"In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly." Psalms 5:3 (NIV)
What does it mean to wait on the Lord? We live in such a pressure cooker society, where we are always attempting to accomplish something, be somewhere, or see someone. As we live our lives on a continuous deadline, we hit the floor running in the morning and collapse in the bed at night. When we find a few minutes to ourselves, we vegetate in front of the television or computer. Where is the Lord in this scenario? He is not to be found and that is the problem. We will not find Him unless we seek Him. Isaiah 55:6 admonishes, "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near." In Proverbs 8:17 it states, "I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me." When I read that, I asked the Lord about it inquiring, "Lord, why would this verse say to seek You early when you can be found? Aren't you always there?" And His answer to me was, "That verse is about you - not Me. I am always there, but you must seek Me early before the cares of the day take over and you are too busy to hear Me or to sense My presence." Once we rush off without connecting with Lord, it is much harder to connect later on when we have the pressures of the day pressing in on us. We must seek the Lord and wait on Him. To wait on the Lord is three-fold. First, we assume a position of praise and worship, for the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. Praise brings the presence of the Lord and there should be expectancy in our waiting. Expect Him to show up and expect Him to speak. Once in His presence, the second part of waiting begins. We wait on (to serve and minister to) the Lord. If you were employed to wait on customers in a retail setting or restaurant, you find out what that customer desires and you serve on them throughout the time they are in your presence. We should wait on the Lord by allowing Him to speak to us about His heart and what He needs from us. Then you move into the third phase of waiting on the Lord, which is abiding. After connecting with the Lord and receiving instruction from Him, we operate under the direction of those instructions which allows us to abide continually in His presence. The Lord desires to spend time with you to stay connected and involved in your life throughout the day. So, invite Him to come close with praise, then be quiet and listen to what He wants to share, and then act on whatever He shares with you. This is the supreme act of worship, because obedience is the purest form of worship.