Waiting On God for An Answer - Episode 43

The Art of Waiting on God: Faith, Trust, and Persistence

In this episode, hosts Justin Olbrantz and Dr. Don Schaefer tap into the intricate and sometimes exhausting process of waiting on God for answers. They discuss the importance of faith, persistence, and trust in God's perfect timing. Through biblical examples such as Daniel and personal anecdotes like the story of George Mueller, the episode provides practical advice for listeners struggling to hear from God. It emphasizes the need to maintain a strong relationship with God, to be persistent in prayer, and to trust in His plans. This episode is a valuable resource for those who are new in their faith and looking to grow spiritually while seeking divine answers.

Transcript

Episode 43 - Waiting On God for Your Answer

Justin: [00:00:00] Hi everyone, this is Justin Olbrantz and this is Don Schaefer, and you are listening to The Wise and the Wandering Podcast. For those who know “the Way,” And for those who are led astray. And if you feel like you fall into either of those categories, then you're in the right place. So let's dive in.

Justin: So Don, what are we going to talk about today? 

Don: Well, today, Justin, I think we got an interesting one. I think we're gonna be talking about waiting on God for your answer. 

Justin: Waiting on God for an answer. Yes. Okay. And what kind of answer are we waiting on God for? 

Don: Well, I tell you, it seems like in life there's lots of questions.

Don: Mm-hmm. And there's a lot of needs and whatever. And I believe God has got all the answers. He's a perfect God, perfect in all of [00:01:00] his ways, and we have to learn how God would speak to us. We have to learn how to receive answers. And a lot of times people have given up on God because they haven't got the answer that they wanted.

Justin: I agree with that. Um, I think that when it comes to this episode title, um, it was actually because I was waiting on God for an answer. And I think that it's important to share these things because a lot of the times we don't really know how this stuff works and we don't really know the background, the behind the scenes.

Justin: Yeah. The spirituality, how of it all works, you know? Right. You know, we pray. , we stand in agreement. You know, we believe there's certain things that we do. You know, we walk by faith, not by sight. There's these things that we just know of as believers, but what is happening in the background? Yeah. You know, in the Bible you could, you could see that there's times where there's definitely [00:02:00] a delay.

Justin: There's like an interference there. 

background: Mm-hmm. 

Justin: You know, it even talks about, you know, in Daniel, I think it's Daniel, right? Yes. When he is waiting for his prayer. Yes. And it says it was. I think it was 20 days. 

Don: Yeah. Think it was 20 days that there was 

Justin: basically a delay in his prayer because there was something happening in the spiritual.

Justin: Right. Right. There was an interference. Yes. And where God wanted to essentially grant and meet his, , what he was praying for his request, it was stopped. Right. And it kind of gives you like a, a little bit of a behind the scenes as to. What's happening in the unseen. Yes. Right.

Justin: There's something there. Yes. There's so, there's obviously things we do not understand. Yep. Maybe certain things that we can't even comprehend mm-hmm. To a degree. Right. Because it's, it's a different realm or, or or whatever it is. Yes. . , but there's a reason for it. Yeah. Yeah. So, and I think that's the point of this podcast today.

Justin: That's the point, is to talk to people [00:03:00] and help them where they're at, , help them to get deeper in their trust. Mm-hmm. Right? That's right. 'cause that's what faith is. Faith is trust. And when it comes to having a relationship with God, mm-hmm. You either trust him or you don't. Right.

Justin: Right. And you need to give it all to him if you trust him. Because if you really put your trust in him, you have to understand that you don't have to worry. Yeah. You know, because , you've given it all to him. That's right. So you don't have to worry, you don't have to stress, you don't have to have anxiety.

Justin: These are things that we're kind of taught that are just necessary in life. Yeah. But you don't have to have 'em. You don't have to have doubt. You don't have to doubt. Right. I mean, the Bible talks about all this stuff. Jesus talks about all this stuff saying not to worry, not to be afraid. Yeah. 

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: Not to doubt.

Justin: He talks about. The birds of the air. Yeah. They're provided [00:04:00] for. Right. You know, we don't see any anorexic birds out there. No, no. You know, the, the flowers, the lily, the Lilys, they are provided for. Right. The animals, they all get their food. The plants all get their nutrition, their food. Yeah. How much more will your father provide for you?

