When things take longer because I get in the way.

Have you ever prayed hard for something, hard core, daily, in every prayer session, and when nothing happens you start taking matters into your own hands?

Maybe you are not even aware you do it, but I bet you can think of examples, because I do it all the time. Situations where you pray but then ‘give God a helping hand’ in making what you are praying for happen yourself, without waiting.

One of my biggest flaws is my lack of patience and for years, my life was built on self sufficiency, I subconsciously operated out of a belief that if it was to be done well or at all it needed to be done by me and fast.

I am known as a ‘get stuff done person’ a ‘doer’ - again like other traits I explore in my blogs, this can be a good thing, something I am known for in a work or community sense. But for every useful trait there is usually an equal opposite side, that can hinder movement, or God’s work in our lives.

This one has been a frequent BATTLE for me, ongoing.

Another trait that requires finding a balance and there is a fine line often, right?

Sometimes, God requires us to move as well as pray, sometimes he asks us to pray while we move because the situation is requiring immediate attention, sometimes to pray and wait then move, sometimes just pray and wait for him to move. If we feel he is requiring us to move, it is all about how and when we move, it's about tuning in and becoming sensitive to his prompts and voice, that's the key right there.

This does show up differently for each of us, it is something he requires us to press into and develop over time. I pray for more of this, for each of us!

Ephesians 1:17-18

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

My default scenario, you may or may not relate

I can visually see this play out, I pray, God starts working in the background, I can’t see it yet, so I pray some more, he stops to listen and then carries on, then I still can’t see anything so I start ‘fixing’ the situation myself! Meddling with God’s work.

What I imagine happens

God just takes his hands off the situation and steps back and watches, probably with a palm face.

Waiting for my next revelation that I need to leave it to him!

And around we go….

Where I have been trying to mature and grow is learning how to NOT meddle with God's work, how to let go of something, usually big and that matters a lot, enough to let him work, trusting him to work in his timing and in his way.

My biggest lesson:

When we pray for something, we need to give him the time and space to do his thing. We need to wait to move, until we hear from him.

Revelation

When I meddle I get in God’s way and things take way longer than they would have initially.

God's timing is perfect even when it doesn’t match our expectation of timing, and sometimes things are just going to take a long time because he can see things we can’t.

But imagine, I go in there and make it even longer with my meddling, even though I know it, this is what I do, over and over again!

Thankfully God is a gracious, loving and patient God, who just waits for me to get it! Again and again!

Building up my faith in Gods perfect timing - building the evidence and replaying that tape is one of the key tools. The tape of when things have worked out a certain way, because I waited on him, trusted in him.

Because he sees the whole picture, our prayers for things we think we want sometimes go unanswered because he is protecting us, going before us, or he has a better plan in mind than we do.

Experiencing these times in the ‘flesh’ is the best way to build evidence that I know of!

For example a job interview goes well, I get down to final 2, I'm good enough for the role, I think I really want the role, I pray for the role, but then I'm the one who doesn't get it, usually after the disappointment settles I see or hear something that makes me realise the job would have been a poor fit, or the organisation had an unhealthy culture, etc..

This example has happened so many times that I now learn to say this prayer when in similar situations…

"God, open the doors you want open and close the ones you don't " I repeat and speak out, "If I am meant to get the job it will be mine."

Sometimes he answers prayers with a solution we never thought of, it doesn't come the way we thought or wished for, but often it's even better than we thought.

God is a good God, always. We are his kids, he always wants the best for us, he knows what is better for us than we ever will.

When we try to work independently of him or pray for his intervention then meddle and try to do things ourselves, we are blocking his flow. Blocking his goodness, provision and grace.

My favourite ‘go to’ verse, is actually my phone screen saver

Philippians 4: 6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Some of the things I do when waiting (some of the tools in my toolkit):

• Obviously I pray. In that prayer I try to remember all the times that God has answered prayers, and speak them out loud, also giving thanks for all he has done.

• When I find myself feeling compelled to jump in, I take a moment (a breath) and I repeat ‘Gods got this’ ‘Thank you Lord that you have got this situation’

• If I feel that there is something to move towards or into, I often check in with God, ‘is this something you want me to do or say Lord?’ I usually know

• I get busy serving, cleaning, and working. I positively activate and engage my mind in something useful, so I stop thinking about fixing the situation or being anxious about it.

• I immerse myself in worship music, speaking of victory, and God’s goodness.

Remember the enemy is prowling, trying to steal and take background constantly and he will often use situations like this to get into our heads, with doubts, he can only use the past so he will help you recall all the times things didn’t go well and plan seeds of doubt.

I truly believe that God always moves, Even when things don’t turn out the way we wanted, he is always there through the situation, and you can find him if you look for him.

This is still a work in progress, like most of my life, but as I practise I get better at catching myself, building my tool kit on how to move through this life with greater faith, and ease.

As always some days are better than others and that is OK.

Arohanui,

Jen xx

PS:

If you are struggling with anxiety and overwhelmed with situations in life you are waiting for God to move in, I recommend soaking in him as often as you can, in his word, in worship.

I recently found this amazing series on Spotify called ‘Abide bible sleep meditation’

I stick an headphone in one ear at night, set the ‘sleep timer’ and go to sleep with this playing, most nights.

I have a few favourites in there but I encourage you to find the ones that work for you

https://abide.co/