Psalm 40:1 (NIV)
I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.
We live in an American culture that demands quick fixes and easy answers. How difficult is it for you to slow down and sit quietly before the Lord? Does your mind race, are you easily distracted, and do you keep looking at the clock? Contemplative prayer requires us to bring our whole selves before the Lord and to sit quietly before Him. Your soul is like a jar of river water in which the sediment that collects throughout the day spins around and around making the water muddy. But once the jar is set down and becomes still the sentiment eventually settles to the bottom and the water clears. Waiting before the Lord requires patience. We must “calmly endure the seemingly fruitless expenditure of time and effort in the realization that to hurry God is to find fault with Him.” Some find this a far more difficult process than others due to personalities that love visible productivity, activity, and chartable progress. But real spiritual progress requires that we learn the spiritual discipline of waiting before God. Why not make this a goal for 2022? Learn to wait patiently for the Lord.