How to Pray When You Are Waiting upon the Lord
Do you feel as if you are in a season of “waiting upon the Lord?”
Isaiah 40:31 says…
- “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.” (KJV)
Many of us face this problem: we think of waiting upon the Lord as doing nothing, expecting blessings to fall into our laps.
However, this is not the way of the Father. He operates in terms of covenant relationship. He wants to ensure that when He places His blessings upon you, that they will be used to further His Kingdom and bring you closer to Him.
He does not want you to take the blessing and store it up. This would be no different from sowing a seed and then covering it so that it doesn’t receive water or sun. It would eventually die. He cares too much about you and others to allow this to happen.
So then, many times when it feels you are waiting upon the Lord, He is actually waiting on you to pray His Word, opening up Heaven to rain blessings upon the earth.
On the other hand, the enemy wants you to get frustrated in the waiting, doubting that God’s Word will come to pass.
Three Ways the Enemy Snags You in Your Waiting
- The devil wants you to become focused on the fruit rather than the root.
This means that the enemy wants you to become more focused on the blessing itself rather than seeking the Lord.
The Bible is clear about your purpose. It is not to receive blessings, though that is the gracious outcome of God’s loving nature.
Your purpose in waiting upon the Lord is revealed in Matthew 22:37-38…
“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.”
Jesus is the vine. When you abide in Him, you will bear fruit. But when you focus on the fruit, you end up empty-handed. Remember John 15:5—you can do nothing apart from Christ.
- The devil wants you to get impatient and lose focus.
A loss of focus is exemplified in Peter’s walk on the water. He wanted to exercise faith, but fear overtook him when he lost sight of his purpose—to focus on Christ.
The Bible is clear that we are to seek God first, and in this seeking, He will take care of us.
Your provision in waiting upon the Lord is revealed in Matthew 6:33-34…
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
- The devil wants to keep you from repenting when you get frustrated in the waiting.
There will be times when frustration rises up in your mind, will, and emotions. But the key is repentance. The enemy wants you to delay the act of repentance, or better yet, keep you from ever going before the Lord and confessing the emotion that caused you to sin, and asking for forgiveness.
Repentance is the key to alignment. God is gracious and faithful to His Word to forgive when we turn away from our way of thinking and return to Him.
Your prosperity in waiting upon the Lord is revealed in Proverbs 28:13…
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whenever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
Repentance clears the way for God’s Word to come to pass in your life.
Think of Waiting Upon the Lord as a Seed That Needs the Living Water
The blessing He has written in your book in Heaven is like a seed He sows within you. He wants to give it living water so that it multiplies, blessing others far beyond what you can imagine.
We want to challenge you to think of waiting in a new way. It is more than an opportunity to persevere, it’s an opportunity to pray for your purpose, which is written in Heaven waiting to be manifested on earth.
Here’s how to make your Kingdom purpose come to pass through prayer…
Step 1: Understand there are books in Heaven.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
In Heaven, there is a book about you. Within that book is written the good works God prepared beforehand, which is your Kingdom purpose.
Step 2: Call down what is written in the books.
There are books, but unless you pray, engaging and activating what is written, your purpose remains unmanifested or delayed.
This situation is similar to a beautiful new car sitting in your garage. You know it’s there, but unless you put the key in the ignition and start the engine, it doesn’t go anywhere, even though it is perfectly capable of doing so.
Pray a heartfelt prayer every day, such as the one below, when you are waiting upon the Lord to manifest the good works that He prepared for you beforehand.
“Father God, in Yeshua’s name, whatever is written in my book for this day, I pray it comes to pass. I want nothing more or nothing less. Let no demonic power or human deed stop me from fulfilling my purpose for this day, in Yeshua’s name, amen.”
This cancels the assignment of the enemy, which is to abort your blessings by getting you frustrated and impatient in your waiting upon the Lord.
When you decree and declare scriptures such as Ephesians 2:10 or Colossians 1:27 (which explains that God wants to reveal His will to you), ministering angels become responsible for taking those promises and causing them to come to pass.
The Word of God will not come back void. This is why the angels, who do His Word, must act when His Word is spoken by you (see Psalm 103:20).
Step 3: Begin to experience the presence of God in your purpose.
As you start to understand…
- How the enemy snags you
- That there is a book of good works—your Kingdom purpose—written in Heaven
- How to pray every day for those works to manifest on earth
… you will begin to experience the power of God’s presence in your life. He wants no separation from you. But for Him to draw near, you must seek and draw near to Him.
Once you start to pray and read God’s Word in this way, you experience more of His love and glory. He will raise you to new levels of faith. You have a high-level assignment, which calls for more of His strength and presence in your life. So get ready for the journey because it’s going to be full of awe!