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Today I’m talking about what to do when waiting for an answer to prayer, especially when it’s a long wait. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be doing a little series, and hopefully these will help us enjoy and get through the holidays, close out this current year, and begin 2026 with less focus on the things we cannot control. My prayer is that we’ll have more confidence that those things are safe in God’s
hands, and more intentionality and focus on the things that bring joy, more peace, more value-based living, and more purpose into our lives. And of course, those things include staying close to God and keeping our minds renewed on His truth and His comfort.What to Do When Waiting for an Answer to Prayer (Especially When It’s a Long Wait)
Why Long Waiting Feels So Hard
What do we do while waiting for God to answer prayer? I’m not referring to small prayers with quick answers, but the ones that stretch across months or years or even decades, the ones where the waiting feels endless. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reflecting on passages that remind us how differently God views time compared to us.
Psalm 90 is the well-known “a thousand years is like a day.” A day to God is like a thousand years to us. Peter echoes this same truth. From God’s eternal perspective, our lives are just a breath—just seconds compared to eternity. But here’s the challenge: it still feels like a really long time to us. Sometimes it feels unbearably long, sometimes like silence, like nothing.
Scripture doesn’t give a neat, step-by-step checklist of what to do while we wait for specific answers. We’re promised blessings when we wait for the Lord. But if you’re like me, my default switch when I am waiting is to slip into worrying. I want resolution. We want direction. We want to know what’s next right now. We want to close this chapter and move on. And when we don’t get that, we feel stuck.
That’s the focus over the next few weeks: how do we get unstuck? Whether we’re waiting for answers or whether anxiety or fear is keeping us stuck—what is holding us back from living the peace, joy, and intentionality that God desires for us? Is it even possible? It is. But it takes reflection, renewal, and commitment to acting daily within our values.
[You may listen to the talks from these blog posts or keep up with them on-the-go on the Faith and Soul Care podcast.]
What God Brought to Mind About Waiting
Recently I sat down with God and asked Him directly, “What should we do while we’re waiting?” In that quiet time He brought some things to mind through Scripture.
Isaiah 30:18 tells us, “Blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Waiting is not wasted in God’s economy. Even when we see no progress, He is at work. He is shaping our hearts, shaping our faith, building our story. So instead of just waiting and worrying and becoming impatient, we can ask God, “Okay, God, it’s been a while now. What are You wanting me to learn in this waiting? What do You have for me on the other side of this waiting? What are You trying to build in me or create in me or teach me?”
God knows how tempted we are to take things into our own hands, to try to make something happen and shake things up—and usually mess them up. But we’re blessed when we have godly patience to wait on Him.
Worrying Is Wasting
The second thing is that worrying is actually wasting. Jesus couldn’t have been clearer when He said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” Sometimes I think Jesus says that to me every day, although I’m getting better—maybe once a week now. That’s Luke 12:25.
Worry drains our energy, stresses us out, ties our hearts in knots, and we don’t move forward. It keeps us stuck. Jesus doesn’t tell us, “Just don’t worry.” He invites us to trust Him, that He is already carrying what concerns us. Psalm 138 reminds us, “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever.” He will finish out those things that are concerning us.
When we continue to live with purpose, we declare that God—not our fears—directs our story. Whether it seems like it or not, He is guiding the path. He is opening and closing doors. He is turning hearts behind the scenes. We have to trust that.
Pressing On With Purpose
Another Scripture that came to mind was Paul’s encouragement in Philippians 3:13–14. Paul is most likely writing from prison in Rome. He is waiting, probably not in the best circumstances. Just before this, in verses 10–12, he writes about wanting to fully know Christ and be resurrected with Christ. He wants to experience Christ fully. He’s looking forward to the resurrection and his glorified body. But he says, “I have not yet attained it.”
