Waiting is not fun or easy. It stretches us, challenges us, and hurts at times. When we are waiting on the Lord, that stretching adds a different layer of hardness to the task of waiting. I want to learn how to wait on the Lord correctly. Or at least wait on Him without messing things up. Anybody else?
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Why Learn How To Wait on the Lord?
I have been in a season of waiting for a long time now. Recently I realized I haven’t been waiting well. I’ve been waiting for the Lord to move and do miraculous things, just biding my time until He does what I’ve asked Him to do.
It never occurred to me to search out Scripture to learn how to wait on the lord in a way that pleases Him. There is a way to wait that helps us find hope and peace amid trials. (That is actually what I’d like to call this article, but it’s waaayyy too long!)
Trials Happen In Waiting Seasons
When you are waiting, there are often trials. In the trials, I begin to question the thing I am waiting on the Lord about. I want to default to the secret plan B in my head and work my way through the trial logically. Waiting on the Lord, however, rarely follows a logical path.
That is the wrong way to wait! So how do we wait on the Lord, in the trials, boredom or fear that comes?
Psalm 37 Tells Us How To Wait on God
Psalm 37 gives us a lot of insight into what it means to wait on the Lord! Let’s dissect it together. First, though, let’s read the three waiting upon the Lord verses alone.
Here is the link to Psalm 37 (NKJV) in its entirety.
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:7 ESV)
“For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.” (Psalm 37:9 ESV)
“Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.” (Psalm 37:34 ESV)
What Does Wait Mean in Hebrew?
To better understand the process of waiting on God, we need to understand what waiting on the Lord meant to the original audience. Wait in Psalm 37:7 comes from a Hebrew word different from Psalm 37:9 and verse 34.
(BTW: Blueletterbible.org is a great resource for digging into the original language! That is where I always start when doing a word study.)
To Wait Patiently: Meaning in Hebrew
:7 Wait patiently in the Hebrew is – ḥûl – to wait patiently – to twist, to be pained, tremble, be in anguish.
The meaning in Hebrew holds an imperative that we will choose to wait or make ourselves wait even when it is difficult. The patience of waiting for the Lord will cause pain and hardship. We will have to twist ourselves around the idea of waiting.
Those Who Wait Meaning in Hebrew
Stongs Hebrew translation of wait :9 & :37 is – qavah– those who wait – to expect, look, patiently, tarry, to wait eagerly, look for, hope, expect.
The meaning in Hebrew here is also a choice and is also often difficult. We wait expecting Him to move, hoping in Him even when hope feels impossible.
What Does it Mean To Wait on the Lord According To Psalm 37?
If we put those two definitions together we see the meaning of to wait for the Lord in Hebrew.
Waiting on the Lord is to choose to eagerly look for the Lord to move when everything feels impossible. When all feels hopeless, we twist our lives around patience while waiting, trusting the Lord to do the miraculous.
How To Wait on The Lord in Trials: Psalm 37. Choose to eagerly look for the Lord to move when everything feels impossible, trusting Him to the miracles! Share on X
How To Wait On The Lord According to Psalm 37
Now that we understand the meaning of “to wait on the Lord” we can go verse by verse through Psalm 37 and see how to wait on the Lord. The Psalmist gives us an amazingly detailed how-to guide to follow! Some things to look out for as we study:
- What are the three ways to wait patiently on the Lord?
- 7 things to do while waiting on God.
- Waiting on God’s timing.
- Benefits of waiting upon the Lord.
- What does it mean to hope in the Lord?
1. Don’t Worry: How to Wait on the Lord (:1-2)
“Do not fret (worry) because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.”
Repeatedly in Scripture, we are reminded not to fear or worry. Psalm 37 gives us a good reason to set aside fear. Fear leads to envy.
We can easily look at those around us who seem to prosper without waiting on the Lord and feel… like God forgot us or like our waiting is wasted time. The Psalmist reminds us here that those who do not wait on the Lord have no future to look forward to.
Don’t worry about what they may have now because what you will have (either in eternity or in Spiritual blessings) will far outshine them.
To wait on the Lord well, don’t worry or be anxious!
Related Post: 13 Bible Verses About Fear Not To Claim To Be Still
2. Trust Him and Do Good (:3)
“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”
Waiting on the Lord is not passive, this is an active process. How do you actively wait on the Lord?
Trust Him. Trust is an active command! It requires a choice, especially if you are surrounded by people who do not trust or wait.
Anybody else struggling there?
