By Funmi Komolafe

Waiting on the Lord is  an experience that many of us have had at one time or the other.

Some wait to get a job after years of graduation, others wait for marriage partners, still others look unto the Lord for healing and others wait on the Lord for children after years of marriage.

There are also people who look  unto the Lord to have a peaceful marriage so that they will move from enduring a marriage to enjoying it.   For others, they are trusting   God for promotion.

Several others  are also trusting God to help them possess their possession.   What do I mean?  A  family may have  an inheritance and others who are not  entitled to  it may  hold on to it while the real owners are suffering.     The real owners who are being deprived need to cry unto  Lord to help them possess what rightly belongs to them.

One needs to encounter someone going through this type of challenge to appreciate what it means. All of these issues are common in our society .

Wait on the Lord –     Whatever may be the challenge, a believer must wait on the Lord. This, however, must be done in FAITH.  I emphasize faith because one should not be waiting     without expectation.

Faith is the key .   Hebrew 11 vs. 1 defines faith   “ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

The word of the Lord     emphasizes faith in  verse 6:” But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe   that he is,   and   that he is a rewarder of them   that diligently seek him”.

The Bible passage is very clear, yet  it has conditions that we, as human beings, must meet.

First, is that we must believe   God.       Our belief shouldn’t just be that God exists   but we must believe that he can do all things.

Second, we must strive to seek him diligently.

This  appears to be the more difficult part.     How many of us seek him diligently?   Many of us are too comfortable to remember to seek the face of the Lord and do so diligently.     This is not about going to church regularly.   It’s beyond that.It is about what we do to expand his kingdom. How much time   do we devote to   the study of the word and how much love do  we show to people around us?  Do we live by his word?   Have we taken time to identify sins and strive to live a holy life?

How often do we forgive those who offend us?

These and more are the things we need to do to seek the face of God.

Are you expectant?-      Another important aspect of   faith in God is   expectation.     Are you expectant?   A person who     prays must be hopeful that someday,   whatever he or she is praying for will manifest physically.

Pastor Samson Ajetunmobi often says, “ Nothing encourages   a man like answers to prayer;  if a man prays and he gets an answer, he likes to pray more”.

Let’s consider Hebrew 11 vs. 7:” By faith Noah ,   being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to saving of his house; by which   he condemned the   world, and became heir of the righteousness   which is by faith”. Are you prepared for     the solution to that challenge?   Preparing for     our expectation goes beyond the physical.   It takes one to the spiritual level.

Relationship with the Holy Sprit

As we prepare for     testimony, there is the need to establish a relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls   him “ the Spirit of Truth”.

John 16 vs. 13 is     our reference:” Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he     shall hear , that shall he speak: and he will shew you things   to come”.

One only needs to read in-between these lines to fully comprehend the     role of the Holy Spirit .

A man of God, during a prayer meeting in Lagos,   gave a prayer point . He asked the congregation to pray this way: “ O God, open my eyes like that of Elisha and give     me the ears of Samuel”.   This prayer     point looks   simple but   it has a deeper meaning.

When we ask for the eyes of Elisha, it is to be able to see beyond the physical.   For some people, this is all that is needed for the testimony to manifest.       Such a vision not only identifies the root of the challenge but it also provides the solution.

Asking God to give one the ears of Samuel is to be given the ability to hear from the Holy Spirit.   This is very important.

I’ll share with you  the story of a  pastor somewhere in Europe who was about to travel to preach a sermon in another city and he needed to   travel by air.   He heard a voice     that told him to reschedule that assignment.   Within him, he said, he would not like to do that as he would not like to     disappoint the congregation. He travelled, had a plane crash and died.

It was after he died that his wife said, “Oh! He said a voice told him to postpone the meeting” but he did not.

The voice he heard was the “still small voice”, the voice of the Holy Spirit of God, the third personality in the Trinity:   God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. Another incident was that of a lady who had been asked to invite     a seasoned photographer to cover an event.     This lady, while having     dinner, suddenly turned down the volume     of the television she was watching.

Then she heard a voice say, “ Don’t deliver the message”.   Since she was alone, she knew no person spoke, but she also knew that she heard a voice but nobody was seen.

However, since she did not know the Holy Spirit, she ignored the warning.     What happened? The photographer went on the assignment and never returned.   He died in an automobile accident.

The point here is that  every one, whatever  the situation we are confronted with, must strive to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Did     you ask how?     The simplest way is by studying and meditating on the word of God. Many of us who live in the cities  get too busy to study the word of God, yet it is so important.

When we have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, also known as the Spirit of Truth, we would save ourselves a lot of trouble.

Relationship with the Holy Spirit is so assuring that it gives one confidence that all will be well. It is only the Holy Spirit that can reveal that a bedridden person will walk again.It is the Holy Ghost that knows and can reveal that the one who is called barren will be a mother of children.    If a woman who has been trusting God for children establishes a relationship with the Lord and begins to dream that she is washing baby clothes, taking her kids to school, attending ante- natal clinic etc, it is the Spirit of Truth showing her things to come.

Many a times, the Holy Spirit gives Bible passages to tackle specific challenges.

The same Holy Spirit guides our steps and leads us to the solution to a particular challenge.

Testimony

I’ll share the story of Yemi , who had a set of twins. Somehow, one of the twins got infected with tetanus and it got to a life-threatening point.       The twins were born after about eight years of waiting.   She had two daughters     earlier but wanted boys.   It got so bad that the medical team began to     prepare her mind that she would have to go home with only a baby boy     because, medically, the infected baby had  less than 50 per cent chance of survival.

Though she was physically broken     after several sleepless nights of prayer, she was spiritually confident.

Why? How? She began to have dreams that she dedicated her twin boys.

While this was going on, her pastor was with her in very serious prayers. To the glory of God and the surprise of the medical team, the baby boy survived.

So, brethren, have you been praying     without establishing a relationship with the Holy Spirit? 

Make up your mind to establish a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

While praying, let’s also ask for the     mercy of God because the truth is sometimes for reasons known and unknown to us, we do not deserve what we are asking the Lord for but by his mercy, our desires are met.

Exercise your faith, be expectant and your story will change in Jesus name.