Justin: Right. That's right. So a lot of the times when we get stuck in these spots where we're waiting on God to answer, it's just tough to know that. We are being taken care of. Yeah. In the process, right? Yeah. Because we're so focused on the problems and the things that we're praying about, it's distracting us from having that faith.

Justin: That's right. So today I just wanna approach this and highlight this as a believer on what it looks like to wait on God for an answer. Yeah. 

Don: Yeah. That's good. Justin, and I just want to get back to Daniel. You brought up a good, good one there because Yeah. You know, the Bible says that Daniel went to the Lord three times a day.

Don: He had developed such a faith in God and he realized the answers were there. And, and I know for anybody that reads the book of [00:05:00] Daniel, God showed him a lot. Yeah. He showed him all the kingdoms. He shows, shows everything. To the end, Daniel wanted to know everything and he realized and trust that God had the answer.

Don: And I know at the end, uh, you know, the Bible tells us that he did go, you know, prayed. God hurt him the first day. Mm-hmm. But there was like the struggle going on and I think it was like 20 or 21 days later. Yes. That, uh, the answer finally came. But God got to a point with Daniel 

Justin: Angels were going back and forth.

Justin: Yeah. Basically. Yeah. 

Don: There was a struggle going on there. Yeah. And uh, but God got to a point with Daniel where he said. He says , everything is gonna be sealed until the very end. 'cause he realized that Daniel wasn't done. Daniel wanted, wanted to know everything. Yep. You know, and God said it's going to be revealed at the end.

Don: So I, I believe a lot of those answers for us in life as far as the world is concerned and far as where God stands in the world, those are have yet to be answered. And I think a lot of those answers. Could be revealed [00:06:00] as in the days we're living in right now. But it is in all in God's perfect timing. But there was something in Daniel, I don't know who raised Daniel.

Don: I don't know how his childhood was or what got into Daniel, but Daniel had a faith and trust in God. He realized that that was the answer, and like for 20 some days he continued. You know, it's much like in the Bible it talks about, I think it's in Luke 18, it talks about a lady that went to a judge and wanted to have something done.

Don: Jesus used this as a parable. 

background2: Yeah. You 

Don: know, he said you need to be persistent with the things of God. Yes. As far as seeking after stuff. 'cause if you, uh, reach out to God one day and the next day you don't have an answer, whatever, you just give up on God. No, God And Jesus used a parable saying this judge.

Don: Who wasn't a Christian. Mm-hmm. Who wasn't a godly man or nothing, but this lady was persistent. She won a judgment by this guy on a situation, and because of her persistence, he says, I'm gonna take care of this. Mm-hmm. Because I don't want her knocking on my door tomorrow. Yeah. And the next day. And the [00:07:00] next day.

Don: So he went and took care of it. So Jesus gave us this parable to tell us that, you know, with God, whatever answer you're looking for, we need to continue to persist after it. And I know years ago, I know, um, I heard a minister talk about memorial prayer. You know, someone that continues to seek God with the situation, you know, for a healing, uh, for, you know, maybe a job position or whatever.

Don: They didn't give up. They just never give up. And I think there's something in that, you know, there's a trust, there's a belief in God realizing that, that God is going to do that. 

Justin: Yeah, I, I definitely agree with that because when it comes to, I like that you said belief specifically, right? Because as a believer, like you said, it really comes down to, first we need to believe Yes.

Justin: Right? 

Don: Yes. 

Justin: That's what we do as believers, right? We believe so. Do you. Do you actually believe? So, because if you believe and you truly [00:08:00] do, not that you accept things in your life. 'cause I think there's, there's sometimes a difference, but I think that if you believe in and you just make belief your main goal.

Justin: Yeah. Everything will kind of follow after that because you have to believe, you've gotta get out of doubt and you have to get out of unbelief. Yes. I think we've said this before, even beyond a shadow of a doubt is where our faith is built, right? Our trust is built, our understanding is built. But there's sometimes situations in modern day believers' lives where they say they believe something, but really they just accept it.

