Love is patient. Patience is not about waiting, it’s about not being offended. Most of us are offended when we have to wait. In our pride we think we deserve the things we want when we want them. When I’m not being patient, I’m not being loving. When I’m offended I am no longer in love. In regards to prayer, patience is of utmost importance. Not in just waiting for our prayers to be answered circumstantially, or waiting for God to respond, but in waiting for him. True love waits. The Lord desires that we would wait upon him.

He is the answer to our prayers. His answer is not the answer, he is the answer. All of our religious bloviating ends when he enters the room. All of our prayer lists become unnecessary. All of our ritualistic fervor becomes so superfluous when we realize he is all we really want.

To wait upon the Lord is to rest in him knowing that he is the one who desires to meet with us. To wait upon the Lord is to yield to the end of our self-effort. To wait upon the Lord is to wait in stillness. In silence. Knowing that he will come as surely as the dawn. Knowing that  it is not self-effort that draws us closer to God but his very longing for us magnetizes us toward him. So we wait patiently. Knowing that he will come as surely as his word is true. Knowing that the presence of his person is why we pray to begin with. When we wait for him, we show that we trust him. We dare not pray without him. When we wait upon the Lord in prayer, resting in stillness and silence, we remind ourselves that prayer is not about the words we speak but to whom we are speaking. We pray not to hear our own words but to come closer to a living being. We pray to draw close, but we wait so he will draw close.

Yet, the hour of his arrival is unknown. Sometimes it defies our own self created expectation. As we wait upon the lord our hearts are tested. Do we yield to patience and stay unoffended? Do we believe that he will come and his presence will be felt in our hearts? This is the place of growth for the one who dares to enter the endless realm of prayer. Will we believe him as we wait for him? Or will our hearts grow cold in the waiting? Will our faith wane dim as we wait in prayer with our conscience permeated by silence? Will we fill in the gaps of silence with our own unbelief or will our hearts rest in the posture of gentle trust as we patiently wait for him to meet with us?

It is in this place-this middle ground between the beginning and the end- that our hearts will either falter or grow into mature love. The Lord allows this waiting to test our hearts. But make no mistake his invitation to wait upon him is so that we can be ready when he arrives. We must resist the temptation to check out or leave early in the place of prayer. We must be patient and at rest but also watchful and alert. He longs to be with us and as we wait for him… we realize that we long to be with him.

The goal of prayer is not prayer. The goal of prayer is communion with God. Communion leads to union. Prayer without God is just talking. When we pray, we must wait upon him with patient hearts knowing that he will come and meet with us. Only then can the conversation truly begin.