Waiting on the Lord!

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

1.) Don’t just wait, but wait in faith and expectation

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Wait here means to wait in faith! The amplified version reads “Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;

In our praying to God, we must begin to pray with an expectation

James 1:6-8 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7)For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8)A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

The one who doubts and lacks faith should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. This lack of faith and trust in God also shows that we have no foundation, being unstable in all our ways. What is your prayer life built on, if it is not built of faith???

A wave of the sea is without rest, and so is the doubter.

A wave of the sea is unstable, and so is the doubter.

A wave of the sea is driven by the winds, and so is the doubter

1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15)And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

ASK..Much prayer fails because it never asks for anything. God is a loving God, and a generous giver, He wants us to ask of Him.

ASK ANYTHING..Not to imply that anything we ask for will be granted, but anything here in the sense that we can and should pray about everything. God cares about our whole life, and nothing is too small or too big to pray about. Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

ASK ANYTHING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL..It’s easy for us to be concerned or focused with our will before God, but God wants us to see and discern His will through His Word, and to pray His will into action! John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. When we abide in Jesus - living in Him, day by day - then our will becomes more and more aligned with His will, then we will be asking more and more according to His will, then we see answered prayer.

Psalm 130:5–6 “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”

The waiting was not passive or inactive. The psalmist used the time to actively set his hope upon God’s promises, revealed in His word.

The poet used a vivid image to express his patient anticipation in waiting on God. We see a watchman in the darkness of the early morning, scanning the horizon for the first sign of the dawn. The watchman doesn’t doubt that morning will come, but only wonders when, and watches for it diligently.

Psalm 37:34

2.) Since I have an expectation on God, what does God expect from me in the wait?

Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

While we are waiting, let us take heed of wavering!

Walk in the path which God commands. Do not allow any temptation, or any opposition, to cause you to swerve from that path! Continue in the narrow path! Let no haste for riches or ease cause unholy action. Continue in the practice of thy duty, or in the ways which God hath commanded you in his word!

Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of they 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.

If we are going to have an expectation on God to answer our prayer, God has an expectation on us that in the process and in our period of wait, WE KEEP HIS WAY!!!

OBEDIENCE BREEDS SUCCESS!!!

Exodus 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

The children of Israel lost their way in the wait!!!

Psalm 40:1

David waited upon the Lord without immediate answer

“I waited patiently” Heb. in waiting i waited; doubling of the word notes that he waited diligently and earnestly, patiently and perseveringly, until God should please to help him.

The word inclined has the sense of God bending down to David in his affliction, removing any perceived distance between the Lord and His servant. When David knew God heard his cry, he was confident of a favorable answer.

Psalm 62:5-7

3.) Wait on, and trust in God alone!

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

David spoke to his soul, telling it to remain in that place of trust in and surrender to God. David’s complete expectation was upon God.

They don’t trust God at all whose trust is not in him alone! He that stands with one foot on a rock, and another foot upon quicksand, will sink and perish, as certainly as he that standeth with both feet upon quicksand. David knew this and called earnestly for his soul to trust only upon God.

Notice how David lays a personal claim to every name which he rejoicingly gives to God! MY Expectation, MY Rock, MY Salvation, MY Defence, MY Glory, MY Strength, MY Refuge!

Proverbs 20:22

Isaiah 25:9

Habakkuk 2:3

Hold on in the wait!