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: You know, they accept it as maybe the truth, but they don't follow it. They don't pursue it. They don't actually stand for it. They don't actually believe in it. So once you truly believe in something, no one's talking you out of it. Yeah. No [00:09:00] one. So you see what I'm saying? Yes, I do. Like nobody is going to talk you out of it.

Justin: The more I have a relationship with something, the more I relate. To something, the more I'm invested into it, I might be interested in it, but I'm invested in it. Right. Yeah. There's, , there is investment that is made. There's an investment that's made on my behalf because I relate to it. 

background: Mm-hmm.

Justin: Okay. What I'm getting at here is I can see the relation between me and what that is, so when you believe in something. And you grow in relationship to it. Your trust, your faith, your understanding builds with it. Yes. Right? Yes. So just like your spouse, okay? Yeah. You believe what they say, right? Yeah. You trust that they're not gonna hurt you.

Justin: You trust that they're gonna come home at a certain time, right? That's right. You trust that they're gonna bring the kids to [00:10:00] school or daycare. She better, but yeah. Right. You know? So, so you, you trust them. Yeah. You trust that they're gonna go to work and they're gonna do the things that they said, you know?

Justin: Mm-hmm. They're simply going to stand by their word. Yeah. You trust that your spouse is going to provide for the family or provide for the kids, or teach the children you trust these things. There's certain things that you don't even have to think about 'em because you automatically believe it. Right, right, right.

Justin: You see what I'm saying? So. Nobody can talk you out of believing it because to you it would be like nonsense for you. Mm-hmm. To not believe it because you know it's true. Right? So you see it, it's almost tangible. It's right there. So how could someone talk me outta believing that? Yeah. That's the way our belief needs to be.

Justin: Right. That's the way our faith needs to be. Yeah. And we already have this faith. We already have this belief in everyday things. We just don't see it. Yeah, we don't see it because it's just, it's so, it's so easy to understand. It [00:11:00] doesn't take anything. And that's the way our faith in God needs to be. It should be.

Justin: We need to get to a point where we know when we sit down on that chair. Yeah. We're not worried about the legs breaking off of that chair when you sit in it. Right. No, we know it's already gonna support us. That's right. We don't even think twice about it. No, that's right. So we, we know. We know where our support is.

Justin: I can sit on that chair and start talking to somebody effortlessly without even hesitating. Yeah. That's where our belief needs to be in. Oh yeah. And you see the effects of. W When you believe in something like that, in your day-to-day life, you see the effects of it happening day in, day out, right? 

background: Mm-hmm.

Justin: And this is where the belief is formed, right? But this is also where the belief has grown.

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: And when the belief has grown, our relationship with God is grown. Mm-hmm. 

background: And 

Justin: the way that our belief grows and anything else where it just becomes so normal and it becomes. Just part of us, and it's something that we don't even think [00:12:00] about anymore.

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: Our relationship with God needs to be the same way. That's right. Okay. So we need to be in a relationship. That word is very strong, meaning we need to relate. 

background: Mm-hmm. 

Justin: You know, this is why Jesus is so important. And he's the, he's the door. He's the way back to Father. He's the way back to Father.

Justin: Right. He's the way back to God because we relate to him. Yeah. 

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: You know, Jesus said, , I and the Father are one. Right. Is what he said. He came like a man because in the image of man, , we can relate. Mm-hmm. Right? Because in the image of man, we can relate to him because he came in our image.

Justin: So therefore our relationship needs to be strengthened. With him and it needs to have a belief. Yeah. That he is the savior and the healer, right? Yeah. So that he is working all things for good according to those who love God. 

background: [00:13:00] Mm-hmm. 

Justin: Who are called according to his purpose. Purpose. So my point here is just understanding before we call on God, before we're waiting on him.

Justin: Mm-hmm. 

background: Before 

Justin: we're even praying and waiting. We need to get this down. Yeah. That relationship needs to be strong and we need to believe 

Don: Yes, that is true Justin. And it's good when you talk about believing. 'cause sometimes I'd like to go to the doctor and I like for him to go inside me and find my believer.

