Waiting on the Lord? Check Your Attitude
The pages of my well-worn moleskin notebook are just about full. I haven’t decided if I am going to file the book away for future reading. Or to burn it. It is my prayer journal. I wish it was filled with eloquently written notes of praise to God for answering my prayer requests exactly as I expected. Instead, it describes the insecurities that continue to plague me and my utter failures to understand what God is doing in my life. It is messy and raw. And it is where I get real with God.
My journal may not be Pinterest-worthy, but it is where I discover God’s care for me. Psalm 55: 22 (NLT) says, “Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”
I don’t know about you, but I have no problem giving my difficulties to the Lord. I share them freely. My challenge is waiting for His answer. When time slips by without a change in my circumstances, my attitude can grow doubtful – not in Jesus, but in his concern for me.
Martha of Bethany echoed my heart in Luke 10:40, “Lord, don’t you care?” The circumstances in her life caused her great anxiety. Her question was filled with hope and doubt at the same time. She knew Jesus could see her struggling and could do something about it, but He didn’t. Her unmet needs caused an uncomfortable tension, and filled her with doubt about Jesus’s concern for her. She knew Jesus was Lord and fully capable of resolving her issues, but failed to understand that Jesus doesn’t usually meet our needs the way we desire, and certainly not in the timing we think is best.
Truth be told, we have all asked the same question when our prayers go seemingly unanswered, “Lord, don’t you care?”
As Christ followers, we have the responsibility to develop the proper attitude when waiting for our hardships to be addressed. This is especially important, if the Lord chooses to tarry in bringing closure to our situations. Will we grow cynical and doubtful of the Lord’s intercession? Or is there a better choice; a more appropriate attitude we should adopt?
In Luke chapter 1, we read about two people who had been seeking the Lord in prayer for a long time, each had a different mindset. An angel visited each of these faithful people to deliver a message of hope. Their individual attitudes while waiting on the Lord made a difference in the responses they received. The first person, Zechariah, was married to Elizabeth – both were advanced in years, and definitely too old to have children. Chances are, as devout Jews, who walked blamelessly before the Lord (v6), they were married when Elizabeth was a teenager, shortly after puberty. With the child-bearing years closing near the age 40, they had at least 25 years of praying for a child of their own to hold and love. When the angel of the Lord appeared in the Temple, the sonless man was told, “Do not be afraid Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John” (v13).
I wonder, did Zechariah and Elizabeth continue to pray for a child after all these years? Perhaps. They knew of Abraham and Sarah’s miracle baby, Isaac. Could they be blessed by God Almighty as well? Were they expectant for the Lord to bless them in the same way? Or had their long standing prayer simply become a part of their routine, with no real hope of their deepest desire being fulfilled in their lifetime?
Think about your heart-felt prayers before the Lord. Are they robust with expectation? Or are your prayers the last-resort after exerting all you can do?
Zechariah’s reaction to the angel announcing his prayer would be answered, revealed he had grown cynical that his prayer had been heard and acted upon. Their reality made conception impossible and their prayer focused on the situation, not on the hope offered to them. Zechariah had given up on expecting anything from God. His prayer was like the incense burning on the alter, rising up and then dissipating into the sky.
So often when I cried out a desperate prayer to the Lord, sharing my heartache with Him, I would have a bit of excitement that God heard me and would move on my behalf. But after prolonged silence without any visible signs of an answer, disappointment set in. How many late periods did Elizabeth experience during her barren years? Each late day was filled with possibility, only to be crushed a few days later when menstruation resumed. False starts to the answers we seek give way to deep disappointment, and eventually we fear the circumstances will remain our story.
Conversely, Jesus’ mother-to-be demonstrated an attitude of curiosity – she didn’t doubt the Lord, she wondered how He would do it. In Luke 1:28-29, the angel Gabriel visited Mary and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.” This caught my attention – “troubled at the saying” – which saying? I looked up “O favored one” in the “Word Studies in the New Testament” commentary. “Favored one” gives the essence of enduring with grace. Mary withstood her life circumstances, which were presumably difficult, without complaint; rather she relied on the Lord. She immediately began to think through what was behind the greeting from the angel. She was reasoning what could be next. She was curious of how the Lord was revealing Himself in her life.
The Lord met with both Zechariah and Mary to let them know He was working in their lives. However, their experience was impacted by their attitude. Regardless of how long we have prayed for the Lord to move on our behalf, remaining expectant that He can and will do so, is pleasing to the Lord. Our faith grows when we look for His best for our lives, even when we don’t understand His plan.
As we grow in our knowledge of the Lord, we must develop an attitude of curiosity when waiting on Him. It is in the moments when prayer seems like a one-way dialogue, we must choose to trust God. Our faith grows as we continually offer prayer with an expectant mindset. At some point, His presence and His holiness overwhelms our heart and provides satisfaction in who He is. We are given a holy peace in our circumstances. It is then when our attitude reflects Mary’s, in which we can eagerly say, “Lord, thy will be done.”
Waiting on the Lord to reveal His plan through our prayers is messy, raw, and real. However, being expectant to see Him move in our lives provides unexpected moments of peace in the midst difficulties. As you look ahead to the upcoming year, trust the Lord hears your prayers and is working on your behalf, and stay curious of how He will use your circumstances to show you how much He cares.
