Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
How often are we expecting God to give us an answer like this? I know for me, I tend to turn to things that give me answers quickly.
I was just recently talking to a friend about how technology has gotten us to a point where we can type in a reference and get an answer list of five different Scriptures that give us what we're looking for. So quickly, we can depend on the technology rather than the Holy Spirit. Maybe you found yourself in that same situation where this Scripture actually feels like salt in a wound. You might be there right now where you've asked the Lord for something, and you think the guy that wrote this must have had the secret sauce. You’ve been praying and praying and you’re not getting any answers from Him. You may think, what is this guy doing that I should be doing?
Maybe God Is Answering
Here's what I want to pose to you today. Maybe God is answering your prayer. Maybe not in the way that you're expecting it though. Let's look at the Scripture again and see if you can catch it. "As soon as I pray, You answer me. You encourage me by giving me strength." How many times have you asked the Lord for help making a decision, thinking He's going to give you a black and white answer? You think it's this road or that one and you're not getting anything. But in the quiet place you start feeling a little bit of confidence rise up, you feel some strength, and it encourages you.
The Scripture says that God gives us strength to encourage us. Maybe the answer to your prayer is not this way or this way, but it's that He's with you. I would pose that maybe the answer God is giving to you is packaged differently than you would expect.
Pray Without Ceasing
I'll go a step further. Just because you're not receiving what you think you should be getting from God at the moment you ask, does it mean you stop praying? The Bible actually encourages us to pray without ceasing, and you might think, how am I supposed to go that long? Do I get a chance to breathe? I've wondered that myself sometimes, but the Bible says it. So how do we stay in that place?
Let's think about prayer a little bit deeper. Prayer isn't just talking to the ceiling and hoping it breaks through. It's staying connected to God and depending on Him every moment. Think about talking to your best friend. Maybe it was in school, or maybe right now you've got a friend that is so tight that you guys are besties. You talk to that person all the time. That's the same thing with prayer.
Staying Dependent on Him
God wants you to depend on Him in ways that go deeper than shallow conversations or internet searches for Scripture references. He wants you to stay so focused, so dependent on Him, that when you pray, the expectation is, I know You're going to answer me, Lord. It may not look the way I think it should look, or it may not feel the way I thought it would. But I believe that when I pray, You will answer.