Don: 'cause I think there's a portion inside of me that believes, I know we're born into this world. It seems like a child. Believes everything. 

background2: Mm-hmm. You know, 

Don: I mean, they trust their parents, they trust most everything. Yeah. Until somebody's, , fills 'em with doubt. Yeah. You know, and they get doubt. And that's what kills a believer.

Don: And I know myself, sometimes I question my believer because I know the, uh, Bible says Isaiah. 40 and 31 familiar scripture says they either wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, you know, so, uh, there's a process I think of developing our believer, our faith in him. [00:14:00] It's gotta be exercised. You know, it's just like a physically you, you do things to become stronger.

Don: You feed yourself certain foods to become stronger, stay healthy, whatever it might be. Your believer is the same way, you know, so you have to learn, you know, God does have the answers. You have to wait on it, and it takes a belief process to do that. Yeah. And a lot of times we struggle with that. And I know it also says in Psalms 27 it says, wait and be strong and take courage.

Don: So God continues in the word of God telling us to do this sort of thing. But in today's society there's a lot of doubt floating around. You talk about Jesus Christ, he says, I'm the truth to life. And the way He's the example as you were saying, of what we should be. He's one with the father. You know He, so when you see him, he, you see the Father.

Don: It's everything God wants us to be. And the answer. It's, and sometimes too, I, I tell people that, you know, you gotta be able to handle the answer. 

background2: Yeah. You know, 

Don: your, your, your walk, your, your beliefs, your, uh, everything about [00:15:00] your life. Can you handle the truth? Can you handle the answer? I mean, God has all the answers, but you know, God is so loving.

Don: How he gives you your answer is based on how you can handle an answer. Yeah. You know, so if you can, it's so true. You condition yourself in a, in a way where. You can receive whatever God lays upon you. Because I know in the Bible sometimes it was not good answers. You know, even, uh, with Samuel and, uh, I think it was Eli or whatever, yeah.

Don: You know, God had some serious words for Eli that he gave Samuel, but, you know, yeah. So God has some strong words sometimes, but you know, if to be true with God and be able to live a life saying, you know, someday I'm gonna receive everything that God has from me. I know I, I often say. In the Bible. You know, every promise in the book is mine.

Don: I'm saying, you know, basically every promise God has given us is for each and every one of us, but we have to wait on God for that. Mm-hmm. We have to [00:16:00] ask God, as you were mentioning, Justin, ask God and be able to wait for the answers, directions, or whatever God would want. And a lot of times in today's day and age, there is so much doubt thrown into people.

Don: They don't go to God. Or if they pray to God as one simple little prayer, or it's a prayer for gimme, gimme, gimme. You know? Yeah. And Lord, gimme a new car. Lord, do this and all that stuff. Lord, what is your will in my life? You know? What do I need in my life to survive, to be the person that you designed me to be?

background2: Mm-hmm. 

Don: You know? And we have to learn how to be able to wait. For those type of answers. And I know you and I talk a lot, Justin. Yeah. You know, I mean, we're still waiting for answers. Mm-hmm. You know, there's so much that God is showing us in different areas, but it is a waiting game. Yeah. It is a waiting game.

Don: You know, it's just like the mother that was a child sees expectation too. You know, they say a mother with a child. She's expecting. 

background2: Yeah. You know, 

Don: it, it's a waiting game for nine months, but she's expecting 

background2: Yeah. You know, 

Don: and like with us, you know, [00:17:00] with God and, and the things that God would have for us, we get in a waiting game, but we're expecting.

Don: Yeah. 'cause we got a faith and belief that God has got something good for us. 

Justin: That's good. That's really good. And when we expect something, what is happening there? So we talked about belief, but when we talk, when, when we are expecting something and we stand. Expecting on something that we cannot see that is faith.

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: Yeah. You know, the Bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things unseen that's not seen yet. Right. So we know it's there, it's already waiting for us, but it's, it's not seen yet to us. So faith to me is . It's often so overlooked, right? Yeah. But the good thing about Faith, Don, is it kind of changes your whole attitude, right?

Justin: I. You know, when you change your attitude and your perspective of things, your perspective of waiting on God, something in the [00:18:00] spirit, , you know, something in the spirit, the effects of faithfulness, it like ripples. It's like dropping, , uh, dropping a pebble Yeah. In the water. Yeah. Right.

