Celtic Daily Prayer

In the shadow of Your wings
I will sing Your praises, O Lord.

I believe I shall see the goodness

of the Lord in the land of the living.

O wait for the Lord!

Have courage and wait,

wait for the Lord.

We have spoken of waiting for and upon God before, but perhaps we need this daily reminder in order to see the goodness of the Lord. As this portion of Celtic evening prayer suggests, it sometimes takes courage to wait for the Lord.

This is the theme that Paul takes up in his letter to the Romans. (8:24-25) “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”

Waiting on the Lord is one of the hardest things we’ll ever have to do. As humans, our nature is to go it alone, try to accomplish things in our own strength, and take control of the situation. But that’s often not in our best interest. Too often I get ahead of God and try to accomplish things I’m not ready for.

When we are in a time of waiting, everything in us screams, “Just do it!” However, our Father’s time keeping is on a quite different level. Our part is to know that this time is where I need to wait on the Lord. He has already provided a miracle, a gift we’ve been desiring for years. However, in order to receive that gift, one more piece needs to fall into place. It’s incredibly hard to be still and wait for Lord to provide, but we can know that He will because He already has. The question is, will we have the courage to wait on His provision or try to force my own outcome?

Father, I pray for a heart to trust You in every circumstance. I release my desires, my intentions, and the issues of my heart to You. You see any difficulty I am having right now. I will allow Your Word to guard me and provide the safety I need. I give You complete control. I choose to trust Your faithful presence to keep me safe. You are my waiting place, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen