On Waiting
Sometimes you’ll hear a preacher say about a particular point in his sermon, “I’m preaching to myself here.” This means that the preacher himself is hearing the Spirit’s convicting voice as he delivers the Word of God to the people of God. This blog is one of those times: I’m speaking to myself here.
I’ve been thinking recently about God’s timing, which is always impeccable and which almost always involves a lot of waiting by His people. We see a lot of waiting going on in the Bible…
…Abraham waited for years for God to keep His word about giving him a son…
…Joseph waited for years for release from prison…
…David waited for years after he had been anointed as Israel’s next king…
…Israel waited for centuries for God’s Messiah to come and, as the song so beautifully puts it, “ransom captive Israel…”
BEFORE THE GREAT COMMISSION
We know the famous Great Commission from Matthew’s gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20).
And if his men had been like us, they would have met right away to form a strategy, they would have immediately assigned action-items, and they would have implemented their plan without delay.
But that’s not what they did. Partly because they weren’t like us, afflicted with our take-charge, can-do attitude that is always in a hurry to get things done.
But also because that’s not what Jesus said to do.
Luke tells us that before they began their task of making disciples, Jesus told them to do something first: he told them to wait.
Luke tells us that Jesus said this to his men: “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).
How long did he say to wait?
He didn’t. They didn’t know how long they would have to wait, only that they were to wait.
So they obeyed their Master, and they waited in Jerusalem.
And what did they do while they waited? They prayed, specifically, they worshiped. Luke goes on to tell us that they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God” (Luke 24:52-53).
They waited and they prayed. The same men who fell asleep while they were supposed to be praying with Jesus on the night of his arrest… those same men led a ten-day prayer meeting with that small congregation of Jesus followers.
WHAT MAKES PRAYER SO DIFFICULT
Prayer has never been easy for me. I have known for a long time that it is far easier for me to spend an hour in Bible study than it is to spend 15 minutes in prayer.
Before our most recent monthly pastors luncheon, we were told that we would be discussing our prayer lives. That didn’t sound like much fun, so I wrote to Joel, a pastor friend who would be at the meeting, “Sorry I won’t make it this month. I’ve got another lunch appointment. Besides, talking about my prayer life will only make me feel guilty.”
It was true that I had a schedule conflict. But it wasn’t true that I was sorry that I had a schedule conflict. I was relieved.
Why is prayer so hard for me? There are several reasons, of course:
1. Prayer is hard because my mind wanders so much.
I’ve heard it called “prayer ADHD.” And it’s a real thing, at least for me. Staying focused while I pray is hard work, something I’ve never done well. (Sometimes praying aloud helps here.)
2. Prayer is hard because it doesn’t seem to be a good use of time.
Here’s where the waiting comes in. Prayer is waiting on God, not doing something for God, and that makes prayer seem inefficient. I’ve heard it called “ROI,” return on investment, thinking about time spent in prayer in terms that would resonate with an efficiency expert.
Now that I put it into words, it seems almost blasphemous to suggest that in praying I might be wasting precious time. Still, when I pray there is that nagging sense that I could be doing something more productive.
But the deepest problem with my prayer life runs deeper than my attention span or even my warped time-management priorities. The deepest problem with my prayer life is with my character.
3. Prayer is hard because I am arrogant.
When I strip away the self-justifying excuses, I see the real reason prayer is hard: I somehow imagine that I don’t really need to pray, as if prayer is some kind of take-it-or-leave-it extra credit assignment.
But this, of course, is far from the truth.
Whenever Moses faced a crisis, he was down on his face seeking God. Crisis after crisis drove Moses to prayer.
When Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem was in ruins, his countenance fell. When his boss (the king of Persia) noticed his downcast expression and asked what was wrong, and Nehemiah had the presence of mind to pray before he answered.
And even Jesus, God in human flesh, committed time to prayer. Once, after a busy day of ministry, Jesus rose the next day before dawn to meet with the Father in prayer.
He prayed all night before naming the Twelve.
And he prayed with such passion in Gethsemane that he sweat droplets of blood.
Moses needed to pray, Nehemiah needed to pray, even Jesus needed to pray. So who do I think I am that I don’t need to pray?
THE REALLY GOOD NEWS ABOUT MY PRAYER LIFE
My pastor friend Joel helped me see that this is another place where I must “preach the gospel to myself.” The gospel – the good news about Jesus – isn’t about what I have done or what I should do. The gospel is about what Christ has done for me, what he continues to do on my behalf.
Joel helped me view my struggles with prayer through the lens of the gospel. He responded graciously to my confession that prayer is hard by reminding me of two precious biblical truths: “Don't feel guilty,” he said. “Jesus is your priest and the Spirit prays for you.”
This is good to know, and this is the gospel I must preach to myself in my struggling prayer life: that Jesus my high priest pleads before the Father for this distracted, workaholic, arrogant man (Heb 7:25), and the Spirit intercedes for me “with groanings too deep for words” (Rom 8:26, ESV).
Persevere.
Paul Pyle
Discipleship Pastor