Since the Lord brought me to Himself my freshman year of high school there have been pages full of journals and prayers spilled out to the Lord. It has been a joy to see the Lord refine my mind and change my heart. There is nothing that makes my heart sing “Great is Thy Faithfulness!” any louder than reading through an old journal of mine! Hallelujah that I am not who I was.
The Lord definitely puts desires in my heart and I am able to cry out to him and lean on Him. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 37 and it reminds me to not throw a laundry list on the Lord and not to waste my time of waiting. There is much to be done in the periods of waiting and many temptations as well. I need to wait patiently, earnestly, actively and prayerfully. I must never think that God has forgotten, forsaken, withheld or dealt harshly with me. I am often more concerned with my first world desires and not my eternal needs. Both need to be taken to the Lord.
Going through life I pray to God ALL the time; I put requests on prayer sheets, ask for prayer and the Spirit intercedes for my heart before the throne of God. As time goes on I see that all prayers are answered. Some answers are a swift yes, others a painful no and others are left to “dangle”. While I can’t begin to recount every prayer that I have had, God has not forgotten. He has not let any prayer slip through the cracks, go unattended to or unaddressed in my life. What a blessing that the High Priest not only hears but handles all of my prayers.
It would be exhausting to have to keep track and manage all prayers that I petition to the Lord. Thank you LORD that you not only know my heart, you hear my prayers, know the future and are able to make sense of it all and make His own name great in all of it. Often when I don’t see an answer or progress in my prayers I can be tempted to have almost a nagging or “did you forget” tone. It is so humbling and comforting to remember that God put the desires in my heart and He did not forget they were there. Yes, we need to remind ourselves of the truth of God everyday, but we do not need to remind God. Even when it seems like hope is lost, the future is distant or the goal is a stretch God will address it in His good time.
Often when my heart is complaining to others the root of it lies in that I don’t trust God with it, or I think that He forgot. The things we pray to God are not lost on him. They are not only safe but in the most capable hand possible. A day for the Lord is like a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8). As I go through the monotony of life and day to day activities, the hours can go slow but the months fly by. It is good for my heart to remember that the Lord owns the cattle of a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10) and that He knows the desire of my heart.
It seems like there are always a few friends whose husbands are looking for work, trying to buy houses, have kids, get married or something similar. The Lord has not forgotten you! He will bring about those things, if He sees fit in His good time. For whatever reason that is not His best for you, continue to delight in the Lord. Continue to turn your heart upon Him. Continue to serve in the church. Continue to memorize scripture. Continue to serve those around you. Continue to speak truth to those in your life. Keep making deposits into the eternal depository and glorify God in all things! We can easily become distracted, discouraged or discontent. Remember Psalm 37, all of it! Pray that your heart would be cultivated so that when the Lord plants the seed you have been anticipating it would thrive and grow for His glory and your good.
It is always a joy to look back and see the ways the Lord has remembered me and blessed me beyond my prayers in ways that I can’t even count, even in seemingly insignificant things. Hindsight is always 20-20, if I already know I will trust, rejoice in and praise God with the things he does in my heart, why don’t I just start on this end and praise Him all the way through?!
Are you waiting for something or someone to change? What things in your heart do you think the Lord forgot about? Are you hoping to get a certain job, buy something new or make a decision; how can you delight in the Lord as you wait?
