The Phil Files

I hate to wait! Bet you do, too. Yet over the last several decades, study after study suggest that the average American spends 5-7 years of his or her life waiting in line (Europeans wait a little more and those from Asia even more) — by my calculations, it may be closer to 3-4 years, but who is going to quarrel of  2 or 3 years of life?

While I know that is not encouraging news, it is important for us to acknowledge because it makes us hear the call to “wait on the Lord” in a different light. Our knee-jerk response to waiting on anybody or anything is negative. So this spiritual call to come wait on and in the presence of the Lord sounds like a waste of time and a delay in our schedule. Now clearly, getting away to quiet place and resting in the presence of the Lord and waiting on His leading is a beautiful and necessary break in our hectic lives. But that doesn’t sound like waiting in our understanding of the term.

So when the Lord calls on us to wait to on Him (Isaiah 40:31; Luke 24:48; Acts 1:4), let’s hear it for what He means. This is not a waste of time waiting, but a resting in expectation of His meeting us, renewing us, restoring us, and empowering us with His Holy Spirit. It is submitting to Him and seeking His presence. This is asking Him to send His Holy Spirit into our lives to empower us to be His people (Luke 11:13) and asking Him to bless and transform the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ (Ephesians 3:14-21). This is not waiting, it is eager anticipation:

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation (Psalm 5:3 NIV).

So don’t — but rest, expect, hope, anticipate, intercede, trust … in the Lord and on Lord. Think of prayer as active submission and intentional rest and eager expectation! Don’t equate waiting on the Lord with waiting in line. Waiting on God is an active choice to be changed, nurtured, empowered, and surrender to the Creator and Sustainer of the universe who who wants us to draw near to Him as Abba Father. (For more on this see my Heartlight.org article this week, “Where’s the Power?”)

And today, as we come to the Lord’s Prayer, we will pray for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done in our lives waiting in expectation!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

And for your consideration and mediation, here are some questions about waiting on the Lord:

Why do you think it is so hard for us to “wait” on the Lord in prayer, worship, and seeking His guidance?

What is the difference in praying and praying with expectation that God is going to do something only He can do?

Paul uses the phrase “I eagerly expect and hope” to talk about God’s work in life and death to bring Him glory and bring Paul deliverance (Philippians 1:19-25).

What difference does it make to approach God’s promises with expectation and hope?

Paul expects God to act with power through his prayers for the Ephesians (see the Scriptures mentioned above) can we expect God to do the same for the people in our church?

Of course, Paul challenges the Ephesians to expect God to work and to submit their lives to God. How can we do this in our spiritual family?

Read through the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 again, and share some principles from this story that fit the theme of prayer and the release of God’s power (Luke 9:10-17).