by David Chadwick
In order to develop muscles in the gym, people have to weight train. The same holds true for our spiritual walks. We must spend time in the “wait” room in order to learn to wait well. Waiting is a discipline that every follower of Jesus must learn to cultivate, especially as it pertains to us waiting for Jesus’s return.
I want to give you some tips as to how you can “wait train” and become stronger in the Lord as you develop eternal attributes. Until the day when we will see Jesus’s glorious return, we are to wait with great faith, hope, joy, and peace.
Pray and praise. That is today’s focus.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says that we should pray without ceasing. Because the Holy Spirit lives in us, allowing us to be connected to God, we can pray all the time. As we drive. While we work. At the park with our kids. On a walk in the neighborhood.
Because of Jesus, if you choose to follow him, you can constantly lift up your needs and other people’s needs. It’s a continual conversation, day by day, minute by minute.
Jesus taught his disciples to pray because he knew it would forge muscles in their inner selves that would allow them to stand in the hardest of situations. We, too, must learn to pray in the same way that he taught his disciples to pray.
Philippians 4:4 says to praise, “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS!” In fact, Paul wanted to make sure that we really understood the power of praise so much that he said it a second time in the same verse, “Again I will say, rejoice.”
We thank God in and for all circumstances for he is working in them for our good and for his glory (1 Thessalonians 4:18). It’s God’s providence. He oversees all in this world.
Combine prayer and praise throughout your day. If Jesus were to return right now, let him find you in prayer, praising him for all he has done and is doing. Jesus delights in having his kids partake in union life with him.