- Two of the 7 things to do while waiting on God (actively waiting on the Lord) are (1) trust Him and (2) do good while you wait.
Trust Him and do good! We are to do good even when others are not, even when others are prospering in their not-good actions.
We are God’s children. We have been put here to shine His light in a lost world. Doing good shines His light. We can do good even when waiting on Him.
When we do good while trusting Him, we feed on His faithfulness. It is His faithfulness that provides for us and His faithfulness that protects us. His faithfulness fills and satisfies a part of us that we could never reach doing things our own way.
Related Post: How To Be Sure Love Is Not Jealous in Marriage
3. Delight in the Lord (:4)
“Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
What does it mean to delight in something?
- Delight
- To please greatly, to find great pleasure.
Do you find great pleasure in the Lord? Does He please you?
Imagine a child who spots their best friend across the crowd. Their face lights up, they race across the room to be near each other. They delight in the company of or presence of this friend regardless of what the friend can do for them or how the friend looks in the moment. Delight.
How can you know if you delight in the Lord? If you answer most of these affirmatively you are actively working to delight in Him.
- Do you think of God like a best friend?
- Do you seek out His presence and light up when you feel Him near?
- Does the sound of His voice awaken something deep inside of you?
- Do you enjoy Him even if He isn’t doing something for you or saying anything to you?
I long to delight in Him, to find great pleasure just being with the Lord… in His Word, in His house, with His people, in praise of Him…
Delight is an active choice we make.
He Will NOT Give You The Desires Of Your Heart
Psalm 37:4 is a Bible verse people often take out of context. Often, the natural desires of our hearts are selfish and sinful. The Lord is holy and righteous. He desires our good which will always make us more holy and righteous. What He gives us then will not line up with sin or self.
So what does it mean that the Lord will give us the desires of our hearts?
God takes my sinful and selfish desires (if I willingly surrender them to Him) and He replaces them with His desires. That is an active choice!
Related Post: How To Give Your Life To God in Full Surrender: 4 Easy Steps
How To Wait on the Lord’s Desires?
How can you surrender your will to His? Delight in the Lord (which is another of the 7 things to do while waiting on God).
When you delight in Him, you take pleasure in who He is, what His doing, and where He leads you. Then, you will become more like Him Becoming more like Him slowly changes what you desire. It is a circular promise.
When you delight in Him, He changes your heart to desire what He desires. When you surrender your selfish sinful desires to Him, you more easily delight in Him.
Waiting on the Lord well is easier when we delight in Him and surrender fully to Him.
Related Post: Surrender Makes God the Leader in a Biblical Marriage
4. Commit Your Way to The Lord: How To Wait on the Lord (:5)
“Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.”
What does it mean to commit your way to Him?
We all have a way of doing life. Your way of talking, working, relating to others, making choices, etc. We all have a way.
When you decide to follow Jesus, you are giving up that old way, putting to death that old self who was born that way. When you decide to make Jesus the Lord of your life you are choosing to commit your life to doing life His way.
To commit my way to the Lord means I am not in control anymore, God is in control of my way. That’s a choice I must make every day, sometimes every hour.
Lord, I don’t like not being in control of my life. Help me desire to commit my way to You each day. Help me delight in You and Your ways. Teach me to live Your way. Lead me, guide me, direct me with Your hand.
The Benefits of Waiting Upon the Lord
“And He shall bring it to pass.”
What will God bring to pass? The way you committed to Him.
Let’s relates that to how to wait on the Lord well.
I am waiting on the Lord to act and move in a situation that feels hopeless. It feels like I should be doing something, but He said to wait. Waiting often means, don’t make a plan B, don’t get ahead of Him, and don’t do it my way.
When we wait patiently on Him, committing to do things His way (not our way) He will bring to pass what needs to happen. What an amazing benefit of waiting patiently on the Lord.
Trust in Him! He will bring HIS way to pass!
5. Let Him Grow My Righteousness (:6)
“He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.”
How do we wait on the Lord? Righteously. He’s already told us how!
- Trusting Him.
- Doing good.
- Delighting in God.
- Surrendered to Him.
- Committing our way to the Lord.
This only happens when we stop worrying about what other people are doing and focus on doing what He called us to do. This only happens when we are waiting on the Lord patiently (which we’ll see in verse seven).
Then He will grow righteousness in us that will shine out like light! Another benefit of waiting on the Lord!