Justin: Yeah. And, and watching that ripple effect, you know, because. That ripple effect. It spreads far beyond when it's tossed in a river or a lake or a pond or whatever, it spreads far beyond the one who was faithful. Yeah. Right. So that ripple effect happens. Yeah. Continues are all, so you have to think about that as always, staying in faithfulness.

Justin: Right, right. Always staying in faith because just like the ripples in the pool, it spreads outwards. 

background: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Justin: You have no idea where this perspective, this mindset change, this attitude change is going to take things because you stood in the faith. Right? Right, right. So this is where, where Paul refers to it as the faith.

Justin: Mm. You know, I fought the good [00:19:00] fight with the faith. You know, right. So there's, there's a, a certain type of faith that's built upon. Prayer in your secret place. Yeah. Yeah. In fasting. That's good. I like that in just believing, like we were saying, in believing in the right things.

Justin: And believing in who's truly in you. Right. The great mystery has now been revealed. 

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: Paul says, Jesus Christ. You know, God is actually inside of us. Right? Is the hope of glory. Yeah. The hope of glory. Who you know of actually. , once you know that, then your identity is secured because you know who's in you.

Justin: Right? So a lot of people do not have a secure identity, right? Especially in today's world. Right? I mean, we see this stuff everywhere today. I mean, it's, it's actually kind of pretty crazy. All the things that people are trying to find their identity in. 

background: Mm-hmm. 

Justin: And if only, if only they found it in Jesus, they [00:20:00] would understand.

Justin: How capable they are of these things. Yeah. Oh yeah. They would not be blind to this stuff. So, you know, you pointed, you pointed out something about, , , like obedience before. Right. And I like to kind of relate that to authority. Mm-hmm. Obedience, right? Yeah. And I really think that what it comes down to is, uh, there's a story in the Bible where I believe that.

Justin: Some elders are sent to Jesus and there's sent to Jesus and they're talking about a centurion, a Roman centurion, which is the Roman guard, right? 

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: Of that, , of that region, of that area. And they're saying that his servant is basically gonna die. And he says the Roman centurion tells his elders to tell Jesus to come to his house and.

Justin: On the way there, the Centurion actually sends some friends that stop Jesus and say, the centurion is [00:21:00] saying he's not worthy of having Jesus there. 

background: Mm-hmm. Is a 

Justin: change of heart. Right. And he says, just say the word. Just say the word. He says, just like you, I have soldiers under me that respond to what I say.

Justin: He said, , and they have soldiers under them that respond Right. And Jesus says, I have not found faith like this in all of Israel. Which is crazy 'cause it's a Roman. I know it's a Roman centurion, right? Which the Romans were holding them captive. Right? So I say this because this is why obedience, and this is why authority in general authority is so important because this is how things happen in the spiritual realm.

Justin: You know, we have to maintain faith, we need to maintain a specific like kind of. Energy because this is how things, this is how things happen when we are expecting, right? Like you were saying of the mother. Yeah. She's expecting to receive that child, so she's doing all that she can to prepare [00:22:00] on receiving that child.

Justin: Yeah. She's not wondering if something's gonna happen in the process. She's making sure that she's prepared and she's ready. Right? Yep. 

Don: That is for sure. So this 

Justin: is how relationships grow in a sense. You know, when it comes to people that say. Well, how do I hear the voice of God? Yeah. You know what they say?

Justin: How do I, how do I hear God? I'm just not hearing God. I feel like I'm just speaking into the void. Mm-hmm. How do I know that God, you know, cares about me? How do I know that what God wants me to do? Yeah. You know, there's, obedience is the primary way to get the attention of God, right. I'll say that once more.

Justin: Obedience is the primary way to get the attention of God. And he wants you. He wants you to be a willing vessel for him. Mm-hmm. Remember, Jesus Christ is the hope of glory. God wants to get His glory through His Son, through Through the Holy Spirit, through you. 

Don: Yep. 

Justin: Because that's why he [00:23:00] is the hope of glory.

