When we are waiting for the Lord to answer our prayers, we are to be doing so patiently but persistently. Like an eagle that is waiting patiently for the new feathers to reappear, as they are growing stronger on the wings, so as to be able to mount up into the skies again; a waiting Christian is to be waiting also before the Lord.
Waiting patiently but persistently on the Lord will take you into new heights, that you had never been before.
The time of waiting for an eagle allows the healing and restoration to take place for the new beak, new claws and new feathers. An eagle that has waited for the fullness of time to come, gets smarter than before in his hunting adventures and in the ability to do exploits in the skies.
David said about his own moment of waiting in the wilderness:
“I wait [patiently] for the Lord, my soul [expectantly] waits, And in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; More than the watchmen for the morning.”
Psalms 130:5-6 AMP
David had said his prayers to the Lord here already. He now has to wait for the answer to come from God’s presence. But he had to wait patiently and expectantly.
Prophet Habakkuk said as he also waited to hear from the Lord:
“I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.”
Habakkuk 2:1 NKJV
There was no need to rush out of the presence of the Lord for these two men. They knew that they had everything to gain by waiting. Every time we are waiting for the Lord to answer our prayers, He will often answer us with corrections, instructions or directions which are meant to discipline us, in His ways of doing things in His Kingdom. Everything that God does in our lives are meant for the expansion of His Kingdom here on the earth. No matter what it may be, He does it to glorify His name.
And He won’t answer prayers without looking carefully at the intents and motives of the heart. He will never respond as human beings will often respond to our pleadings before them. He will first probe the heart that has cried out to Him. He will test the intentions of your heart before answering you.
That’s why we must be open at heart in order to be discipled by Him. Those who are rebellious towards God, will suffer in their rebellion. They are not different from an eagle that refuses to wait, for the cycle of his healing, restoration and renewal of strength to be completed, before launching out into the skies.
A heart that is prepared and full of faith and expectancy while waiting, is what the Lord is looking for. God’s promises to us in His written word is what gives us the faith, that is patient and expectant in waiting. Anyone who is hoping in the word of God waits patiently for its fulfillment.
Jesus said:
“By your [patient] endurance [empowered by the Holy Spirit] you will gain your souls.”
Luke 21:19 AMP
An attitude with patient endurance that is empowered by the Holy Spirit comes as we yield, to praying in the spirit (other tongues). Praying in the spirit helps us to gain our souls, as we are standing before the Lord by faith. We of course are praying in the spirit and in the understanding; but our attitude must be with patient endurance (1 Corinthians 14:15).
We wait patiently with endurance, so that our renewed strength can fully be empowered by the Holy Spirit, as we are praying. An eagle receives his strength back, by waiting for the right time to launch into the skies. So also does he receive the ability, to be able to do more than he had been doing before, by waiting to the end.
An expectant Christian who is waiting on the Lord, has to do what the watchman does by waiting on the top of a tower. A watchman waits patiently through the dark hours of the night, while expecting the darkness of the night to disappear in the morning.
Darkness flees when morning comes
The dark hours of the night are the most difficult times for the watchman to watch. Apart from not being able to have reliable visuals in watching, the watchman struggles to keep alert and awake in waiting through the darkness. He can’t really do a lot in the darkness of the night, except to be looking and listening for every sign of movements.
He (as a prayer intercessor) is however aware through his past experiences in prayer and intercession, while waiting for the response of the Lord with thanksgiving that:
“ .. His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”
Psalms 30:5 NKJV
An effective prayer warrior has the attitude of the watchman, who is waiting patiently for joy to come with the dawn of a new day.
And we all may have had moments like that in our lives, when we had have to be waiting as the watchman waits. Dark moments in life when it seems as if nothing is happening after praying. These are the times when the Lord really expects us to be waiting.
He is working for you in the background. He may give you a glimpse of it, but He will not allow you to understand the whole picture of His doings, until the fullness of the time that He has set for you comes.
Persistency in prayer as we are waiting causes God’s light, to begin to shine through our hearts in overcoming the darkness around us. Persistency in prayer at the moment of waiting gives your angels, something to keep working on while you are waiting.
If you are not being persistent in prayer while waiting, you are probably waiting for nothing. Your angels don’t have something to keep them engaged in the spiritual warfare on your behalf.
That’s why we don’t give in to complacency in prayer. The hosts of heaven can’t really do anything for you, if you are no more praying persistently. Without your spiritual engagement with them on the earth, they can’t do anything for you in the spiritual realm.
They do need your word of command, so as to be effective in working for you. It’s what you are saying with your mouth that empowers the angels to be acting on your behalf.
That’s why it’s better to not open your mouth to be speaking the things that may hurt you. The angels are watching your mouth and every one of your moves, as you are waiting on the Lord. They want to be in harmony with you as you are praying. But if your mouth keeps pulling you down, you will have yourself to blame.
Angels can’t go beyond what you are saying with your mouth (Hebrews 1:14).
Prayers that are based on the word of God, will therefore cause His light to shine through our hearts. We need to have faith in God’s covenant promises to be able to pray in this way.
Faith in God’s Covenant promises is what gives substance to our prayers, for the things that we do hope for to manifest. Persistency in prayer is therefore a requirement for waiting for an answer before the Lord.
That’s why it’s important to be speaking words, that are in harmony with the promises of God for your situation, as they are written in the holy scriptures.
Jesus taught us to be persistent in prayer. And oftentimes the waiting time for the darkness to disappear, can be the most challenging for many people. It’s not everyone who has the patience to wait.