The Justice of God
Remember, we serve a God who is just and justice-minded. It can be difficult to wrap our minds around that part of God’s nature because we think of Him as all love and mercy. Justice is required in life, however, and God understands that more than we ever could.
Part of what I am waiting on the Lord to do is to bring justice for wrongs where I can do nothing. God sees when His people are suffering at the hands of careless, sinful people. He keeps a record of that and will hand out justice in His time.
Part of learning how to wait on the Lord is learning not to take revenge into your own hands (Romans 12:18-21). Instead, let your righteousness shine and God’s justice be your goal.
When we commit our way to the Lord, trusting His justice rather than our vengeance, our righteousness grows. There is light in us with no shame, regret, or guilt from sin standing between us and the Lord.
Waiting on God’s Timing
God brings justice, just not often in the timeframe we imagine. God’s timing, however, is perfect.
Remember that He is patient, not wanting anyone to die in sin or spend an eternity separated from Him. Have you noticed that learning how to wait on the Lord is really about learning how to wait on the Lord patiently?
Have you noticed that each piece builds upon the last?
- Don’t worry about others’ lives, instead trust the Lord and do good.
- Delight in Him and let Him replace your desires with His desires.
- Commit to doing life in God’s way as He brings about His will in your life.
- Through it all, you will grow more righteous like He is righteous.
- He will take care of justice for those not doing life His way, don’t worry about that.
- Trust Him instead.
- Do it His way instead and trust His timing.
Isn’t it beautiful?!
6. Be Still, Wait Patiently (:7)
“Rest in the Lord (be still), and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.”
We’ve looked at this verse in depth in our 40-day series on how to be still and know God more. Just a reminder that to be still and wait upon the Lord means:
- Wait patiently because His timing is not our timing.
- Entrust yourself to God because He has the best plan and way.
- Commit your way to the Lord (:5).
- Do not whine or complain while waiting because you are looking at others on different paths.
How do we wait on the Lord patiently? We do not whine or complain about His way or His timing. Also, we don’t compare His plan for our life with anyone else’s life, especially those not following Him.
Instead of complaining or comparing, we wait and trust Him (that’s the 4th of the 7 things to do while waiting on God). We actively choose to commit to doing life His way even when it doesn’t make sense.
Related Post: How to Overcome Envy: Learn to Be Still
7. Give Up Anger and Worry – It Only Hurts You (:8)
“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.”
This warning is tied to the command above it to wait patiently, while not complaining or comparing. If you choose to complain and compare rather than wait patiently for the Lord, anger and fear follow.
I absolutely love the heart of God that shines out of this verse. God doesn’t lay out rules to keep us from enjoying life, rather He desires to keep us from needless harm.
Complaining and comparing which lead to anger and fear, cause harm.
“…for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20 ESV)
Put Off The Old Self
“…put off your old self,which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV)
This is also an active waiting posture. Active words:
- Stop
- Being angry.
- Forsake
- Wrath.
- Give up
- This way of life.
It doesn’t matter if you were born angry, born negative, or born a complainer. That old self was replaced with the new self through the gift of the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation.
It doesn’t matter if that’s all you’ve ever known from your past. Surrender the complaining and comparing habits of sin in your life. Stop being angry! Forsake wrath! Give up fear!
Commit to wait on the Lord, patiently, without looking at others who are not waiting on the Lord.
8. Be Meek and You Will Inherit the Earth (:9-11)
“For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth…”
The power of waiting upon the Lord is great. One clear benefit of those who wait on the Lord is that they leave a legacy.
In several places, the text says they inherit the earth. I imagine the writer was remembering how God delivered the Promised Land to the children of Israel. We know that one day there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth, filled with those who waited on the Lord. What a promise!
The wicked may seem to prosper, but they have one life to live. Don’t envy the prosperity of the wicked when you know their soul will suffer for eternity.
Ungodly people will not win. Don’t be tempted to act like them. Wait on the Lord patiently instead.
The power of waiting upon the Lord is that you store up treasures in heaven where you will spend eternity with the God, your delight. Eternal life is a benefit of waiting up on the Lord.
:11 Stay Meek To Inherit the Earth
“But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
To understand this piece about how to wait on the Lord we need to define the word meek. The Bible tells us to live a meek life like Jesus lived.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 ESV)
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart (meek), and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29 ESV)
- Meekness
- Power under control, submissive by choice.
- Controlled strength, putting all trust in God.
Meek Like Jesus
Jesus is our example. Jesus had all the power of the Godhead at His disposal. However, Jesus chose to submit to God’s will, God’s timing, and God’s way of living life on earth.
