“He answered them and said,
“The kingdom of God does not come with observation;
nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’
For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Luke 17:20-21

I’m thinking about prayer: how we pray for people and for God’s work in their lives. And then we go from the place of prayer, to “go see”. And we evaluate where we think they are in their spirit and soul. And we pass judgment if they aren’t where we think they ought to be (especially in light of the prayers we have prayed!) And I should write personally here…I become frustrated and impatient with the person I have prayed for! I note their lack of progress or growth or maturity or reality or truth. And I fuss. And I fume.

This is incongruous. If I am praying for a soul, then what should proceed from that trust to God would be a continued trust in God for His good work in that soul, not a judging of His working in a life.

The result of continued trust should not be frustration and impatience with the needy or unresponsive or S–L–O–W soul … No! God is strong and good and wise to work in the life of each individual soul. We can “look” for His working, we can “wonder” at His working. And we can continue to trust God and pray.

His work isn’t a surface work and it doesn’t happen in an hour or a day. It’s a hidden work, a deep work and a long work. So pray. And trust. And look. But don’t be judging God’s work and don’t be impatient. Pray and trust and love still. God does answer prayer. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives.” Matt 7:7-8