Lecture 6 Christian Living II “Waiting”

“Prayer and God’s Work”

In spite of Satan’s tactics, God’s work in the world is not only continuing, but it is also successful.

People are still being saved, healed, delivered, filled, sanctified, and called.

The wonderful thing about God’s work is that He WANTS you and I to participate in it with Him.

In order to do this, we must allow Him to work on our character and conduct to help us get to the place that we can be useful in His work.

We must allow God to make us holy, for He will accept nothing less!

Bounds “Not that we are to DO holy, but rather BE holy. Being must precede doing. First be, then do. First obtain a holy heart, then live a holy life.”

Leviticus 20:7- “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.”

Before we are able to teach others to be holy, we must first be holy ourselves.

E.M. Bounds Statements:

“The present day church has vast machinery. Her activities are great, and her material prosperity is unparalleled. The name of religion is wide-spread and well-known. Much money comes into the Lord’s treasury and is paid out. But here is the question: Does the world of holiness keep pace with all this?”

“Of course men of intelligence are greatly needed in the pulpit, but prior to that, and primary to it, is the fact that we need holy men [men of character] to stand before dying men and proclaim the salvation of God to them.”

As praying and holiness go together, so does the decline of one, mean the decay of the other.

As the pastors, so will the people be as a rule.

If the pastors are prayerless, the people will follow in his footsteps!

You, as a Christian, are the Bible that sinners read....The emphasis, then, should be placed upon holiness of life.

I Timothy 3:7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without....”

Any aspect of ministry requires a good report to be effective.

We are working side by side with God in His work.

If that is the case, doesn’t it make sense for us to try to be like Him.

May God help us to always present a message of Bible holiness to a lost and dying world.

They don’t need a message of fluff (there is enough of that already), but they need a message of truth.

Chapter #3-Waiting: The Act of Soul Surrender

Surrender is one of the hardest things to do.

Psalm 46:10- Be still, and know that I am God...”

Throughout our Christian experience, we frequently have to battle in order to surrender.

Our carnal will is always opposed to God’s will.

Waiting in prayer is an act of surrender! You are giving up your time and your agenda to follow what God wants in your prayer time.

Too often, we come to prayer and have it all planned out like we want it to go.

Every spare moment of prayer time is taken up with our praise, thanksgiving, intercession, and petitions, and we find ourselves doing all the talking, and not allowing God to have “full reign” in our prayer time.

Waiting stops us from doing that.

It forces us to be quiet and reverent.

It causes us to put everything else that involves prayer “on hold” while we patiently wait on God.

Psalm 46:10- Be still, and know that I am God...”

Waiting on the Lord is basically the silent surrendering of the soul to God.

John Bisagno “Waiting upon God requires our entire being. It is not drifting into daydreaming, but is rather and exercise that demands our keenest attention, our most alert frame of mind and all of our soul’s attention to the Heavenly Voice.”

You will find that waiting on God is one of the hardest things that you will do in prayer.

We live in such a “fast-food, push-button” world that it is very hard for us to merely sit still and be focused upon one thing for more than a minute.

The purpose of waiting is not because God is so busy with everyone else that it takes Him time to get to you.

It’s not that He arrives late and when He does get there, you don’t have His total attention because He is flustered about being late and because He has another appointment with someone else.

That’s how it may be with people, but never with God!

The purpose of waiting in prayer is not to get God ready, but to get yourself ready.

It is about telling God, “I’m not in a hurry. It’s not about my agenda, but its about Your presence.”

Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait I say, on the Lord.”

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Waiting is just silently focusing upon God and bringing your mind into subjection to Him.

Ralph Herring “A man’s concept of God, therefore, determines the depth of his prayer life.”

How often do you really consider who God is in prayer?

Can you truly conceive the might and greatness of this Creator?

Waiting on God will give you a right concept of WHO He really is.

Eastman Statments:

“Knowing someone intimately is impossible with limited attention. Intimacy takes time and concentration.”

“Tragically, many believers become deceived by a spirit of selfishness that often follows them directly into the closet of prayer. Waiting helps us deal with this spirit.”

It’s not about you; it’s about Him!!!!!!

Robert Murray McCheyne “A great part of my time is spent in getting my heart in tune for prayer.” ~

A spare 10 or 15 minutes here and there, listening to the latest CD of a noted minister, or reading a best-seller on Christian growth, will never provide the food needed for true spiritual development.

Building a friendship takes much time.

We must discipline ourselves to wait, if we desire to have the fellowship that will come as a result.

How many like to ride roller coasters?

It is nothing for some people to wait an hour in the hot sun with all kinds of people that you don’t know, just for the opportunity to ride that roller coaster.

Why is that?

Because you know that the result of your wait will be the reward of something that you will really enjoy.

Illustration: Bro. Ben Baker, stood in a line, in the cold, for over an hour to get propane during the ice storm here. Why? Because it was of great necessity.

Now, those are just a couple of quick examples, but there are many, many other examples in our lives in which we are willing to wait in order to receive the desired end (roller coaster ride/propane tank filled).

How much more should we be willing to wait upon a Heavenly Father Who will give us the best gives?

Even in the dorms, you can find a quiet place and wait upon the Lord.

“The one fact that we forget is that saints of old were capable of spiritual silence simply because they had not contracted our modern habit of ceaseless talk in their ordinary life. Their days were days of silence, relieved by periods of conversation, while ours are a wilderness of talk with a rare oasis of silence.

Take the time to wait on the Lord in your prayer time!

How Can I wait on God in prayer? How can we “be still” in prayer?

i. Be Unspeaking.

a. It is a time of silent surrender.

i. Not drifting into daydreaming.

ii. It demands our close attention.

iii. Where prayer is the verbalizing of our esteem for God, waiting is silent love.

b. It is wordless worship.

ii. Be Unmoving.

a. All attention must center on our Heavenly Father.

i. “Be still and know that I am God.”

iii. Be Unhurried.

a. If your prayer time is always hurried, you will not “wait on God.”

b. Waiting takes time!

c. Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

d. Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

e. 1 Timothy 4:15 “Meditate on these things:” Paul called Timothy to meditation on God’s Word and the work of God in his life. This is not emptying our minds (the goal of Eastern meditation), but filling our minds with God’s Word and truth.

iv. Be Unshakable.

a. You don’t have to cower from anything. Waiting on God in prayer means:

b. We trust God to work for us.

v. Be Unmasked. (Honest)

A. It prepares us for confession.

1. Many of us deceive ourselves concerning our need to confess before God.

2. A time of silent waiting, while focusing on a Sovereign God helps us see ourselves in a new light.

3. This has been the experience of all great men of God.

4. When Isaiah saw God, he realized his own sinfulness and cried out "Woe is me"!

B. It allows time for a proper connection.

1. I have a modem on my computer that allows me to connect to other computer systems.

2. However, after I dial I must wait until a proper connection is made before I can communicate with the other system.

3. In much the same way, we need time to connect with God in prayer.

C. Like anything that is worthwhile, waiting in prayer takes time.

1. In Acts 9:6 Paul asked, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?"

2. He spent some three years in the solitude of Arabia waiting for what God wanted him to do.

3. The Bible says that God spoke to Moses 'face to face' as a man speaks to a friend.

4. We know that their friendship was many years in the making.

Andrew Murray said, "Here is the secret of a life of prayer. Take time in the inner chamber to bow down and worship; and wait on Him until He unveils Himself, and takes possession of you, and goes out with you to show how a man can live and walk in abiding fellowship with an unseen Lord." The challenge is clear, we must wait on God in our sweet hour of prayer.