We were taught as children that we can always rely on God; He hears and will answer our prayers when we pray. Scripture reminds us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5: 17). As we go through life's challenges and difficulties, the words of the prophet Habakkuk could be ours today: "I cry for help, but you
do not listen". How often do we feel like this, like God is not listening to us or he is not interested in what is happening in our lives?
We face challenges; our families and communities are crippled by difficulties that seem almost impossible to bear, so we may be asking the Lord why is it that He is not listening to us and coming to our aid. It may seem, at the
time, the Lord is ignorant of our prayers. We are invited to consider that maybe it's not that our prayers are not unheard and therefore not answered. Still, it could be that how they are responded to is not what or how we expected? or that sometimes we expect the Lord’s answer at a convenient time without considering other factors. We are often reminded that 'God's time' is a perfect time, but we forget this.
So, what should be our attitude as we wait for God's perfect timing? Matthew (6: 25 – 34) tells us not to panic and worry about what will happen or how we will manage what will happen. We are invited to trust in the faithfulness of the Lord and never perceive his silence as a lack of his presence in our lives and the difficulties we face. We know people in scripture and our communities who remain faithful even as they face challenges and loss;
let us look to these people, especially those we know and share our challenges with them. Spiritual Accompaniment is an excellent tool to remind us how God has been with us and that He will always be with us. Difficulties have a sneaky way of deceiving us about God and our relationship with him; we forget his promises; we are encouraged to pray more at these times in our lives.
Reflect today on how you wait on God’s time, how you wait for God to answer your prayers and ask Him to help you nurture helpful ways and the right attitude as you wait on him to answer your prayers.
