Scripture: Isaiah 40:31
Song: I will stay (Wait on the Lord) by Dunsin Oyekan
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…” — Isaiah 40:31
There are people who are not asking for another sermon; they are asking for strength to continue. They have prayed, tried, endured, and carried more than others can see. Their words appear strong, but their hearts are tired. Some are close to giving up, not because they no longer believe in God, but because the battle has lasted longer than their strength.
Isaiah 40:31 becomes more than a familiar verse in these situations. God did not say the weary should pretend to be strong; He did not tell them to force themselves forward with the little strength they had left, He gave them a place to receive new strength: wait upon the Lord.
Waiting on God is not doing nothing. It is coming into His presence with your weakness and refusing to carry it away unchanged. It is staying in prayer until your heart is strengthened again.
Many people pray, but they do not wait. They tell God what is wrong, cry, rise, and return to the same pressure with the same exhausted heart. But waiting means remaining before God long enough for His strength to enter the place where yours has failed.
You may not receive an immediate change in the situation, but something must change in you. Fear must lose its grip, heaviness must begin to lift, and desire to quit must give way to strength to continue. This is the exchange that takes place in God’s presence. You bring your weariness; He gives strength. You bring your confusion; He gives stability. You bring the part of you that says, “I cannot go on,” and He gives grace for the next step.
The enemy wants you to leave the place of prayer weak, because a weak heart can be pushed into fear, wrong decisions, and surrender. When strength returns, you begin to see differently. You may still be facing the same battle, but you are no longer facing it with the same weakness.
God has not asked you to manufacture strength, He has asked you to wait on Him. So, before you give up, wait. Before you conclude that nothing can change, wait. Before you make a decision out of weariness, wait. Stay until strength returns. You may enter His presence with tears; do not leave until your heart becomes strong and joyful.
Prayer
Lord, my strength is failing, and I cannot carry this burden by myself. As I wait before You, let fear, weariness, and discouragement lose their hold over me. Give me strength to continue, strength to believe, and strength to face what is before me. Amen.
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