How To Wait For The Answer To Prayer With Peace, Hope And Confidence
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Photo by Ales Krivec on Unsplash
In our previous post we talked about “How to Pray.” We learned that when we pray according to God’s will He hears us. We also learned that God’s will is His Word; specifically, the promises He gave us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Then, scripture goes on to tells us, when we know He hears us, we know we have the petitions we asked of Him.
Wow! That’s powerful! Our Father wants us to come boldly to His throne of grace. He wants us to ask and to receive.
If you missed the last post on “How To Pray And Be Heard,” you can catch up on it here.
Once you’ve prayed, have you ever wondered, “what do I do now”? How long will it take to get my answer? Is there a right way to wait? Can I do it wrong?
Well, I believe there’s a proper way to wait and a poor way to wait. So, let’s delve into “how to wait for the answer to our prayer.”
1. While You Wait – Give Thanks
Philippians 4:6-7 AMP
6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].
Once you pray, it’s time to start thanking Him. Thank Him for the answer, thank Him for wisdom, thank Him for what He’s already done for you. Thank Him for peace in the wait. This will help you be much happier while you wait for the answer.
Being thankful is one way you can show God you actually believe He’s answered your prayer.
When you receive a gift, what do you usually (or hopefully) say? “Thank you,” right?
It works the same way when you pray. Jesus has provided everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). It’s already been paid for. So, when we pray and thank Him, we’re just receiving a gift that’s already our and has been paid for.
Photo by Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash
2. While You Wait – Watch Your Thoughts
Philippians 4:8 NIV
Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
It can be so easy to allow our thoughts to wonder to the “what if’s” or “worse case scenarios.” When your circumstances are screaming at you, it can be difficult to continue to believe God will fulfill your prayers.
I recommend as soon as your thoughts try to go on a rampage, immediately implement, number 1 – Give Thanks.
Thank your Heavenly Father that you prayed according to His will and you know that He hears you so you know you have what you’ve asked of Him. Jesus paid for these promises with His death and resurrection on the cross.
You can also, thank Him for peace while you wait. (Philippians 4:7)
Your thoughts will affect the quality of your wait. Remember, you get to choose your which thoughts get to stay and which ones have to go.
Think the thought you would think if you trusted God’s promises completely. – Tommy Newberry in The 4:8 Principle
3. While You Wait – Remember What Your Heavenly Father Said
1 John 5:14-15 AMP
14 This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. 15 And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.
I am enamored with the Amplified version of this scripture. “This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him…”
We’re actually entitled to be confident before our Father!
He wants us to come boldly to His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).
We’re entitles to this confidence not because of what we’ve done, but because of what Jesus did for us (2 Corinthians 5:21)!!
So, we our entitled to be confident that when we pray God’s will our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.
For more on praying God’s will, see my previous post “How To Pray And Be Heard.”
Now some of you might be thinking I’ve prayed and I’ve waited, but I don’t see an answer. There’s a myriad of factors why or why not, including God’s timing, but we’re going to tackle some of those in the next post.
In the mean time, go back to these three steps as often as needed while you wait. These simple steps will help you wait for the answer to your prayer in peace, hope and confidence.
Discussion
Which of these three steps might be the hardest for you? Why do you think that is?
For me Watching My Thoughts While I Wait tends to be the hardest for me. I’ve had so many years of letting my thoughts go wherever they wanted to go whenever they wanted to go there. It takes time to change that pattern. It takes time to get my mind in such a shape that when the thoughts come, I can quickly replace them with God’s thoughts. I’m not where I want to be, but, praise God, I’m not where I was. 😁