Prayer is an exercise in faith. There are times when we don’t feel heard by God yet we have faith that we are. There are many periods when we want an answer other than the answer we dread the most (wait), yet we have faith that God’s timing is perfect. This struggle to have faith in prayer seemed to come alive while studying Psalm 126. Our pastor focused on verse 4, “Restore our fortunes, LORD, like streams in the Negev.” He explained how arid the Negev desert is with only 9 inches of rain a year. He went on to show us a video of streams coming to the Negev. I sat there in the pew watching the video and getting uncomfortable. Nothing seemed happening on the screen. I didn’t see any water, I didn’t see the excitement. Why was the pastor showing this to us? Suddenly I saw a brown smudge moving slowly toward the camera. Was it a puff of dust? No! It was water. It looked as if someone had turned on a very large hose a great distance away. By the time I saw it on the screen it was already foaming as brown water covered the parched land. The water came so quickly that people who knew it was coming and were faithfully waiting for it, had to rapidly get out of the way of the onslaught of water all the while celebrating its arrival with squeals of delight. What a picture of faithful prayer. To know that the answer to my prayer, God’s best for me, is already on its way even when I don’t see it. Prayer just turns on that distant hose and opens my eyes to look for it coming and to praise God when it arrives. I have a choice to rest in that knowledge or to fidget, get uncomfortable, and start looking for other provisions.
Lord, help me to have faith in your perfect provision and to faithfully and expectantly wait for your answer to prayer.