DAY 27 - HURRY UP, GOD!

written by Steve Fuller

There’s something I’ve been praying about. 

The church where I serve as pastor needs a part-time worship leader. Our present leader has served us well, but his schedule is changing and he plans to step down. So, of course, I’ve been networking, calling, posting on church employment sites — and praying.

So far, God has not provided — and the problem is that I need him to provide soon. I can hear the clock ticking. The deadline is approaching. What are we going to do without a worship leader? Yes, I’m starting to worry.

So How Should I Pray?
I could just keep praying, “Father, please provide us with a new worship leader” — and leave it at that. But the Bible shows us more. You’ll notice that the psalmists often ask God to hurry.  This is all throughout the Psalms:

• But you, O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! (Psalm 22:19) 
• Make haste to help me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, my salvation! (Psalm 38:22)
• Be pleased, O Lᴏʀᴅ, to deliver me! O Lᴏʀᴅ, make haste to help me! (Psalm 40:13)
• You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (Psalm 40:17)
• Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O Lᴏʀᴅ, make haste to help me! (Psalm 70:1)
• But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not delay! (Psalm 70:5)
• O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! (Psalm 71:12)

This makes me wonder: why don’t I pray like that?
So I’ve started it. Following the example of psalmists, I’ve been asking God to hurry. And I’m discovering at least three benefits:


1.  It reminds us that God is sovereign over timing. 

It’s easy to think the reason our church doesn’t yet have the new worship leader is because there are not many worship leaders available, or because the position is only part-time, or because this is a bad time of year to be looking, and so forth. But when I pray, “Father, quickly provide us with a worship leader; don’t delay in helping us” — it reminds me that God can provide for us quickly. He can overcome all of our problems. He will answer our prayers and provide for us exactly when we need him.
Like David said, “My times are in your hand” (Psalm 31:15).

2.  It helps prayer be honest.

If we long for God to provide something quickly, but we don’t express that longing when we pray, then we’re not being honest. We are holding part of our hearts away from him. We’re not entrusting that desire to him. And that can grow into frustration and bitterness. That’s one reason God wants us to pour out our souls before him (1 Samuel 1:15). I have found that the more I open my heart to him, expressing my longing that he act quickly, the more I experience his comfort and heart-satisfying presence.

3.  It stirs God to answer more quickly.

There’s mystery here. James says, “we have not because we ask not” (James 4:2). So there are times when the reason we do not receive something is because we did not ask God for it. Which means that, generally speaking, if we humbly ask God to hurry, God will hurry more than if we had not asked.

PRAYER #27 - Ask God to Hurry

So, when we long for God to hurry, let us be like the psalmists. Let us humbly and earnestly ask God to hurry — for his glory and our good.