Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14(NIV)
We live in a “get it right now” culture, that’s why knowing the benefits of waiting on God is important. Yes, we want things to happen right now, but that’s not how God works.
This article benefits of waiting on God will help you to understand why waiting is necessary and why God’s delay is not rejection.
There was a time in history when people used to wait for weeks to get answers to their questions. But not today, technology has made things easy, and now we want things to happen quickly. Waiting feels like a punishment.
You may be wondering why things are not working out for you. Why are you struggling like this? Why isn’t God responding quickly?
God doesn’t reveal everything to us at once. For example, he will not show you every detail about your ministry. It is only by walking with him daily that you will know what to do.
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What does waiting upon the Lord mean?
Waiting upon the Lord means waiting with expectation and hope. It means believing that God hears your prayers, and he will reward you for diligently seeking him.
It means being in the status of looking and expecting God to do something about your situation.
What to do While Waiting on God
The waiting that God wants us to do is not one that promotes laziness. It is the kind where you have to keep on living your life as you wait.
You need to be like a waiter or waitress. They serve other customers as they wait for you to make up your mind about what you want to eat.
Here are things you should do as you wait:
Pray:
I don’t know about you, but I hate waiting. I would rather things happen fast so that I can move on. But as we have already seen, things don’t work that way. To avoid fear, anxiety and all manner of attacks from the enemy spend time in prayer.
Ask God to strengthen you in your inner being so that you may be able to wait upon him patiently.
If you find it hard to pray, ask prayerful people in your inner circle to stand with you in prayer.
Sing
Yes, you don’t have the best voice in the world, but singing will help you to pour out your heart to God. It will help you shift your focus from your problem to your heavenly father. There are many verses tucked in gospel songs that God will use to encourage you.
Remember the things God did for you in the past
The Israelites sinned against God because they did not remember the good things God did for them in the wilderness. Remind yourself of the good things God has done for you in the past.
Meditating upon these things will strengthen you and enable you to keep on waiting upon the Lord. (Psalm 78:40-43)
David reflected on what God had done for him when he was about to fight Goliath. He told Saul about the time God saved him from the bear and the lion. When the enemy taunts you with fearful thoughts, remind yourself of the time God came through for you.
Expect an Answer
Do you know why some of us don’t get answers to some of our prayers? It’s because we give up along the way. We stop believing that God has heard our prayers or assume that he does not want to answer them.
But what if God is making you wait because he’s preparing you for what you’re praying for? When you stop expecting an answer, you end up feeling discouraged and stop waiting on God altogether. God is faithful, and he will ensure to answer you.
To get all the benefits of waiting on God, expect an answer with eagerness.
It is easier to give up than to wait. But do you know there are consequences for not waiting upon God?
Also Related: How to Experience God’s Presence: 7 Ways.
3 Consequences of not Waiting Upon the Lord.
You Step out of God’s Will
God promised Abraham a son, but it took a long time for God to fulfill his promise. Sarah convinced her husband to have a child with her servant girl Haggar, something that was outside God’s will.
This decision ended up frustrating Abraham because Sarah started blaming him when Haggar despised her. God also said that Ishmael, Haggar’s son, would live in hostility towards all his brothers. (Genesis 16:12)
Sometimes waiting upon the Lord is part of the answer to your prayer. Not waiting upon him means that you have stepped out of his will. Now we all know that it is not good to step out of God’s will. It causes us to live in fear and frustration.
Your Blessings will be delayed
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. When you give up on waiting, then the answer to your prayer will delay manifesting. God cannot work in your life if you do not have faith in him.
In some instances, you will end up missing your blessings completely because you did not consider God faithful. You should stand firm and believe in God even when it does not make sense.
Believe that he hears your prayers and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 16:6)

What are the benefits of waiting on God?
1. It Humbles Us
God makes us wait so that we can learn how to not have our way all the time. The more you wait upon God, the more you realize that the answer to your prayer is not about you. It is about God and others.
This realization will humble you and help you focus on other benefits of waiting on God.
2. Produces Great Trust in God
Here’s the thing God makes you wait so that you can see him in a different light. Waiting will open your eyes to God’s faithfulness. The more you learn how faithful God is, the easier it will be for you to trust God. (1Corinthians 1:9)
Waiting will help you see him as your provider for he owns everything in heaven and earth
3. Protects Us from Fake Blessings
Did you know that some blessings are fake? The devil is keen on making you live a defeated life. So he creates counterfeit blessings so that you don’t get what God wants you to have.
Now here’s the thing, counterfeit blessings may look good at first, and you may enjoy them. But they will leave you feeling depressed and fearful because the devil does not give out free things.
Waiting upon the Lord will open your spiritual eyes. You will be able to differentiate God’s blessings from counterfeit ones.
