Watch and Pray

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about things the Lord shared with me during my devotional time. I was curious and excited, but mostly, I was anxious, so I decided to pray. I mustered up the courage to ask a few questions. “What did you mean when you said this?” I asked. “And, what were you trying to tell me when that event happened last month? And how does that event relate to what happened five months before?”

After I asked these questions, I sat for a while, thinking and praying. Before I got up, a sentence came to my mind: “Watch and pray.” The Lord shared the same words a day or two before. It is a song lyric, and although I could hum the tune, I could not remember the words.

I got up, took a walk, and then, I remembered. The song is called “God’s Highway,” and it is by Sandra McCracken. Sandra sings, “Fear not. Keep on. Watch and pray. Walk in the light of God’s highway.”

When the Lord drops ideas and prophecies into our hearts and minds, we do not always know what to do with them. Many times, we assume that we must take immediate action to achieve His plan. But in reality, the Lord simply wants us to sit still, and watch and pray so that we might gain greater understanding.

Other times, we expect immediate results: if the Lord said something will happen, and we are confident that we have understood correctly, it will happen right now. And if not right now, it will happen tomorrow or next week. But the Lord doesn’t always work that way. He is a God who likes to unveil things slowly. He likes to build anticipation for a glorious unfolding. He likes to tell us things in advance so that we learn to trust and seek Him all the more. And while we wait on Him, watch for signs that He is accomplishing just what He said He would, and pray for wisdom and right actions, the Lord matures us. We are not as afraid as we used to be. We understand and recognize his voice more. We have greater endurance for the road ahead. And eventually, we will have a testimony of the Lord’s goodness and the honor we had of watching His plan unfold.