Good Morning Friends,
Patience is a virtue, but sometimes it is God who is patiently waiting for us to take the next step of faith. We may say we are living by faith while wondering why we are not seeing the results we hoped for. No disrespect here, but perhaps we need to ask: Are We Waiting for God to Answer Our Prayers Without Taking Any Responsibility?
Scripture Summaries:
Titus 3:1–7 reminds us that grace does not leave us unchanged. We are saved not by our righteous works but by God’s mercy, renewed by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. Because we have received grace, we are called to lives of obedience, gentleness, humility, and good works.
Luke 17:11–19 tells of ten lepers who cried to Jesus for mercy. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests. As they went, they were healed. Yet only one, a Samaritan, returned to thank Jesus and glorify God. Jesus told him, “Your faith has made you well.”
Isaiah 35:5–6 anticipates God’s coming salvation: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap, and the wilderness springs to life.
Message: Faith is more than believing that God will eventually take care of everything while we simply wait. Faith trusts God enough to take the next step when the Spirit calls.
Notice the lepers. Jesus did not heal them and then tell them to go. He told them to go, and as they went, they were healed. Their obedience became an expression of their faith.
Waiting upon God, therefore, does not necessarily mean doing nothing. Sometimes we must wait, but sometimes God is waiting for us to move.
And something even deeper happened to the Samaritan. Ten experienced physical healing, but only one returned to Jesus in gratitude. His healing became more than physical. He recognized the One from whom the gift had come.
Our deepest sickness is ultimately the sin that separates us from God and one another. Sin can make us numb. Pride, resentment, addiction, fear, and an inability to forgive ourselves can keep us from experiencing the wholeness Christ offers.
But the faithfulness of Jesus meets us there. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ calls us beyond passivity into obedience, gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, and love.
Prayer is therefore not simply asking God to change our circumstances. Prayer also opens us to the possibility that God intends to change us within our circumstances.
And So, perhaps the question is not simply, “Why hasn’t God answered my prayer?” Perhaps we should also ask, “Lord, what are you asking me to do while I wait?” Grace is free, but grace is never fruitless. We are forgiven so that we can forgive. We are loved so that we can love. We are healed so that we can become instruments of healing. We receive mercy so that we can show mercy. The Christian life becomes one great “Thank You” to God.
We cannot control the outcome of every prayer. But we can trust God enough to take the next faithful step. Like the lepers, sometimes we discover that it is as we go that God reveals what he is doing. Faith waits when God says wait. Faith moves when God says go. And faith returns to Jesus and says, “Thank you.”
Pray we expect God to work. Pray we recognize that we are not in control but trust the One who is. Pray we hear Jesus clearly and follow the Holy Spirit faithfully. Pray our faith prompts action, obedience, compassion, forgiveness, and thankfulness. Pray we believe in the healing power of faith, loving community, and human touch. Pray we become instruments of Christ’s love to those who are hurting. Pray we discern what God is asking us to do while we wait. And above all, pray we never forget that we are loved by God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