Living meekly means that even when we have the power to seek our own justice, we wait on Him. Even when we could push ahead of the Lord to get results our own way, we choose to wait patiently on Him. His way is better
Waiting patiently is a character trait of meekness, not weakness. Meekness is commiting to do this God’s way when I could do this my way.
Choosing meekness is another of the 7 things to do while waiting on God!
Abundant Peace Is a Benefit of Waiting Upon the Lord
When we choose meekness, He promises peace. Not just peace, but abundant peace. What is abundant peace?
When you choose to wait on the Lord, even though you are facing an enemy as verses 12-15 and 32-33 tell us, the Lord fights the battle for you. This is a theme repeated throughout Scripture. God is The Great Warrior who stands up over the meek and humble to fight for us!
There is great peace in knowing that when you walk with the Lord in a humble, gentle, patient way, He is the One fighting the enemy all around you.
It may not feel peaceful on the outside, but there will be a peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7) on the inside of you. Remembering He fights our battles is a way to wait patiently for the Lord!
Remember that He fights the battles of the humble! Wait on the Lord patiently, it brings peace!
Related Post: God Will Fight for You Be Still My Anxious Mind
Keep His Way To Stay Meek and Inherit the Land (:34-38)
“Wait on the Lord, And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found…”
Keeping God’s ways is another way of saying commit to living His way, another way of being meek. How can you keep His way? You have to know His way and what He says about His way! Here, we see the need for consistent time in the Word, especially when waiting.
He repeats the blessing of waiting on the Lord and keeping His way. You will inherit the land! There is something God has in store for you. Keep waiting on Him to bring it to pass!
The wicked will meet their end and it is not good for them.
- No legacy.
- Eternity in Hell.
Don’t envy the wicked or compare your waiting season to their earthly prosperity!
Instead, remember that waiting on the Lord leads to peace!
9. Don’t Worry About Money (:16-17)
“A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the Lord upholds the righteous.”
Can I be honest with you? I have always struggled financially. There never seems to be enough money to pay all the bills, fix all the things, or meet all the needs we can foresee. Never.
To say I worry about money is an understatement, so this is an amazing reminder. While we never seem to have enough for what’s next, we always have enough for right now. Sometimes God provides miraculously for what we need right now. I trust Him!
Though we just have a little, this reminds me that it is better than getting a lot the wrong way. Through all our financial struggles, the Lord has upheld us. A beautiful benefit of waiting upon the Lord is provision.
Related Post: 90+ Scripture About Provision To Grow Your Faith Today
Live generously (:21-22)
“The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.”
When we borrow and do not repay, we steal. Instead of worrying about money in this way, we are to give, to be generous, and to show mercy to others who are struggling.
Notice it doesn’t say we can not borrow (whew). There will be times and seasons when we need help. Instead, it says to repay what is owed.
Living a generous life does mean that we won’t live in excess. We will not always need to borrow. Common sense says that we can not lend or show mercy if we always need help.
Wait on The Lord To Provide
How does this speak to waiting on the Lord?
We often spend more than we make, not because it is impossible to live on less, but because we want what we can not afford. We want what others have which implies we are comparing our lives to the lives of others.
If we stop worrying about what others have we will stop needing to spend more than we have to match or outpace them.
Instead of trying to have what everyone else has, we must learn to wait on the Lord to provide what we need in this season. It might look different than you expect, but trust Him anyway and commit to doing life His way.
Don’t be angry that your life looks different. Don’t be afraid you are missing out on something. Instead, rest in His abundant peace as you wait for Him to direct your steps.
Related Post: Facing Unmet Needs: God Will Provide All Your Needs
Be Merciful and Lend (:26)
“I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
He is ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.
In God’s faithfulness, He does not forsake us! What a great way to tie in how to wait on the Lord patiently. It may feel like He forgot about you and left you to suffer, but He never does!
Knowing God is faithful, we are to imitate Him and be merciful to others. God lends to us, we must live in a generous way to be able to lend to others. He blesses us, we are to bless others!
I see here that God will provide so I can be generous and not stingy. It is all too easy to become stingy with the little that we have when we are struggling financially. He says it is better to have a little than a lot when the lot came through sin. When we just have a little it is tempting to hold tightly to it.
We must live generously even when we only have a little. Trusting in the Lord as we wait for Him to provide for us, we can give and bless others.