So what does he do while he’s waiting? He says, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
This sounds lovely, but let’s dig in. Paul is in prison waiting, maybe waiting for a sentence, waiting to see if anything is going to change. The word for “goal” is skopon—a fixed target. “Pressing on” carries a sense of urgency. And the word “called” in English is a verb, but in Greek it’s actually a noun—kliseos—meaning a calling.
So while he is waiting and has not yet attained what he longs for, Paul says, “I’m going to press on right here in prison toward the goal of my calling.” He is living with purpose right where he is. Paul isn’t just saying, “Don’t wait and worry.” He’s saying, “Pursue with urgency the calling God has placed before you. Fix your scope and your purpose on Him and what He has for you.”
Understanding Our Purpose in Small Steps
For some of us, God has revealed long-term purpose or pieces of it. Maybe you know your strengths or passions but you’re not sure how they fit together. For others, it feels foggy or unknown. That’s okay.
God reveals purpose in small steps. If He showed it all, it would overwhelm us. We’d laugh or cry or run away. But He gives us a little at a time. He lights the way step by step. Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.”
It’s hard to do all this reflection alone. That’s why I’m doing these Wednesday night teachings and why we’re going to look at this more deeply in January with a new cohort—uncovering our purpose, strengths, and values, especially for us in midlife or empty nest seasons. We’re not done yet. God has newness and renewal for us. Paul said, “Forgetting what’s behind, pressing on toward the calling.”
Practical Strategies for the Waiting
So what about practical strategies? It’s nice to talk about purpose and goals and not worrying, but what do we do when we can't turn off our worries?
Strategy 1: Schedule Your Worry
We can’t always turn off worry, but we can corral it. Counselors and cognitive behavioral therapists suggest scheduling worry time. Give worry a block of time. Maybe 10 minutes. When you start ruminating during the day, say, “I’m saving that for my worry time.” Then during that 10 minutes, pour everything out—every unfiltered thought, fear, or concern. Once it’s out on paper, it’s out of your head and the intensity reduces.
Strategy 2: Praying in Silence With the Spirit
Sometimes we’re so worried or overwhelmed that we can’t even form words. Our brains feel jumbled. In those moments, praying in silence and inviting the Holy Spirit to intercede is powerful. Find a quiet place. Begin prayer with praise and thanksgiving, then confession. When it’s time for requests, get silent and say, “Holy Spirit, intercede for me. Lift up the worries I’m too frazzled to speak. Go before me and work these things out on my behalf.”
Romans 8:26 tells us the Spirit intercedes when we don’t know what to pray. In that silence, you can ask, “God, is there a word You have for me today?” Sometimes a phrase, verse, or sense of peace rises up. Sometimes the silence itself becomes the word.
Strategy 3: ACT – Acceptance and Commitment
ACT—Acceptance and Commitment Therapy—is helpful in waiting. Accept the reality that you can’t control the situation. Sit with the feelings: worry, frustration, longing. Feel them fully for about 90 seconds. They begin to dissipate.
Then ask, “Even in these circumstances, how do I want to show up today? How do I want to be for the people around me? How do I want to press on in a way that aligns with my values and my faith?”
This creates a shift. We stop letting the waiting define us. We reclaim our ability to act purposefully right where God has us.
Closing
Waiting doesn’t have to mean sitting in worry. We can minimize wasted time by limiting worry, scheduling our pouring out, praying in silence with the Spirit, and accepting the situation. Then we commit to choosing actions that align with our faith, values, and purpose.
When we press on instead of getting stuck, God meets us in the waiting. He shapes us, uses us, and prepares us not only for the answer we’re praying for, but for what’s ahead. So remember: waiting will be blessed, worrying is wasting, and pressing on is purposeful.
I’ll be back next week with another topic as we close out 2025 and start looking into 2026. Bye for now.
Resources:
All Author's Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0073HVSD6
Book: Closer to God: Simple Methods, Starting Today: https://www.amazon.com/Closer-God-Simple-Methods-Starting/dp/197680406X
More Information about the author: https://sherryelaine.com/about