We’re answering at least 1 question a day this week regarding the Holy Spirit and the fruit he produces in us. Let’s tackle day 2’s curiosity.

“When you pray for something specific, you pray and give it to God. However, the Bible states to pray continuously. How can we be patient and let God be God?”

Fortunately, these two things don’t conflict. We can pray continuously and ask repeatedly. The secret to balancing both is to have the right attitude. And the right attitude is one of humility.

When we “give it to God,” we don’t do so demanding our way on our timetable. We simply cast our cares on him (1 Peter 5:7), trusting, even knowing, he’ll do what is best and right at the perfect time. When that is our posture, then we can continue to ask, praying regularly for the same thing. After all, Peter uses the present tense verb for “cast,” indicating it is to be a regular activity, even if the issue is the same.

Admittedly, if we have an answer from the Lord regarding a matter, then we shouldn’t be dismissive of that and assume he made a mistake and needs to rectify his response. Instead, we should, as you say, “let God be God” and be content in his sovereignty.

But we also must admit that some things we “give to God” are issues that play out/are answered over a long period of time. Frankly, sometimes it can be humanly hard to tell if the answer we sense is the “final” answer. It’s one thing to pray for God to grant us safety on a trip or provide us with a positive outcome to a specific opportunity (like a job or promotion); it’s another to pray about the healing of a seemingly terminal illness or fertility issues (i.e., having a child). Sometimes things like that reveal themselves over years. So while we wait patiently for an ultimate revealing of God’s plan in those kinds of situations, it is perfectly fine to continue asking humbly, trustingly, yet unashamedly (Heb. 4:16).

Check in again tomorrow!