“Do you not realize that I could ask My Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and He would send them instantly?” –Matthew 26:53
God’s Will be done in my life, Amen.
Jesus faced His trepidation over the upcoming suffering He would endure on the cross by praying for strength to do His Father’s Will. Instead of letting fear overwhelm Him or sink Him into despair, Jesus dropped to His knees and prayed, “Father, not My Will, but Yours be done.”
Patience, faith and waiting on The Creator.
So what exactly is the meaning of patience?
Well, patience is most commonly defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. In other words, patience is essentially “waiting with grace.” Part of being Christian is the ability to accept unfortunate circumstances gracefully while having faith that we will ultimately find resolution in God.
What is virtue and why is it important?
Virtue is synonymous with having a noble character. It simply means the quality or practice of moral excellence and is one of the central tenants of Christianity. Being virtuous is essential to enjoying a wholesome life and building healthy relationships!
In Galatians 5:22, patience is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit. If patience is a virtue, then waiting is the best (and often most unpleasant) means by which the Holy Spirit grows patience in us.
But our culture does not value patience in the same way that God does. Why be patient? Instant gratification is much more fun! Our increasing ability to instantly satisfy our wants may be taking away the blessing of learning how to wait well.
What does it mean to “wait well,” anyway?
Here are six ways to let scripture guide you to wait well for your sanity and sanctification – ultimately for God’s glory:
1. Patience is waiting quietly: Lamentations 3:25-26 says, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
2. Patience is waiting eagerly
Hebrews 9:27-28 says, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
3. Patience is waiting until the end
Hebrews 6:15 says, “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” Abraham waited patiently for God to lead him to the Promised Land – but remember that detour he took regarding the promise of an heir?
In Genesis 15:5, God told Abram his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. At the time, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
If you read on in Genesis, you’ll see it didn’t go so well for Abram when he took things into his own hands rather than waiting for the Lord’s promise to be fulfilled. Waiting does not automatically produce patience.
“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” (James 5:7-8)
4. Patience is waiting expectantly
Maybe you had a legitimate God-given vision of successlike Abraham. But life took a wild turn, and the promise looks like it’s never going to happen.
We know from Philippians 1:6 that God will finish what he starts. And the Psalmist encourages us to keep asking God for our request even while we’re waiting for Him to bring it about.
“In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3)
5. Patience is waiting joyfully
Rebecca also says this about patience:
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)
Sometimes our character has deep flaws that we can’t see right now, but God can. And He won’t ignore them. Gently, persistently, He prods us, helping us to see our sin. God doesn’t give up. He’s patient with us, even when we’re not patient with Him. Of course, it’s easier if we listen and obey the first time, but God will not stop purifying his people until we reach heaven. This trial of waiting doesn’t need to be only a painful season. You can be joyful that God is at work in your life. He is growing some good fruit in you!
6. Patience is waiting with grace for yourself
This all is much easier said than done, right? Waiting with patience is not easy, and God knows this. The good news is that you don’t have to wait alone.
Romans 8:2-26 says, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
God not only calls you to patience, but He also helps you in your weakness and prays for you. We cannot be patient on our own if we just try harder. Patients is a fruit of the Spirit, not of our flesh. Therefore, we need the Spirit’s help to grow it in our lives.
I always pray in HIS WILL but sometimes I beg, lol
There’s a difference between being a beggar and being a believer. And then there’s also this thing called persistence.
Jesus said, “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this: though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. So I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Luke 11:5-9, NLT).
I’ve often heard people quote Luke 11:9 about asking, seeking, and knocking, but we sometimes forget to read the context before or after to get the whole picture. In this account, Jesus was totally trying to help His disciples understand an important principle of prayer: persistence.
Jesus wanted us to understand that when we pray and there’s not an immediate answer, don’t think God is deaf or that He expects us to grovel at His feet before we ask Him anything in prayer. No, on the contrary, Jesus used the example of a friend—one who probably would’ve helped any other time, but it was the middle of the night. Yet, because of the man’s persistence, the friend got up and helped anyway.
The Message Translation says,
“Ask and you’ll get; Seek and you’ll find; Knock and the door will open. Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in” (verses 9-10).
So here’s the key I want you to remember:
WE KEEP ASKING BECAUSE WE BELIEVE GOD IS THE ONLY ONE WE NEED.
Prayer is about faith. It’s why we’re called believers, not beggars. Jesus didn’t tell us to keep on asking because God needs us to beg or He’s hard of hearing.
Jesus knew Father God is pleased with faith.
It’s easy to knock on a door once and if no one answers, go to the next door (or in this case, a Plan B). But it’s a whole other ballgame when we stand at the door, knock, and keep knocking because we believe there’s not another door that has our answer!