Related Post: How To Pray to God My Provider in Faith
10. Trust That God Knows (:18-20)
“The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.”
God sees you waiting as patiently as you can. He knows your days and even the intentions of your heart as you choose to wait, surrender, delight, give up vengeance, and walk in meekness. He sees.
There are promises throughout Scripture that God rewards His children. One reward we see is this:
- We will not be ashamed when trials come if we live His way.
No Shame
In the past, waiting on the Lord seemed weak, like doing nothing. Instead, I followed my own plan and my own understanding. Most of the time I fell flat on my face as my plans were selfish and sinful. Shame came.
Shame gets us stuck in our faith walk.
When we have shame we feel unworthy, unlovable, and incapable. Shame is a trick of the enemy to keep us from fighting the real battle!
It has taken years to learn that it is better to go slowly and wait on the Lord patiently than to push ahead in my own strength to accomplish what makes sense to my selfish, sinful mind.
When I go slowly, waiting on the Lord’s direction and timing, I have confidence even when trials come. The trials are not a result of my sin! There is no shame when the trials are not my fault!
That doesn’t make the trials any less real, but it allows His abundant peace to cover us in the trials as God fights for us!
Related Post: 7 Simple Steps to Prepare For Spiritual Warfare
11. When I Fall, Get Back Up (:23-24)
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.”
Will we wait on the Lord perfectly? Nope. We will fall short and mess this all up along the way. Isn’t it encouraging that God holds us up?
The reference to “His hand” refers to His covenant promise. He is faithful to hold us up because He said He would.
We are not faithful. We fall, even when we are committing our way to Him and trusting Him.
“For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again…” (Proverbs 24:16-18 NKJV)
There will be moments of anger and fear that sneak in. We will complain and compare. But when we fall, he will hold us up. He will help us get back to waiting on Him. What a benefit of waiting upon the Lord!
He is faithful!
12. Depart from Evil (:27-29)
“Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.”
We already saw the command to do good as we trust in the Lord. This flips that command and says we are not to do evil, in fact, we are to depart from or go the opposite way of evil.
When we are learning how to wait on the Lord patiently, it is tempting to give up and follow the pattern of the lost world around us. In fact, sometimes we end up following them accidentally, just because we take our eyes off of the Lord.
When we find ourselves going the wrong way, we have to get back up, flee from evil, and go back to doing good.
How To Depart From Evil
How can we keep from being drawn into the ways of the world?
He reminds us, that even though there may be temporary prosperity in going the way of the world, it doesn’t end well. They will be cut off and the righteous inherit the land in the end!
How can we depart from evil?
- Community.
- We need the godly community to help us remember these truths.
- Bible.
- We need a habit of Bible study to keep our eyes fixed on Him.
- Delight.
- We must praise Him and delight in Him as we commit our way to Him daily!
This is the only way to depart from evil and have guardrails up to keep us from wandering that path.
Depart From Evil When Tempted With Revenge
It is especially tempting to go the wrong way when it seems justice is not happening. Remember, His justice is better than ours though His timing is difficult to accept. We must resist the urge to do it our way!
- Do good instead of evil.
- Trust God with justice.
- Remind yourself that He will not forsake you!
Related Post: 6 Ways to Take the High Road: Think Justice
13. Speak Wisdom (:30)
“The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.”
What does it mean to speak wisdom?
I see this as a way that the passage is building upon itself. As we are living the way God teaches, when we speak it will sound different. It may sound like you swallowed the Bible to some, but overall, it will sound wise and discerning.
If what you say doesn’t sound wise, check that you are waiting on the Lord. Maybe ask yourself some questions to be sure you are in the process.
What is the Process of Waiting on God?
This is a process. You will never get to perfection this side of heaven and God doesn’t expect that from us. Hence the reference to falling down! The only perfect person who ever lived was Christ Jesus and you are not Him.
So stay in the process of waiting on the Lord. How can we check where we are in the process? As yourself some questions:
- Are you trusting Him and doing good?
- How are you with delighting in the Lord?
- Have you surrendered complaining and comparing?
- Are you in His Word, surrounded by believers seeking Him?
- Have you chosen a lifestyle of meekness?
- Are you surrendering anger and fear?
- How about trusting Him to provide so you can live generously?
Let these questions be a way to re-center when you get off track.
14. Hide God’s Word in the Heart (:31)
“The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall slide.”
We must be in the Bible regularly to be able to wait on the Lord well. Here the Psalmist takes it a step further. It’s not enough to read your Bible, he says, you need to hide it in your heart. How do you hide Scripture in your heart?