Justin: That's why he came to begin with. Right? So now since Jesus is within you, right? Yeah. Holy Spirit is now set out for you, so your spirit. It can be holy. Right, right. That the spirit Yeah. Could be one with your spirit. So this is the thing we're supposed to be, we're supposed to be separated. Yeah. You know, we're supposed to be called away from the world.

Justin: We're supposed to be sons of light. Right. Right. Children of the spirit. Right. That's right. So the whole point of it is, is to be obedient to what he's calling you to do now. Yeah. So sometimes if you're waiting on an answer, what's the last thing that he told you to do? Right. You know? Do you ever just get that like.

Justin: Let's be closer. Do you ever just get like that feeling? Like, do you ever think like, what should I really be doing right now? Yeah. You know, I'm doing this or I'm saying this or I'm here, but I just have like this feeling and sometimes we chalk it up to like instinct and stuff. Like it's in my gut. Yeah.

Justin: Like. What should I really be doing right now? [00:24:00] Right. And that might be what you probably should be doing. That might be God trying to actually talk to you from within saying, this is what I actually want you to focus on. Yep. That's true. This is who I actually want you to be talking to. This is who I actually want you to be hanging around with.

Justin: Yeah. This is where I actually want you to be focusing your time and your energy. Yeah, it's, it's listening to that still small voice. That's right. That we often.. Do not listen to. Yeah. Because we're so caught up in the ways of the world. Yeah. Right. Oh yeah. So what is he calling you to do?

Justin: Well, this is why the secret place is so important. 

background: Mm-hmm. 

Justin: You should be praying about it. Right. You should be praying about it. You should be having an opus and honest relationship. Yeah. With your creator. Yeah. To see what it is that your purpose is to do. Mm-hmm. 

Don: You know, 

Justin: because we. All have a purpose. We were all created with a purpose.

Justin: Yes. You know, Paul talks about it in the Bible and he talks about that there's a present and a things to come and he's talking about, you know, purpose things, but he's talking about there's a [00:25:00] present and a things to come. What he doesn't talk about is the past. You know, he doesn't talk about the past 'cause the past is gone.

Justin: Yeah. There is no past. The past is gone. The past is something that the enemy just likes to use to get you to focus on. So that he can put strongholds in your life and keep you there. Right. Right. And this is why the secret place is so important, because it's gonna tear down those strongholds. Yeah. Yeah.

Justin: He wants to because the, the enemy knows that if he can keep you stuck there, , that you're not going anywhere mm-hmm. . Yeah. You're gonna stay where you're at, distracted living the life that you are just thinking that there really is nothing better for you and God's not hearing you.

Justin: So I know we've said this before. And I'm, I don't wanna rant too much about this, but I know we've said this before, but you need to move away from that house. 

background: Mm-hmm. 

Justin: , your past is that house. Go to a new house. Right. You know, not physically, but go to a new location. Leave. Leave the past behind because you.

Justin: Have to get to the point where the past no longer holds you back so that you, in expectancy, [00:26:00] like you're saying, can see the good things that God has for you. And no longer worry you will be confident when you are waiting on God for an answer. That's 

Don: so true, and I know, uh, as far as prayer and being just that alone, what a tool.

Don: You know what an avenue we have with a creator. Like you were saying, Justin, he created all of us with a purpose in mind. But I would say 99% of the people don't have a clue as far as what that purpose might be. Right? Because most people don't take the time to even pray. You talk about a secret place sometimes you can tell people who do pray.

Don: You can tell how they handle life. You know, as far as waiting on the Lord or waiting for answers or whatever. They're at peace. They know that God's got it. He's got it. I know in the Bible, don't fret. No, they don't fret. And I know in the Bible is an excellent example of that. Paul and Silas, they're talking about the goodness of Jesus and the people didn't want to hear it, so they started pounding on 'em.

Don: They were all beat up. And so the soldiers took 'em and locked them up in a prison. They had shackles on their [00:27:00] ankles. And I heard somebody explain once to the prisons they had, they had a little hole in the middle of the prison. That's where they went to the bathroom. You know, it was an ugly place to be in, and they're in the middle of the night.

Don: They're singing songs and praising God. They were totally, isn't that crazy? They knew the answer. Yeah. They know the answer because, because Jesus is the answer. God is the answer. Amen. 

background2: They were in 

Don: totally peace, and that's where the Bible says it. The angels took the shackles out and they walked away from that prison.

