To wait prayerfully means allowing God to speak to you through His Word and through a time of prayer.
For my devotional time I have a journal which I keep for my reflections on the bible passages I read. My bible is littered with dates written next to verses where God has spoken to me. These journals go back years and take up a lot of room in our house. But I would never part with them. Memory is at times a fickle thing. Since my journals are all dated and indexed, I can go back and see exactly what was happening in my life at the time. This idea I picked up years ago, I suspect from Catherine Marshall’s books which I read and continue to read periodically. Often devotions I write come from one of these journals. More often than not prayer points spring directly from these daily bible passages.
As well as my reflections on bible readings I keep a prayer journal where I write down my prayers. This has the advantage of being able to go back and see exactly what I prayed and how it was answered. Writing the prayers down also keeps my mind focused, so it does not wander instead into what I have to do that day or other mundane tasks.
While on the subject of prayer, more than thirty years ago a friend and I started to meet weekly for a prayer time. My prayer partner has been a great blessing and we have seen the value of this partnership in prayer. Even though I ended up moving hundreds of kilometers away, our prayers for each other continue. It just means instead of being discussed and prayed about in person, these days the prayer requests get e mailed or sent by snail mail. (And I do mean snail mail. If I don’t rescue the letters quickly enough from the mail box.)
We’ve been waiting for a while for God’s answer regarding our house situation and move. Today two events occurred, that left us confused. Rather than make snap decisions about what next, my husband and I will pray about these events trusting God to lead us. And I will also share the situations with my long standing prayer partner. Is this what you do when unsettling circumstances occur? Do you rush in and act? Or wait and pray trusting God will give guidance and clear direction? He has promised those who lack wisdom have only to ask and He will provide it, James 1:5.
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