Waiting for an Answer to Prayer vs. Manipulating God

The life of Sarai (Genesis 11) and Hannah (1 Samuel 1) have much in common. Both were barren. Both longed for children and had to wait for an answer to prayer to receive what they desired. Yet Sarai handled this problem on her own and manipulated the situation by playing God. The result was disaster for everyone involved. On the other hand, Hannah surrendered her desire to the Lord and waited for Him to fulfill it in His way and in His time.

Whatever we desire in life, the necessary step is to wait for His answer. Surely God knows what is best for us!

Bring our problems to God

Problems and trials are unavoidable until we cross over into Heaven. Since all of us will face them, the key to dealing with them is responding rightly. When Hannah faced her problem, she brought it to the Lord in prayer (1 Samuel 1:10). Just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-44), Hannah let her emotions draw her closer to God. But Sarai was more focused on solving her problem, so much so that she devised a tactic (Genesis 16:2-3).

The reality is, God wants to listen to our problems because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and He is able to handle every one of them.

Have a right view of God

Hannah had a clear view of who God is during her season of waiting. She saw God as the Almighty and called Him by that name:

“And she made a vow, saying: "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your servant and remember me and not forget Your servant, but will give Your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head." (1 Samuel 1:11)

To forget God while waiting for an answer to prayer is to open the door to Satan’s deceit, which makes us think it is better to handle the problem ourselves. Learn the names of God, and call on Him by those names.

Focus on God’s voice while waiting for an answer to prayer

Abram foolishly listened more to Sarai than to God (Genesis 16:2c). There was a void of God’s word in their relationship, along with a greater focus on Sarai’s words than on God’s words. We cannot win by manipulating a situation. By playing God, we emphasize what we want from others rather than what God desires from them. At its core, we assume we know better than God. But listening to God’s word helps us wait for an answer to prayer in the right way. Listening to God makes us understand that He never withholds anything good from us.

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; He gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)

Waiting for an answer to prayer is not easy. Even so, it is during the waiting that God shapes our character to trust Him more in every step. God whispers to us that He is able, that His will is perfect and beautiful. God has a plan for our lives, and we must not interrupt His plan by taking control and playing God.

Edited from the translated article "Waiting on God vs. Playing God" by Ashaki K. Sorrell - Detroit, Michigan.

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