On Friday, I focused on the power of prayer and mentioned that Dr. Dick Eastman’s book, The Hour That Changes The World has been impacting my prayer life significantly. I’m finding that one of Dr. Eastman’s recommendations that is impacting me the most is “waiting” on the Lord. Dr. Eastman recommends we start our prayer time with praise, which is something I have done ever since I was a teenager and learned the “ACTS” model of prayer, which is an acronym for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. He then calls us to “wait” on the Lord.
Waiting on the Lord is just that. We wait. We let God know we are available, that we aren’t going anywhere, that we are investing this time with Him. Dr. Eastman points out this is not “listening” prayer. It isn’t a time when we intentionally call on God to speak to us, or listen for what He has to say to us. Of course, if God wants to speak to us during this time of waiting, that’s great. The point is to pause and make sure we know that God is first in our lives.
I’ve been finding this aspect of prayer extremely powerful and refreshing. As I tell God I’m waiting on Him, that I have nothing more important in that moment, or in my day for that matter, than waiting before Him, waiting on Him, something has happened each day–I have realized nothing is more important in my life than God. My schedule is not more important than He. No other relationship is more important than He. In those moments of waiting if my mind wanders to the tasks of the day, I simply say, “God, thank you that you are more important than any of that. I’m waiting on you.”
The difference those few minutes of waiting on God each day over the past week is vastly disproportionate to the time invested. It has set the tone for each day. It has literally made me realize God’s presence is more important to me than anything. The freedom of experiencing that has been powerful. At other times throughout the day, when life gets hectic, I’ll remember, “God has this.” It’s a moment of waiting on Him once again. It may seem counterintuitive to pause and wait on God in order to be more effective in getting things done, and that isn’t the primary reason for doing it, but this past week has been more productive in the tasks that matter than many.
If you already include waiting in your times of prayer, praise God. If you don’t, I encourage you to add it. The first couple of days I did it, to pause and wait seemed a little awkward. Now, I look forward to it, because it focuses me on the most important one in my life–God, and lets Him know He’s in charge today, and I’m waiting, pausing, to remember that. He already knows!
Here’s to leading better by waiting on the Lord–today!