Day 23 - Not Now

Boaz Ministries

“Wait for the gift My Father promised.” Acts 1:4

There are times when God's “no” is really “not yet.” Our request may be the right one, but at the wrong time.  Most of us don’t like to wait, and in this culture, we can point and click, key in a code, push a few buttons, and voilà!  Batterson writes, "Waiting is part of praying and praying is a form of waiting. Prayer will sanctify our waiting, so we wait with holy expectancy." We must remember that prayer doesn’t delay God’s plans and purposes – it’s more like the fast track to whatever God wants to do in our lives.

In this life, we are more and more busy, with less and less time. And we sometimes think we have too much to do to pray, when, really, the opposite is true. We actually have TOO much to do NOT to pray! After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples did not go out "into all the world" immediately. He gave them clear instructions to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the gift His Father promised. They didn’t try to get ahead of God; they waited for the Holy Spirit, praying and preparing for ten days. Two thousand years later, those prayers have been answered countless times. Lives have been transformed, souls are being saved, and the Gospel is still being preached to all the world!

One of Pastor Batterson's favorite quotes throughout this book,"Pray like it depends on God, and work like it depends on us," had to grow on me. And it is mostly because of the "work ethic" that I believe, by obedience, can only come FROM God. God desires to fill us with His Holy Spirit, and when we empty ourselves, every crevice can be inhabited – and new areas will be created within us. But we have to wait. How long are we willing to wait? Are we willing to hole up in a room and pray as the disciples did – and bring on another Pentecost experience? Let’s be willing to use God’s "not yet" as a period of strengthening our faith through constant communication with Him in prayer, trusting and believing that He is preparing us for the next level.