Formed in Waiting: How Prayer Changes Us

``David doesn't resolve his circumstances in Psalm 13. It doesn't say the lord responded and everything was okay. Nothing was resolved in that moment. Nothing changes around him, but something changes within him. By the final verse, he does say, I will trust in your unfailing love. Not because the waiting ended, but because the prayer has reshaped his heart while he waited. [00:20:33] (38 seconds)  #HeartChangedByPrayer

Waiting in prayer feels dry, but it teaches dependence. When prayer feels unanswered, it teaches trust. When prayer feels exhausting, it teaches patience. Prayer doesn't always change the circumstance, but it always changes the one who keeps praying. [00:33:18] (24 seconds)  #WaitingTeachesTrust

But notice something. Jesus doesn't speed the the promise. Not he doesn't speed it up. He doesn't just make it happen. He promises justice. The delay is not denial. That's one problem with prayer that I think many Americans face is we're such an instant society. How we don't have an answer by the time we say amen. So we we assume the answer is no, and maybe we set about to do it ourselves. Jesus doesn't promise speed. The delay is not a denial. The waiting is not wasted. [00:26:39] (44 seconds)  #DelayNotDenial

And then notice how he ends the parable. When the son of man comes, will he find faith on Earth? Not success, not answers, faith expressed through continued prayer in the waiting. That's one one one thing that Jesus says faith will look like. Continued prayer in the waiting. And in in the absence of that, he says, will he find faith on earth? [00:27:23] (30 seconds)  #FaithInTheWaiting

Hours passed, and there was no update, no clarity, just waiting. Can you imagine? Some of us have been in those hallways. You've been in that hallway. You know the agony of waiting to hear if someone is okay. That's ever been you than you can understand. At some point, he realized the prayer had shifted. He wasn't asking God to hurry anymore. He was asking God to stay. The circumstances hadn't changed. He didn't have any answers, but he had changed. Fear had loosened his grip and trust quietly taking its place. Later, when the answer finally came, whatever that answer was, he knew something important had already happened. God had met him in the hallway, not just in the outcome. [00:36:58] (67 seconds)  #MetInTheHallway

Not the easy polite one, the first one that came to your head, but the honest one, the struggle, the one that you grieve over and pray about, that one. And as believers, let's recover the lost language of lament. Let's stop assuming strong faith means silent struggle. Strong faith keeps praying even when the answers stall. [00:38:26] (29 seconds)  #HonestLament

Formed into waiting, how prayer changes us. The big idea is that prayer shapes us most when answers feel delayed, when prayer sounds more like lament than faith. If you'll turn with me to Psalms chapter 13, David, often in the Psalms, lamented. He was just raw and honest with God about what was going on and his feelings about life. I'm gonna read this, just a few verses. [00:16:39] (36 seconds)  #ShapedByPrayer

She kept coming back to the judge and coming back to the judge and coming back to the judge. Not because she believes the judge is good, but because patience and persistence is her only options. Jesus' point isn't that god is like the unjust judge. It's the opposite. Even if the corrupt judge eventually responds, how much more will a righteous God hear the cries of his people? [00:26:09] (31 seconds)  #PersistentPrayer