Waiting on God: Anticipating His Response

Waiting on God is a deliberate coming aside from the noise and hurry of life to spend unhurried, expectant time in His presence until He speaks: “My soul, wait silently for God alone, because I hope in Him” (Ps 62:5).

What Waiting on God Means

A term for spending time in prayer and meditation (also called pressing into God or seeking the mind of God), especially when needing His answer to a particular situation. It goes beyond a normal devotional time in its intensity and determination of heart to ‘hear’ His mind on a matter – a humble acknowledgement that although I don’t know the way ahead, I am relying on the Lord to show me, rather than blundering along by human reasoning (Jdg 17:6; Prov 14:12, 21:2).

Lord, I don’t know the way ahead – I am relying on You to show me

Waiting on God is acknowledging He is all I need and He has the answers. It is not a matter of convincing ourselves that we know God’s mind, or of hoping He will agree with us – rather, we come to lay our thinking before Him and let His mind reshape ours (Prov 3:5-6; Isa 55:8-9). Nor is it a mystical exercise but a spiritual discipline of patience, dependence and delight in Him, confident that this good God will meet with His children (Jer 29:11-14, 33:3; Rom 8:28; 1 Jn 4:16).

A Spiritual Discipline of Stillness

Waiting on God involves stilling our spirit – removing ourselves from life’s interruptions to spend unhurried time in expectancy, for the Holy Spirit to speak into our mind as we pray and read the Scriptures. God desires to communicate with us, yet He seldom responds to our impatient timetables: He longs for us to commune with Him, not just collect the answer and hurry off. He wants intimate fellowship with us, not merely action from us.

Nor does this waiting posture end when we rise from our knees: keep an open heart to the Lord throughout the day, for He speaks in many different ways – through the Scriptures, through circumstances, through the counsel of others, and through the quiet promptings of His Spirit (Ps 32:8; Jn 10:27).

“My soul waits on God; from Him comes my salvation” (Ps 62:1). It is a conscious choice – turning from what we desire to being occupied with God Himself, with the attitude “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears” and a readiness to “do whatever He says” (1 Sam 3:10; Jn 2:5).

As waiting on God is an honour we give Him, it should be a regular part of our devotional life, refreshing us and giving new insight into His character and direction (Ps 40:1-4). “None who wait for You or hope in You will be ashamed” (Ps 25:3,5, 33:20). To walk consistently in His will requires planned, unhurried times set aside to experience Him – precious encounters that become milestones in our Christian walk (Ps 27:8,14, 130:5-6).

Don’t try and ‘do life’ without a good connection to the Lord

The Training Between Calling and Commissioning

Waiting on God to bring about His purposes after He has spoken can be trying, yet it enables us to know Him better and trust Him more deeply. Between His calling and commissioning lies an unspecified period of training, refining our desires so we will be ‘useful vessels’. God doesn’t operate on our schedules: “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isa 46:10). Do I have quiet confidence He will fulfil His purpose for me (Ps 138:8)?

“You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who act on behalf of those who wait for Him” (Isa 64:4,5). Waiting patiently on Him affirms He is in control, bringing renewed strength to rise above life’s problems (Isa 40:29-31). God rewards those who diligently seek Him in faith, so waiting on Him, the source of life, is a wise choice (Jn 10:10, 15:4-5; Heb 11:6) – not passive, but with hope and expectancy to receive from His good hand.

God is sovereign – wait with hope and expectancy

Steps for Waiting on God

Begin by choosing a regular time and place where you can be still without interruption: come with the Scriptures open and a heart of expectancy, and worship Him for who He is – occupied with the Person before the answer.

Come aside, be still, and listen until He speaks

Then bring the matter before Him honestly and wait in silence, listening as He brings Scripture, conviction or peace to your mind. Record what He says, so these encounters become milestones of guidance, and respond in ready obedience – for hearing and doing must never be separated. If no answer comes immediately, return daily to the place of stillness until He speaks.

Three Examples from Scripture

Hannah, provoked year after year because of her childlessness, took her anguish to the tabernacle and “poured out her soul before the Lord”, praying so intently that Eli mistook her silent pleading for drunkenness (1 Sam 1:6-7, 13-15). She went away with her face no longer sad – a peace that came before she saw the answer – and in time God remembered her and Samuel was born (1 Sam 1:17-20, 2:21).

Elijah, exhausted and hiding in a cave at Horeb, learned to wait as wind, earthquake and fire passed by – “but the Lord was not in” them. Only then came the still small voice, in which God corrected his thinking and recommissioned him (1 Kgs 19:1-18) – a lasting picture of the quietness in which God speaks to those who wait for Him.

David was anointed king as a youth, yet lived for years as a fugitive from Saul. Twice he could have seized the throne by force, yet refused to stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, inquiring of the Lord at each step instead (1 Sam 16:11-13, 24:4-7, 26:8-11). In God’s appointed time the crown came without a stolen victory, and he reigned over all Israel (2 Sam 5:3-5): “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Ps 37:7).

Reflection and Application

Do I regularly set aside unhurried time to wait on God, or seek Him only when I need an answer?
Do I rush off with my own reasoning instead of listening until His mind on the matter is made clear to me?
Am I willing to trust God’s timing in the gap between His promise and His provision?
What past encounters with God can I recall as milestones to strengthen my present expectancy?