How Scripture Carries Us Through Seasons of Waiting

I once sat in the back seat of a car, watching the rain blur the trees, thinking I should be praying. Inside me was a dull ache of uncertainty—job offer delayed, medical test results pending, relationships paused. My Bible lay untouched in my lap. I tried to pray, but all I could do was open to a verse: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord.” That one line—just six words—became my prayer. It held me.

Why Waiting is Usually the Hardest Place for Prayer

We all hate uncertainty. We want to see results. Waiting feels like limbo. Yet, in the Bible, waiting shows up more than we like to admit. Abraham waiting for a child. Hannah waiting for a blessing. David in caves. The early church waiting for persecution or promise. Prayer in the waiting isn’t about pretending everything’s okay. It’s about bringing the ache into God’s hands. It’s about letting scripture become our voice when our own words feel small or brittle.

What Scripture Offers Us While We Wait

Reminders of what God has done: Verses like “Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever” reassure us that God’s loyalty isn’t paused just because our situation is.
Truth that counters fear: Fear tries to tell us many lies, but God’s Word whispers what is real—His presence, His faithfulness—even when answers seem slow.
Promise of growth: Waiting reveals patience, deepens trust, stretches our faith muscles in ways that fast-answers never do.

One trustworthy source says that praying Scripture helps keep us rooted in truth and guards our hearts from drifting into anxiety during waiting.

Real-Life Stories: Waiting + Scripture + Prayer

The Boyfriend’s Delay

A friend of mine, Sara, had been waiting months for a relationship to move forward—or not. She didn’t know what to pray. One night she opened her Bible and landed on Psalm 27:14: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” She prayed that not as a command, but as confession: “God, I don’t feel strong. My heart is tired. I want to trust.” Over time she found that verse gave her strength—not the kind that pushed her ahead, but the kind that held her steady.

The Medical Test

Another time I waited for test results. I remember pacing my house so much that one of my shoes wore out. In between worry and prayers, I kept turning to passages about God’s peace surpassing understanding. I wrote them on sticky notes: Philippians 4:6-7, reassurance that even when I couldn’t fix things, I could bring my anxiety to God. When the results came, they were good. But even before that, scripture had softened my panic.

Waiting in Public

In the recent pandemic, so many of us waited—waiting for safety, waiting for clarity, waiting for normal. Scripture reading apps, verses shared via text, people quoting promises—those small scripture moments felt like lifelines.

How to Pray Scripture While Waiting (And Not Lose Heart)

You and I both know that instructions are easy. Living them is harder. Here are things I've tried (often failing, but also seeing God show up):

Pick one verse that matches your waiting. Maybe it’s a promise, an encouragement, or a lament. Let it become your anchor.
Turn that verse into your prayer. If it says “be strong, take heart”, confess where you are weak. Ask for strength, courage. Don’t pretend the wait isn’t painful—bring that in too.
Repeat it. When the waiting lingers, you’ll forget. Repeat the verse. Whisper it morning and night. Let it breathe under your skin.
Journal or write fragments. Sometimes I write half prayers, doodled prayers, words like “Help me wait when I want to rush” or “God, show me in this delay.” Those fragments often carry more truth than perfect prayers.
Share the verse with someone else. When someone else is also waiting, telling them what scripture is carrying you can sharpen your faith, strengthen theirs, and remind you neither of you are alone.

What Scripture Doesn’t Promise (So We Don’t Feel Disappointed)

It doesn’t promise that waiting ends when we like. Sometimes it’s long. Sometimes it’s painful.
It doesn’t promise we’ll always feel peace. Feelings fluctuate. Trust can grow even when feelings lag.

My Own Reflection: When My Words Failed

I work in ministry and teaching, so sometimes I get asked to pray over big issues—over loss, over brokenness. There have been times when I opened my mouth and… nothing. I didn’t have the right words. But scripture still did something. It whispered truth when my voice shook. It steadied me when I felt fragile. One lesson: when I lose words, I don’t lose prayer. Scripture becomes my voice. And that has reshaped my understanding of what daily prayer really is—not performance, but presence.

Questions You Might Be Wrestling With

Do you try to avoid the waiting because it’s uncomfortable? What if you leaned into scripture instead of trying to get out of the wait? Could it be that God uses waiting not to punish, but to shape something in your heart—trust, patience, perspective—that quick results never could?

Invitation: Sit in the Waiting with a Verse

Tomorrow, when you wake up (or in the time that first stirs you awake), pick a verse that feels heavy or hopeful or both. Pray it. Let it hold your ache. Let it carry your longings. If you like, send me that verse. Let’s see how God works through words that already exist, in seasons where our own words are few. Because sometimes, praying scripture during waiting isn’t about fixing the wait—it’s about letting the wait remake you.