Waiting on God: Five Prayers to Strengthen Your Faith

Waiting on God: Five Prayers to Strengthen Your Faith

Waiting on God can be one of the most challenging seasons of a Christian's life. Whether it's waiting for healing, for a job opportunity, for a loved one's salvation, or for direction, the process of waiting can take a toll on our faith and our emotions. However, the Bible reminds us that waiting can also be a time of spiritual growth and refinement. In this article, we will explore five prayers to strengthen your faith while waiting on God.

Prayer #1: Strengthen Me to Wait Patiently

Waiting can be a test of our patience, but it can also be an opportunity to develop patience. The Bible tells us that "the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him" (Lamentations 3:25). When we wait patiently on God, we demonstrate our trust in his timing and his goodness. But waiting patiently is not always easy. It can be tempting to take matters into our own hands or to lose hope altogether.

In Psalm 27:14, David writes, "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" This prayer acknowledges the difficulty of waiting but also asks God to strengthen us to wait patiently. When we pray for God's strength, we tap into his power and his grace to endure the waiting process. We can also ask God to give us courage and hope as we wait, knowing that he is faithful to fulfill his promises.

Prayer #2: Teach Me to Trust Your Timing

One of the hardest parts of waiting is not knowing when the waiting will end. We may pray for healing or for a job opportunity, but we don't know when or how God will answer our prayers. In these moments, it's important to trust God's timing and his sovereignty. The Bible reminds us that "for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

In Isaiah 40:31, we read, "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." This prayer acknowledges that waiting can be tiring and discouraging, but it also reminds us that God's timing is perfect. When we trust God's timing, we can rest in the knowledge that he is working all things together for our good and his glory (Romans 8:28).

Prayer #3: Help Me to Seek Your Will

While we wait for God to answer our prayers, it's important to seek his will and his guidance. We may have our own ideas about what we want, but ultimately, we want what God wants for us. In Matthew 6:10, Jesus teaches us to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

When we seek God's will, we open ourselves up to the possibility that his plans for us may be different from our own. But we can trust that God's plans are always good and that he has our best interests at heart. In James 1:5, we read, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." This prayer asks God to give us wisdom and discernment as we seek his will and his direction.

Prayer #4: Keep Me Close to You in the Waiting

When we're waiting for God to answer our prayers, it can be easy to feel distant from him. We may wonder if he has forgotten us or if he's even listening to our prayers. But the Bible reminds us that God is always with us, even in the waiting. In Psalm 145:18, we read, "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth."

This prayer asks God to keep us close to him in the waiting. We can ask God to help us feel his presence and his love, even when we don't see the answers to our prayers. We can also ask God to use the waiting to draw us closer to him and to deepen our faith. As we draw near to God, he promises to draw near to us (James 4:8).

Prayer #5: Use the Waiting to Change Me

Finally, while waiting on God can be difficult, it can also be a time of transformation. When we're waiting for something we want, it's easy to focus on ourselves and our own desires. But the waiting process can also be an opportunity for God to work in us and to change us.

In Romans 12:2, Paul writes, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." This prayer asks God to use the waiting to transform us and to renew our minds. We can ask God to show us areas of our lives that need to change and to give us the strength and the grace to make those changes.

Conclusion

Waiting on God is never easy, but it can be a time of spiritual growth and refinement. When we pray for God's strength, trust his timing, seek his will, stay close to him, and ask him to use the waiting to change us, we open ourselves up to the work that God wants to do in our lives. As we wait on God, we can remember his promises to be with us, to strengthen us, and to work all things together for our good. And when the waiting is over, we can look back and see how God used that time to shape us into the people he created us to be.