As Jeremiah shows in this story, even seasoned prophets must pray for wisdom patiently.
The greatest obstacle to praying successfully for wisdom is a lack of patience. The story we see in this article shows that even great prophets sometimes do not promptly receive the wisdom they seek.
What to do after disaster
The prophet was Jeremiah, one of the greatest in Israel. The circumstance was a request from some of the leaders of the people that he inquire of the Lord for them about what to do in the aftermath of Babylon’s conquest of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 42:1–4 says, “Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, ‘Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us—that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.’
“Jeremiah the prophet said to them, ‘I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.’” (ESV)
A heavyweight
Remember that Jeremiah is God’s right hand man in Israel. When Jeremiah was a youth, God appeared to him to call him into his ministry as a mouthpiece for God. Jeremiah describes that experience: “Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’” (Jeremiah 1:9–10, ESV)
So Jeremiah is not a lightweight, wannabe, or novice at hearing from the Lord. And now as the leaders of Israel inquire of God through him, he has been prophesying accurately to the nation for decades. So he brings their question to the Lord.
Pray for wisdom patiently
After inquiring of God for one day, the answer had not come. After two days, no answer from God. Three days, four days, five, six, seven—no answer. Eight days, nine days, no answer. The man of God—the man who knew how to receive God’s word and wisdom—did not hear anything from God for nine days.
Moreover, God did not tell Jeremiah how long he would have to wait for the answer. He simply had to keep praying and believing the wisdom would come. For all he knew, it could take weeks or months.
But Jeremiah 42:7 says, “At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.”
Is a delay a denial?
Have you ever waited on God for ten days? My guess is that Jeremiah probably did not present his request on day one and then go about his business doing other things until the answer came at the end of day ten. Rather, he probably focused on that for each of ten days, seeking the Lord in prayer. My point is not that asking God for wisdom necessarily demands that, but rather, even doing that did not in this situation result in a quick answer.
You should not feel something is wrong if you pray for several minutes or even hours for wisdom but do not come away with something tangible. Your prayer has planted a seed; do not give up on it. God has heard you. He has his timing and his wise reasons for delay. He had a perfect reason for waiting ten days to answer Jeremiah’s inquiry. While he is patient, we are impatient. While he knows the present and the future, we know next to nothing. He is perfect in all his ways. But whether it takes ten days, ten weeks, ten months, or ten years, the rewards of having wisdom from God Most Wise are too great to quit on the promise of James 1:5.
Therefore when seeking God for wisdom takes much time or requires waiting patiently, do not give up in unbelief and do not forget about it. If the requested wisdom does not come in the time span you expect, that does not mean it will never come or that something is wrong with you.
Life principle
Even God’s choicest prophets have had to wait patiently for him to reveal the wisdom they seek, so do not give up in unbelief if your requests for wisdom take longer than expected to be answered.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)