Don: And a lot of times in our life, it's the same thing. You know, God has got answers for all of us and he's got a plan for all of us. And a lot of times I like to make mention that someday when we get to heaven, God's going to introduce each and every one of us. To the person we could have been because I think there's a duplicate of what God had intended for each one of us.

Don: Or he might have the blueprint laid out. He said, this is what I planned for you and this is what you did with it. You know, if we don't get ourselves into a place where we sincerely seek after God, develop. That type of [00:28:00] prayer life, develop the faith and belief process behind us and be able to wait for the answers that God would have for us.

Don: This is so important and it's, and it's something that has to be exercised, you know, because a lot of times, you know, people. They don't exercise it, so they're very weak in it. You know, anything comes along, it throws 'em, it dis destroys them. Mm-hmm. And you can tell people that are prayed up in things, people have developed a relationship, they know how to wait on the things of God.

Don: And I can, I dunno if I got time for a story here. Yeah, you got time. I do. Okay, that's good because I got a story of a, a guy named George Mueller and, uh, yeah. No, this is a story about George Mueller and he had an orphanage, and this was a guy that wanted to prove that God answers prayers. Okay. You know, so there's more to life than just living life.

Don: He wanted to prove that God answers prayers. So he opened up an orphanage and there was a lot of orphans at that time, but he didn't ask for anything. He prayed for everything. Mm-hmm. So if he needed food, if he [00:29:00] needed milk, he needed anything for his orphanage. Mm-hmm. He prayed for it. He didn't ask for it.

Don: And know, and the, and the, his books show that every time that something was of need, something was there. Mm-hmm. It was, uh, , the bread truck breaking down, or the wagon or whatever. Breaking down in front of the orphanage and he had all this bread, so they bring it into the orphanage or the milkman at the end of the day, had some stuff left over, brought it to the orphanage.

Don: It was all the things that he was praying about. Yeah. God was answering. He was proving God. See, and that's where God wants all of us. And I wanna leave you with some points here. You know, as far as waiting on God. You know, I got, uh, six points here. Okay? One of 'em is. Don't stop praying, okay? And we emphasize that greatly.

Don: We need to continue to reach out to God, be persistent in what you're going after. And , now the second one is examine yourself. Where am I with God as far as my desire for him, my eagerness, all this stuff, realizing he's real and wants to do something for me. And the third one is stay focused. You know this.

Don: What am I about? [00:30:00] You know, I am focused on finding my purpose, my principle, and my. Uh, obedience in life. I'm focused on it. This is my life. Mm-hmm. And the fourth one was, , keep a keep heart open and alert. Being open and alert. 'cause the answers come in different ways. You know, sometimes it's a checkout girl at the, at the grocery store that might have your answer.

Don: Right. All you learn to tune in your ears and eyes to be able to see and hear what the answers might be. Yeah. God speaks to 

Justin: people in so many different ways. Through different ways, through, through other people, I would say mainly, but. Through songs, through movies, through, yeah. Blog posts or social media posts.

Don: Oh, many avenues. This is a good avenue in itself, but, but my fifth one was, , keep trusting, never lose, never doubt. Mm-hmm. 

background2: You 

Don: know, get a work on that doubter. Get rid of that doubter and work on the believing process. Mm-hmm. Keep trusting in God. 'cause he is the answer to everything in life. And keep going.

Don: Six one is keep going. Don't [00:31:00] quit. Yeah. Be a a ever, ready or ever, energy bunny. Keep on going. You'd never quit on the things of life. No matter how tough things might be. How it seems like there's never an answer for you. There is an answers. The answers are there. You just gotta get prepared to receive these things and get eyes and ears to see and understand what the answer might be, because God is loving us.

Don: Much more than we could ever love him, and he's wanting good things in all of our lives. Amen.

Justin: Well, I think that wraps it up for today. This was a good one, Justin. I think so too. Hey, we're glad you guys found your way here today, and we hope you can join us again next week for another good word.

Justin: Until then, stay blessed by the best. See you [00:32:00] guys.