Prayer is Waiting

Psalm 143:7-8 (MSG)  Hurry with your answer, GOD! I'm nearly at the end of my rope. Don't turn away; don't ignore me! That would be certain death.  If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I'll go to sleep each night trusting in you. Point out the road I must travel; I'm all ears, all eyes before you.

When reading through the Psalms I generally want to use my comfortable version; the one I recognize and draw comfort from, but today let's use the words from Eugene Peterson's, The Message Bible. This version is using the language my heart often imparts to my head.  Maybe it is the other way around, my head imparts to my heart.  Often I allow my humanness to override sensibility and I take on an attitude of impatience, or worse yet, impatience with attitude.

Trusted friends tell me it is okay to be honest with God, to tell Him just how I am feeling.  They say He has big shoulders and can handle my temper tantrums and defiant rantings. God is the only one who truly understands my heart and the only one who can make me whole again.

Praying through the Psalms is quite a journey.  It would be interesting to sit down with all of you and discuss just what this trip has been like.  I would love to ask if there was one general theme or word you heard from God during this time.

God knows us so well and because of this He speaks to us often in ways that surprise. I am in a season of change and challenge.  I find myself passing through valleys I thought I had visited years ago. God has been laying the word "wait" on my heart.

Waiting is not something I do well.  But as I find myself in the midst of just such a season I might as well obey.  I know that God's timing is perfect.  That should make me so excited that I wait without questioning. It is about time I learn from the past.

He has always been faithful, even when I wasn't.  He has always walked at my side, even when I tried to escape. His arms are always open for my return.  He has spent much of my life waiting for me to wake up.

Waiting is now the next stage of my life. Point out the road I must travel; I'm all ears, all eyes before you. Has God given you a word to work on, to pray about and to ponder?

Psalm 142, 143, 144