently wait for a bird to hop to just the right branch so I can take a photo, or for a bear to bend and grab a mouthful of flowers. Maybe I need to apply some of what I learn in photography to the spiritual discipline of waiting!
Anita, oh how your words and perspective resonate with me! I, too, find it easy to wait for certain things, while e other things are so stinking hard to wait for. But, maybe if I change my perspective, I will also be a better “wait-er” in the spiritual disciplines of my life. 🙂
Thank you for putting together scripture verses of God’s love, and why we can trust Him, even when our prayers do not seem to answered. He sure does grow us, doesn’t He? There’s times where I felt God answered my prayer, only to realize later that I’d made a decisions that led me down wrong pathways. When my “answer to prayer” was taken away from me, I’d cry out, “Why?” Then as time went on, I’d see it was a blessing that He took away what I thought I wanted! He does know best.
Oh, Lynn, I believe God can grow us a lot through waiting for answers to prayers. Like you, I’ve sometimes manipulated (via a decision) the “answer.” I think of God having a Plan A (His best for us) and a Plan B (the contingency). I’ve been seeking more to live yielded to Him so I can walk in His Plan A. I’m thankful our Father loves us enough to take away those things that are not intended for us, even though it hurts in the short-term. Like you said, in the long term, we can see what a blessing it was for that thing to be removed. Thank you for sharing here!
It’s interesting isn’t it Jeanne when we think God isn’t answering prayer? I have thought the same many times until The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to His answer that looked so different to my expectation of that answer that I actually hadn’t recgnised it as the answer!
I have always desired to be a writer with many published works. Especially having my experience of heaven published to reach as many people across the globe as possible after giving my testimony in different countries of the world, which now with chronic health conditions isn’t possible.
I had prayed for this to be through a published work (formal pubishing) however what actually happened is that I became an Indie Author (which has given me complete control over my own works) & has enabled me to freely gift this in both hard copies. And digitally through my blog space.
And I have become that Author that I desired to be, every week I hit the ‘Publish’ button!
I realised that God often answers prayer in very different packaging then we expect it to be.
Blessings sweet friend, Jennifer
Jennifer, like you, I’ve found that waiting with expectations only makes the wait harder. His answers to my prayers almost always look different than I thought they would too. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your publishing journey. There are definite pros to being an indie author. I’m so glad it’s worked out well for you. 🙂 God knows each of our journeys, and He knows who needs to read our words. He’s obviously brought you your readers, which is wonderful!
Waiting seasons can be so difficult. But it is helpful to know there are things we can do even as we wait! Now is always the only time we have, and we don’t want to squander it. Thanks for sharing this with our Grace & Truth linkup!
Lisa, waiting seasons can be difficult. I tend to think of waiting as being something active. We’re waiting for something, but our whole life isn’t put on hold. And yes, now is the only time we have. We should use each moment well. Thank you for sharing your insights, my friend!
Waiting is hard, especially when our desires keep running into brick walls. What am I missing? It helps me to look at God’s perfect timing in the Bible and in some of my own life events. Faith pleases God, so I remind myself of what He says is true. But some waits are much harder than others.
Debbie, yes, those brick walls. It seems like once we realize we’re running into those proverbial walls, we can see the need to take a step back, reorient our desires, and come to a place of being ready to trust Him in faith. Some waits are much harder than others. Thank you for sharing your insights here, friend!
Jeanne, waiting is hard but I find as soon as I finally lay it all down at His feet than He answers my prayer. Now this never what I expect it will be – but it is always better than I ever imagined.
Deborah, yes. Laying all of our thoughts, emotions, expectations, and hopes at God’s feet is the best way to handle waiting. I’m thankful God answers our prayers. And, when our hearts are yielded before Him, we are better able to embrace His answers, even when they’re different than we hoped for.
I agree, waiting is so hard, especially when we can’t understand why God is making us wait. Like you, I have found it helpful to focus on God’s character and remember that he is still loving and still good even when he doesn’t seem to be changing our circumstances as we hope.
Lesley, I’m glad you also have found the beauty of focusing on God’s character and remembering how much He loves us. Thank you for sharing your insights, my friend!
These are good ideas for those times when we’re waiting. Thanks, Jeanne.
Kathy, thank you for your encouragement. 🙂
Jeanne, I think waiting is hard because we are attached to an expected outcome. We basically come to God with a prayer of what we ‘want” and “expect” Him to come through, growing annoyed when He delays or chooses to answer in a different way. I am learning the beauty of waiting: in the wait is where my desires are transformed from wanting an expected outcome to simply wanting Him.
Oh, Donna, you nailed it. Those pesky expectations waylay us often. I love what you said about how it’s in the wait where your desires are transformed from wanting an expected outcome to simply wanting Him. Beautiful, my friend!
The Truth sets us free! Thank you for sharing your testimony of your journey of freedom in waiting on God and discovering the Truth of His character, His Word, and His ways. Regarding publishing, have you thought of self-publishing through Amazon?
Thank goodness the truth sets us free, right Lisa?? Waiting teaches us many lessons, doesn’t it? And yes, I have considered self-publishing. I don’t think it’s right for me right now. Thank you for your encouragement! 🙂
Jeanne, I’m currently waiting for some answers and struggling with impatience and what-ifs. In other words, you are speaking directly to me today. 🙂 “God’s timing has always been different from mine.” Yep, me too. And the way He chooses to work out His plans? Also different from mine. And yet, as you say, He’s faithful and He loves us. Thank you for this encouragement, friend. I needed it.
I grinned when I read your words, Lois. Impatience seems to be my frequent companion; I’m sad to say. But, I’m thankful for God’s grace and patience with me as I become conformed to the image of Jesus through the waiting.
Jeanne, thanks for this focus on God’s character … and giving us all the Scripture verses that point to His unchanging faithfulness. This is what peace looks like.
Thanks so much for your encouragement, my friend!
Waiting is hard, especially when our request seems not only reasonable but God-honoring. But so many people in the Bible had to wait for God’s timing. I’ve been a little dismayed when Hebrews 11 says so many died without received what they hoped for in their lifetimes. But they were commended for their faith. May God give us grace to keep our hearts focused on Him, trusting in His timing.
Barbara, you’re so right. We think our request is reasonable and well-timed. But God . . . the Author of our stories knows best. I find encouragement from the stories in the Bible. And yes, it is hard to understand God’s sovereignty in not allowing some people in Hebrews 11 not to see the result of their waiting come to pass. His timing is always perfect.
Waiting is hard no matter what we are waiting to receive, or to occur.I try to remind myself that God is always at work, and He is the God of time and of timing. As you have pointed out, Jeanne, it all comes down to trusting Him. May we come to know Him more deeply so that we come to trust Him and wait patiently on Him.
Joanne, waiting is hard. Your reminder about God always being at work, and that He is the God of time and timing is spot on. We need to take our eyes off of the wait and put them onto our Lord, don’t we? I’m so thankful for your wisdom, friend.
If it’s gonna happen
that would sure be neat,
but meanwhile I’ll be snappin’
my fingers to the beat
that God doth place inside my head
at each rising of the sun.
Sure, I might well end up dead,
but at least I’m having fun
be-bopping down the hippie streets
of my weird-ass life,
perplexing every one I meets
and making my dear wife
roll her eyes with style and flair
(hope they do not get stuck there!).
Andrew, this poem made me smile. Sometimes, in the middle of a wait, it can be a great thing to allow our thoughts to go elsewhere, like to a great song. I imagine Barb may have, maybe, had a few reasons to roll her eyes over the years. 😂
I’m praying for you both, my friend.