Devotionals

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Practicing Patience


I keep hounding God for an answer, but I am not waiting on the reply. I just keep asking. I am not patient enough to wait for the time essence response. God is not early or late; He is on time. I think things should already be happening, but He knows I’m not ready. He knows what is best for me. I may be ready in some areas, but there may be an area where I completely lack the essential tools to survive.

We are inundated with waiting. We wait at traffic lights, we wait in line when shopping and we wait for our promotions. You would think our practice would pay off; yet we are impatient even more. Our world is so fast and automated we expect to receive things yesterday. Our prayers need to be answered immediately too. The big neon sign from God needs to appear as soon as we say Amen and open our eyes.

I have yet to experience an answer to a prayer in that fashion. I ask, I wait, then I ask again. I ask all day, week and month long. Our children pester us for things by tapping us and saying mom or dad repeatedly until we give them our attention. As adults, we do the same to God. If our prayers go unanswered for even an hour, we repeat the request. Sometimes we ask the same question over our entire lifetime.

So why do we tolerate waiting in long lines at Christmas, the extremely long stop light and the infinite line to get our new driver’s license but rarely tolerate God doing His job? He knows what prayers we are going to ask and He already knows the answer He is going to give.

If we know that God has it all under control, why do we insist on bothering Him all day long? Why can’t we just sit back and relax, knowing that He is in charge? Our lives are so often put on hold waiting for His response that we may miss an important event in our lives. As we wait on our answer, we may not see a neighbor who needs help in learning about Christ. Our friends may be expecting a baby, yet we overlook their joy because we are filled with impatience. We only see ourselves.

Is there a reasonable time frame to give God to answer our prayers? No. God will take His time and answer it in the time frame and way that best suits us. We have to be careful not to jump to conclusions, answer the prayer ourselves based on what our will is or seek advice from somewhere else. We have to give ourselves time to feel God working on us.

Be careful what you pray for, but pray for what you need. We all need a good dose of patience, but the only way to attain it is more practice. The next time you’re stuck in line or at a traffic light, take some time to think of God and the direction He is taking your life.


A small, honest wink to God while waiting means more to Him than a rushed prayer to get something we really don’t need. What we need is patience to let Him answer our prayers. We cannot speed up His answers. Request or prayer, turn over the response, and then fulfill our daily duties. Before you know it, our prayer will be answered.

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