Many are often looking for a quick way out of the darkness. Of course no one wants to be in the darkness at all. But the Lord wants His own children to go through those dark moments of their lives, with faith which works through love; so that they will never have to be afraid of going through it again.
You will become so strong in your faith to the extent that, nothing which the devil throws at you will ever bother you again. You will know exactly what to do in dealing with him at every moment. And in most cases he will be in fear or dread of who you are in Christ Jesus.
The Psalmist said:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalms 23:4 NKJV
The valley of the shadow of death is a place where no one wants to be in life. It is the place where the devil has some hold of that situation in your life. But he can’t really stop you, for as long as you are not stopping yourself, as you are passing through it.
The enemy is the one who always creates the valley of the shadow of death, to make people fearful of him. And the moment you cave in to his fear, the thoughts of death will attack your mind.
That’s why you will often hear people say that, they are afraid to die. The devil had projected the fear in them, which has produced the thoughts of death in their minds. And as long as they are entertaining such thoughts about death, they will eventually get what they are entertaining (Matthew 12:33-37).
Those who are stopping as they are passing through the valley of the shadow of death, are often faced with all kinds of temptation in it. The scripture says that we are to walk through it, and not hanging out in it.
The children of light may be in the valley of the shadow of death for a moment, but they do know that the light will eventually shine through the valley, in showing them the way out of it. As long as you are abiding in the light, your light will overcome the valley of the shadow of death, as you are walking through it.
God is there with you in the valley. Don’t ever stop! Keep on moving, because He will always protect you, as you are passing through it.
A shadow is a form of darkness, but it can’t do you any harm. And shadows are really the reflection of light on an object upon another surface.
In this case, the valley of the shadow of death is created by the devil to put fear in people. The light of God is shining, but the devil will always project shadows, so as to prevent you from seeing the light of God.
Fear is the weapon of the devil which he uses, in attacking your faith in God’s Covenant promises; even while you are being comforted in the valley by the Lord.
The valley in the scripture text above symbolizes a form of abasement or degradation in life. Have you ever been in a situation like this in your life, when people are degrading, abasing or belittling you as a child of God?
The experience is humiliating, especially when you have stopped walking through it. If you are in the valley at this moment, you will need the right attitude for the Lord to get you out. The Bible says:
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,”
I Peter 5:6 NKJV
And again the scriptures says:
“But He (God) gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James 4:6-8 NKJV
You surely will need to stay humbled, and never entertain the thoughts about pride in the valley. Pride is the direct opposite of humility. Pride in the valley leads always to destruction. And many people are being destroyed daily, because they do have the wrong attitude in the valley.
You will also note in the second scripture texts above, that we have to be humbled at heart first, in order to be submissive to God’s will for our lives. It’s only after you have done these two things, that you can be effective in resisting the devil.
There are many who just like to resist the devil, without humbling themselves and being fully and totally submissive to God’s word. And if you are not humbled at heart, you can’t be in submission to the will of God (or His word) in your life.
It’s a sign of rebellion in certain Christians. And that’s why they will often say that they had resisted the devil, but he is not fleeing away from them.
Well, the devil knows those who are humbled and in submission to the word of God. He knows those who are proud and consequently not fully submissive; but are just playing lip service to it.
And oftentimes it’s the pride of life that is preventing them from being humbled and submissive to God. They are the ones who are often falling into temptations to do evil by the enemy.
When a Christian is humbled and submissive to the word of God, in most cases the devil will flee away before he can even say anything in binding him.
The child of God who is humbled and submissive before the Lord is waiting on Him with expectancy. He knows that his time for the lifting up comes from the Lord alone. And if you are patiently waiting for the Lord to lift you up, no one will ever be able to pull you down again.
An eagle on the mountain top that’s waiting for his healing, restoration and renewal process to be completed goes through this situation also. Everyday he looks at the skies. He knows that he belongs there, and not on top of the mountain.
But he has to wait for his time to come. And when the fullness of time comes for that eagle to start soaring again, he will do greater than he used to do before.
We however need to know that the light that is being projected comes from the Lord, to create life and not death. The projection of light gives us life, if we will choose to abide in it. The light of His word gives us faith, and not fear.
The devil is the one who goes in between the projection of light to create shadows, in other to make people fearful of the shadows. A shadow is therefore a corruption of light by the devil, to create fear in people, as they are walking through the valley.
We can see here that, for everything which the devil is projecting, there is always a contradiction to it from the Lord. When the enemy is creating fear, God has His opposite of it in His word to give us faith.
When the enemy is projecting the thoughts of death in those dark moments through your mind; God has His offer of life available to you through His Light:
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
John 8:12 NKJV
If you are following Jesus, you can’t be in the darkness. You will not be hanging out around the works of darkness at all.
Jesus said again:
“The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. People who do evil hate the light and won’t come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done. But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do.”
John 3:19-21 CEV
The Lord expects you as a Christian to pass through the shadow of the valley of death, and not to be living or fellowshipping with those works of darkness. He doesn’t expects you to be in fear of it, because He is right there in the midst of it with you.
Neither does He expects you to just be sitting down in the dark, without doing anything to get out of it. That’s when you can actually do a lot of exploits with your faith, by speaking what you do believe with your heart, in getting you out of the dark.
Don’t just sit there doing nothing in the valley of the shadow of death. Pray also persistently, while being humbled at heart and submissive to the authority of God’s word. Then you can resist the devil effectively, while you wait for the Lord to lift you up.
Jesus said again:
“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 9:4-5 NKJV
Don’t just be waiting for the Lord while it is dark without doing something. Persistency in prayer is what is important for you as you are passing through the valley. Keep on praying without ceasing!
