10/30/2026
Are you waiting on the answer to a prayer today? Have you been praying for something for quite a while, and though you believe it is within the will of God it remains unanswered? Perhaps you have been feeling out of sorts and just want to feel better, but you don’t really know how to say what is wrong with you, or just don’t know what to ask for. If so... then let me say that you are not the first to wait, the only one who didn’t know what to ask for, nor alone in wondering why a prayer seemed to go unanswered.
“"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool!”
Psalms 39:7-8 ESV
When we pray and no immediate answer comes we can get tired and frustrated while waiting. When Jesus told His disciples to go back to Jerusalem and wait there for the comforter, there were two things He did not tell them; the first was how long they could expect to wait, and the second was what they could actually expect to happen. One characteristic of man is that we like to know precisely what to expect, and we also like to know when to expect whatever it is to occur. This is the nature of our will, but God wants us to lean on Him, and to subject our will to His.
When we are taking mathematics in school the teacher instructs us on how to solve a problem. Sometimes the method by which we reach the answer is tedious and long, so we study it, and come up with a shorter way to solve the problem... and we get the right answer. Then we go into the exam, and we use our newly contrived method... sure enough, we get the right answer and are pleased with ourselves! We are convinced that the teacher is going to be impressed with our genius, but we get the test back and there is a big red “X” on every problem that we solved using our shortcut.
So, we go to the teacher and argue our case, but the “X” stands and we do poorly on the test. Why is this so? It is because the teacher wasn’t merely interested in us getting the correct answer to some arbitrarily chosen problem, but wanted us to solve it using the methodology that was taught in class. You see, every mathematician in the country knows what they are seeing when they look at a problem that was solved as you had been taught, and other solutions would be derived using this same methodology as its basis. Sometimes our teachers aren’t as concerned with us using the fastest way to solve this building block as they are in the answer to much more complex problems we will face later. Learning the methodology requires that we adhere to that teacher’s will, and that we demonstrate our ability to follow instructions as we work through the problems.
God has a methodology that He builds upon. We think that what we are asking is of paramount importance, or that the solution to our problem is obvious, but God isn’t as interested in whether we get the answer right to the small issue we are having as He is in our ability to subjugate ourselves to His will. He needs to know that when He tells us to “Wait right here!”, that we will actually obey Him and wait. He needs us to understand that He sees much further down the road than we do, and knows what is best for us... and what is best for others who might be impacted by our desires too. We really do despise waiting, and quite often we lose faith in God’s ability to provide things we haven’t witnessed Him doing before.
“They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?"”
Psalms 78:19-20 ESV
We read this scripture and think to ourselves “How foolish these people are!”, but that is because we know what lies ahead. Don’t we doubt Him in similar fashion in our own lives when we are facing the unknown? Aren’t we doubting when we think to ourselves that “He really doesn’t understand what I am going through right now.”? Aren’t we doubting God when we search for different ways to tell Him how miserable we are when in all actuality we can’t see the root of our own discontent? Pastor Andrew Murray wrote of such doubt and frustration in this way...
“In waiting on God, you may grow weary because you don’t know what to expect. But be encouraged. Ignorance is often a good sign. He is teaching you to leave everything in His hands and wait on Him alone.” - Andrew Murray
We are meant to solve the problem using God’s methodology, and to trust in Him, lean on Him, and know that at the absolute perfect moment He will answer our prayer. He wants us to see that He realizes our predicament, that He understands what is at the heart of our malaise, and that He even knows why we just don’t feel well. His understanding is not dependent on ours, and His solution may come in a manner that we can’t comprehend... or perhaps in a way we can’t see yet.
There have been times in my life when I was praying for something repeatedly, and was waiting for an answer that I thought would never come. Then, one day a lightbulb turns on within my head, and I realize that God has indeed answered... just not in the way I was expecting. How often do we pray with the full expectation that God will answer using our reasoning? How many times have we thought we knew the best solution, only to find that His way of answering our prayer was far superior in every way. How many times have we waited on an answer that He had already provided, but that we hadn’t seen because we were praying for our own will to be done, and not His? What would have been the outcome if God had answered the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane according to the will of Jesus, and not His own?
Are you waiting right now for an answer that has already come? Are you looking at your prayers with blinders on? Are you trying to solve the problems in your life by praying that your own desires and will, will be done, as opposed to God’s? Are you doubting Him and not realizing you are doing so? Are you praying for a problem to go away, when what God really wants to give you is the ability to feel joy and happiness within it? Sometimes we see problems as insurmountable because we are looking for shortcuts to happiness.
Today let’s ask God the same question that the Psalmist asked when he said... “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?”, and then leaned on Him by saying... “My hope is in you.”
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you”
Psalm 39:7
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your boundless wisdom, and knowledge. I thank you Lord for answering my prayers according to your will and not mine! I ask for your help Holy Father in knowing and understanding your will for me, and seeing the answers to my prayers come as a result of your perfect plan, and will, working in my life. I pray that you will lead me to drink from the cup of your will, as Jesus did, and to set my own cup aside. Sometimes Father I have found that the taste of your will, and righteousness, is not what I have expected, and that the sip from your cup is an acquired taste for me. Help me Gracious Lord to get past the sweetness I expect to enjoy when my lips meet your cup, and to appreciate the spiciness of your will instead. Give me an understanding and taste for those things you know are best for me. You are faithful to your Word Father, and I praise you, and ask that you help me lean all the more on you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who makes me lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside still waters, when so often I want to run up mountains, and enjoy the thrill of swift currents. You are my God, and in you I place my trust.. Great is your wisdom and your name, and through my faith in your will, your goodness and mercy will forever be the answer to my prayers.
“knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
2 Peter 1:20-21 ESV
Amen!
Rich Forbes