4. Waiting leaves room for God to Work
We love things to happen our way, but God should work on your blessings. Let him answer you at his own timing. God’s thoughts are higher than ours and his ways better. He promises to give us exceedingly, abundantly above all we think or ask.
God wants to blow your mind with whatever answer he has for you. But you need to be patient with him. He is preparing you for what He has already provided for you through his son Jesus Christ.
5. It Exposes your Motives
Sometimes we ask God for things that are within his will but with wrong motives. God has not refused to give you what you asked for. Maybe He wants to deal with your motives first.
God is not a cruel father. He loves you so much that he’s willing to protect you. If it means withholding what you ask for a season, he will do it because he’s a caring father.
6. It Cultivates a Holy Expectation
Ever asked God for something just so you can go and show it off to your friends? Well, I don’t know about you, but I have.
It feels so good to tell people how God blessed you with something. But sometimes we don’t do it as a way of sharing our testimonies. We do it because we want to brag to our family and friends.
But that is not right. God will make you wait so that he can deal with your heart and cultivate a holy expectation in you. He wants you to be eager to receive the blessings he has for you.
He also wants you to understand that whatever he’s giving you is for his own glory, not yours.
7. Waiting saves you from the fear of losing your blessings
There are times when the enemy will attack you with fearful thoughts. He does that because he wants to steal the blessings God has given you and kill your faith.
Waiting upon the Lord strengthens your faith in God. It enables you to see God as your provider and protector of every good thing that he has given you.
8. Helps us to Set our Priorities Right
Most of us go to God only when we need something from him. When he answers our prayers, we forget about him and remember him when we get another problem.
God will withhold answers to our prayers because he wants us to set our spiritual priorities right. Prayer is not all about us asking things from God.
God wants us to spend time with him so that we can build intimacy and become fully dependent on him. Waiting upon the Lord offers you the chance to learn how to pray fervently and spend time with God.
Also Related: How To Guard Your HEART: 13 Proven Ways.
9. Helps us to Align with God’s Plans for our Lives
It could be that Hannah had prayed for so many years for God to give her a child. But could it be that Hannah’s prayers were not in alignment with God’s plans for her life as a mother?
(1 Samuel 1)
But a time came when Hannah asked God for a son and promised to lend him to the Lord. Hannah’s prayer was answered, and she gave birth to Samuel, who became a great prophet in Israel.
Could it be that God is holding back your answer because your plans don’t align with his plans? Instead of becoming desperate, go to God. Tell him to deal with your heart so that your prayers can align with his plans for your life.
10. Waiting causes you to Dwell on the Greatness of God
As you spend time in prayer during the waiting season, you begin to ponder about the greatness of God. And this helps you to grow spiritually.
We serve a powerful God. But it is easy for us to take him for granted, especially when we have everything that we need. It is in times of waiting that most of us become interested in God.
As you focus on him, you end up knowing how great he is.
11. Renews your Strength
The word of God says that those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength like the eagles. So waiting will renew your strength so that you can soar like an eagle when God answers your prayer. (Isaiah 40:31)
Our thoughts are not God's thoughts. The waiting period is a time for your strength to be renewed. That way, you can handle the blessings God has for you when the time comes.
You may be asking God to open up doors for your business. But maybe you do not have the spiritual strength to handle that business.
God wants you to succeed. So he will strengthen you so that you can face the challenges and success that your business will come with.
12. Builds your Faith Muscles
The enemy usually attacks us from every side when we are waiting. It is at such times that your friend can turn against you. Or your family can discourage you from believing that God will answer your prayers.
God uses the waiting season to build your faith.
He teaches us how to wait upon him no matter what. You need to fight against all the lies that the enemy tries to fill in your heart. When you do this, your faith muscles get stretched, and you end up becoming a powerful Christian.
13. It teaches us to depend on God
The flesh always wants us to depend on ourselves. But we are children of God, we need to depend on him fully. Waiting on God helps us to learn how to depend on him.
See, there’s nothing that you can do about the situation unless God comes through for you. Quitting means losing the answer to your prayer. So it is better to depend on him alone. Lean on him and do not waver in faith.
Conclusion
Much as we live in a world where people don’t like waiting, it’s important to wait upon the Lord.
But doing it without understanding the benefits of waiting on God makes the whole process hard and longer. Understanding the benefits will help you to hold on when things become tough.
Waiting doesn’t mean doing anything. You need to keep on doing what God has told you as you wait.
Don’t look at waiting as punishment from God. Instead, see it as a way of him preparing you for what lies ahead. Let the waiting period be a time for you to know more about God and about yourself. Do not allow the enemy to attack you with thoughts of defeat.
Pray without ceasing, stand firm on the promises of God. Encourage yourself in the Lord through singing, and keep on waiting with an eager expectation of good.
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