首先我們必須明白一個要點：學習如何安靜地等候神回應我們的禱告、顯示祂的旨意，是基督徒生命中一個最難學習的功課，因為它區分生活中的安寧和恐慌。我自己不太能肯定哪一個的難度更高──是從神那裡得到自己不喜歡的答案，還是需要無止境地等候神的回應。多年來我常向基督徒朋友提出這個問題，而他們幾乎都一致認為等候是更難忍受的事。

神會回應每一個禱告，但有人說神的回應有四種：（1）好的；（2）不行；（3）這對你會更好；（4）要等候我的作為。第一個回應很好──我們只需要張開手接受神的給予。第二個回應比較困難──但和第一個是同類型。正如印度偉大的思想家泰戈爾（Tagore）說：「有時主需要藉著硬心的拒絕來拯救我們。」第三個也容易接受。但是第四個回應──「等候」──是最難面對的，不過它卻和其他回應一樣是充滿了愛。神推延回應有很多原因，但最常見的是神要造就我們的品格，讓我們在沒有馬上得到回應的時候，也不會變成在屬靈上哭哭啼啼的人。

「神往往會推延回應，為了要造就我們的品格」

進深研究
徒一1-14，二1-4；詩三十七7，四十1

1. 耶穌給門徒甚麼指示？
2. 最終有甚麼結果？

祈禱
天父，我在理性上明白，等候的時間可以令我整個人得到改變，但我必須承認等候是很難忍受的事情。您以前幫助過我學習等候，求您繼續在這方面帶領我。奉耶穌的名祈求。阿們。

From Confusion to Confidence

Day 88

God answers every prayer

"And therefore the Lord earnestly waits - expectant, looking and longing - to be gracious to you..." (v.18, Amplified Bible)

Bible reading:
Isaiah 30:15-26

15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

16 You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill."

18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.

20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.

21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!"

23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows.

24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel.

25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill.

26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.

Message

We move on now to consider the fifth step we must take in order to move : recognise that sometimes God will keep you waiting for an answer.

First we must make the point that learning how to wait quietly for God to answer prayer and bring about His purposes is one of the hardest lessons in the Christian life, and can mean the difference between peace and panic in your life. I am not quite sure myself which is the more difficult situation to be in - getting an answer from God that one does not like, or having to wait interminably for the divine reply. Christian friends to whom I have put that question over the years are almost unanimous in saying that waiting is by far the most difficult thing to endure.

God answers every prayer, but it has been said that the answer may come in one of four forms: (1) Yes; (2) No; (3) Here is something better; (4) Wait to see what I will do. The first is easy to handle - we just open our hands and take what God gives. The second response is a little more difficult - but just as kind as the first. As Tagore, the great Indian thinker, said: "Sometimes the Lord has to save us by hard refusals." The third is also easy to receive. The fourth reply - "Wait" - is the most difficult to handle, but just as loving as the others. God delays His answers for many reasons but the most common reason is this: to deepen our characters so that we won't become spiritual crybabies when we don't get everything at once.

"God often delays His answers to deepen our characters"

Prayer
O Father, I know in my intellect that the waiting time can prove transformative to my whole being, but I confess that I find it so hard to endure. You have helped me before - help me now with this. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Further study
Acts 1:1-14; 2:1-4
Psalm 37:7; 40:1

1. What was Jesus' instruction to His disciples?
2. What was the eventual result?

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