How to Wait on God

How to be still, quiet, trusting and dependent upon God.

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:14

It was early morning, and I was on day nine of a 31-day journey through a devotional called Waiting on God by Andrew Murray. It is a compilation of devotionals on implementing a deeper relationship with the Lord. During this time, God blew a “new life” breath into my heart. I was sitting quietly, with the Father, on our garden when God gave me a loud and clear call under the blazing fire of His Holy Spirit burning these words into my heart, soul, mind, and spirit, “Call my body to wait on Me.” 

Before I began this waiting on God adventure, I thought, waiting on God was biding my time, trying to fight impatience for Him to move and do something. However, I have discovered that now, the more I wait on Him — just simply being still and enjoying His presence — the more the love of Jesus and His Holy Spirit fills me and then seems to overflow through me. This happens whenever and wherever I go … and make disciples.  Being still, quiet, trusting and dependent upon God is the very heart of what it means to wait on God.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" (Psalm 27:14)

In the Garden with God 

In one of the devotional readings in “Waiting on God”, Andrew Murray wrote:

“There is nothing so needful as to cultivate that spirit of dependence on God and of confidence in Him, which refuses to go on without the needed supply of grace and strength.

If the question is asked, whether this be anything different from what we do when we pray, the answer is, that there may be much praying with but very little waiting on God. In praying we are often occupied with ourselves, with our own needs, and our own efforts in the presentation of them. In waiting on God, the first thought is of the God on whom we wait. We enter His presence and feel we need just to be quiet, so that He, as God, can overshadow us with Himself. God longs to reveal Himself, to fill us with Himself. Waiting on God gives Him time in His own way and divine power to come to us. It is especially at the time of prayer that we ought to set ourselves to cultivate this spirit. 

Before you pray, bow quietly before God, just remember and realize who He is, how near He is, how certainly He can and will help. Just be still before Him, and allow His Holy Spirit to awaken and stir up in your soul the childlike disposition of absolute dependence and confident expectation. Wait on God as a Living Being, as the Living God, who notices you, and is just longing to fill you with His salvation. Wait on God till you know you have met Him; prayer will then become so different.

And when you are praying, let there be intervals of silence, reverent stillness of soul, in which you yield yourself to God, in case He may have aught He wishes to teach you or to work in you. Waiting on Him will become the most blessed part of prayer, and the blessing thus obtained will be doubly precious as the fruit of such fellowship with the Holy One, God has so ordained it, in harmony with His holy nature, and with ours, that waiting on Him should be the honor we give Him. Let us bring Him the service gladly and truthfully; He will reward it abundantly.”

A while back, I took hours to wait on God expectant of Him directing me in building the prayer strategy for a new initiative within our ministry.

I sensed the Lord gently nudging my heart with the impartation that although I, as His dear son, can get direction from Him at any time, what He would really love was for me to come to Him, be still, and let Him express HIs love to me for the next few hours. To enjoy His presence, knowing that He was there with me right then, urging me to relax and be with Him. And so I did, and it was glorious!

Andrew Murray invites us: "Dear Friend, begin to see that waiting is not one among a number of Christian virtues, to be thought of from time to time. But, it expresses that disposition that lies at the very root of the Christian life. It gives a higher value and a new power to our prayers and worship, to our faith and surrender, because it links us, in unalterable dependence, to God Himself. And, it gives us the unbroken enjoyment of the goodness of God: 'The LORD is good to those who wait for him.'" (pg. 34)

How to grow your intimacy with Jesus 

 Here’s what I call “giving God a high five!” (Psalm 46:10) Take five minutes now to be still with the Most High God.

Start slowly by doing this twice a day. Build steadily through a 31-day commitment using Andrew Murray’s Waiting On God. Learn, grow and practice the art and discipline of Psalm 27:14: “Wait on The Lord, Be strong and let your heart take courage, wait on the Lord.”

Pray this week:

“Father, please give me the grace to pause, be still, to sit quietly, stopping my racing mind and emotions to just enjoy Your presence, right now…for 5 minutes…Thank you, Jesus, Amen.”