- Meditate on a verse or passage of Scripture.
- Think about it throughout the day so you don’t forget what God said.
- Write Scripture.
- When you write something it goes deeper into your memory. This is a great way to be able to meditate on the Word since you probably forgot parts of it since you read it last.
- Pray Scripture.
- Prayer takes the Word and makes it more personal. When you take in Scripture in multiple ways it goes deeper.
- *Prayer Strategy Workshop
- Prayer takes the Word and makes it more personal. When you take in Scripture in multiple ways it goes deeper.
- Sing the Word.
- Songs get stuck in our heads. They come back to us in moments of need. Singing verses is a great way to meditate and eventually memorize Scripture.
15. Remember He is My Salvation (:39-40)
“But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.”
Learning how to wait on the Lord well is worth it! He is my salvation. God is my strength.
I am weak. Without His strength, I will not make it through this season. I am in a time of trouble and this is a beautiful reminder that the waiting time is not wasted or weak. The Lord saves me in times of trouble! He is my help and my deliverer! I need His help. Without His help, I will not survive this, our family will not survive this!
I choose to trust in the Lord, my help, my deliverer, my strength, and my salvation. Waiting on Him patiently will bring the peace I need, the help I need, and the delight of His presence.
Main Takeaways from How to Wait on the Lord
Waiting on the Lord is not a passive thing. There are active things to do while waiting on God! We saw 9 ways to actively wait on God. These are things that require a choice… an action on our part to stay in the process of waiting on the Lord well.
- Trust Him.
- Even if nothing makes sense.
- Do good.
- Whatever He last said, keep doing that until He tells you differently.
- Delight in Him.
- Seek Him and enjoy Him for more than what He can do for you.
- Don’t complain or compare.
- Keep your eyes fixed on the Lord rather than others.
- Surrender anger and fear.
- Trust God to provide.
- Be generous and have integrity.
- Choose meekness.
- Don’t use your words as weapons.
- Don’t make backup plans in case God fails you.
- Stay in the Word and surround yourself with like-minded believers.
- We talked about this!
- Speak wisdom.
- Let your words be a gauge of where you are in the process.
- Hide the Word in your heart.
- Let His Word go as deep as possible into your heart.
Benefits of Waiting Upon the Lord
In line with the active ways to wait on God, we see benefits to help keep us waiting! I LOVE that there are benefits of waiting on the Lord. When we commit our way to Him and trust Him in the process He shows up in powerful ways!
- He will bring to pass the way you are waiting on.
- Eternal life is yours.
- The abundance of peace.
- Provision for needs.
- No shame.
- God holding us up.
Will You Learn How To Wait On the Lord Well?
In this season I am struggling to wait well. I am tempted to make a plan that makes more logical sense. It is hard to keep my mouth shut and confusing to know when to open my mouth. Everything is spinning.
Just before we hit this season God was challenging me to stop waiting for Him to do what I was asking and instead wait in Him… to just be content to have Him, sit with Him, and accept whatever He gives or allows into my life. Ironic, right?
As I began learning what the Bible says about how to wait on the Lord patiently… well… this season hit like a freight train.
Can you trust the Lord in the midst of trials?
Will His plan really be better than what you thought His plan was?
Today I am committed to learning this lesson of Biblical waiting. I want to do this better. To know I am walking in His will, in His timing. I don’t want to fall flat on my face for tying it my own way or wake up in 20 years living in the consequences of selfish, sinful choices from this season.
So I will wait.
Are you waiting?
Are you trusting, surrendering, delighting, seeking, and leaving everything at His feet today?
Let’s hold each other up through this season. If you need prayer just drop a comment below, “I’m waiting,” and I’ll pray for you.
in HIS love,
Tiffany of Hope Joy in Christ inspires Christian Women to grow in faith, live out Biblical Marriage Principles and raise Godly Children. Join the Wives Only Facebook Group here or keep up with her through Pinterest.
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I’m booking marking PSALM 37 in my brain as WAITING ON THE LORD. Such a good breakdown. Hallelujah. I’m in the absolute worst season of my life. 46 years on this planet and God has me waiting and waiting and waiting. Waiting for the breakthroughs. Waiting for the healing. Waitng for the relationship. Sighhhhh. One thing I ask God everyday is “Lord, what are you trying to teach me in this waiting season?” I’ve got some good tools now. Thank you.
“I’m waiting”
Hallelujah indeed!