“The reason I stopped attending prayer meetings is that I don’t really feel a connection with God and people. I don’t see any fruit from all the praying,” a friend told me on the way home from school.

I don’t deny that like my friend, I have thought of giving up when a season got too tough, too dry or too unpredictable. My prayer life has always been about trying to achieve tangible results as soon as possible.

I realised I was chasing after all of God’s goals and the things He has promised, but not God Himself.

Is God really enough for me?

That’s the question I’m tempted to ask when nothing seems to be working out, when all of God’s promises seem distant and everything I’ve planned and envisioned has fallen apart.

Often we chase after big dreams, we pray big prayers, then we get put off by the waiting. God, why are you taking so long to work things out?

But to wait, to be actually be attentive to God in the secret place is to tell Him: “You are enough for me, You are all I adore. Pressure or persecution or people, come what may, for You I will wait all the day.”

There are many more passages in the Bible which tell us about the importance of waiting.

David pens in Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways.” Isaiah 64:4 tells us that God “acts on behalf of those who wait for him”. And later in the New Testament, the book of Acts tells us that the last set of instructions Jesus gave the apostles were to wait (Acts 1:4) and go (Acts 1:8). 

Waiting is not something that happens once; it’s a way of life and a posture of the heart.

Waiting is humility and reverence in action. When we choose to wait upon God, we acknowledge that His thoughts and His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9) and that He works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

We let Him become all that satisfies us. We will be able to sing the same words as David did:

“My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.” (Psalm 63:5-6 ESV) 

As I continue to reflect on the importance of waiting in our walk with God, I was reminded of the song Shepherd by Amanda Cook. Its lyrics speak the same powerful message.

In the process, in the waiting
You’re making melodies over me
And Your presence is a promise
For I am a pilgrim on a journey

God has promised His presence. We do not need to settle for anything less than the precious company of God Himself. Don’t chase results, affirmation or run the performance treadmill. But only go after God and wait for Him.

He is all we need, so let Him be all that we adore.