IGNITE March 2025
Dear Prayer Igniters, As you read this IGNITE and learn the importance of Waiting on God for His counsel, I am flying to Zimbabwe. I’ll be uniting with my three siblings— Jan, Andrew, and Richard— at Jan’s home in Bulawayo from 03/29 to 04/15/25! 🎉🥳 We have not been all together, at the same time, and in the same place, since our son Chris’ marriage to his bride, Ashley, 11 years ago.
This month, I was strongly led by the Holy Spirit to do something I hadn’t done before in the seven years of Waiting On God daily with Andrew Murray’s meditations: ‘Share the complete meditation from Day 15!’ As you read and/or listen to Day 15 of Waiting on God, “For His Counsel,” I believe that God will encourage and possibly speak to you very personally as you wait on Him in silence for 10-15 minutes at the end of the meditation.
DAY 15: Waiting On God— For His Counsel
“They soon forgot His works: they did not wait for His counsel: but they rebelled in their counsel.” Psalm 106:13, 43
This text describes the sin of God‘s people in the wilderness. God had wonderfully redeemed them from Egypt and was prepared, just as wonderfully, to supply their every need. But, when the time of need came, “they did not wait for His counsel.” They had not come to think of Almighty God as their leader and provider, so they did not think of asking what His plans might be. Instead, they simply followed what they thought best, and so rebelled against God in their unbelief. “They did not wait for His counsel.”
This act of “not waiting” has been the sin of God‘s people throughout the ages. During Joshua’s time, they sinned in conquering the land of Canaan; the only three failures they experienced were due to this one sin. They did not wait for His counsel:
- When going up against Ai
- In making a covenant with the Gibeonites, and
- When settling down before pressing on to possess the whole land
Even the mature believer is in danger of this most subtle of temptations.
We’re tempted when reading God‘s word and thinking our own thoughts of them without waiting for His counsel. But let us heed the warning and learn from Israel’s mistake. Let us especially regard this not only as a danger to the individual believer but also to God’s people, who need to be on guard in their collective capacity.
Our whole relationship with God is rooted in the fact that His will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven. He has promised to make known His will to us by His Spirit, our guide to all truth. Our position is to wait for His counsel, the only guide of our thoughts and actions.
Our first objective must be to ascertain the mind of God:
- In our church worship
- In our prayer meetings
- In our conventions
- In our gatherings as managers or directors or committees or helpers
- In any area of God‘s work, God always works according to the counsel of His will.
So, the more the counsel of His will is sought, found, and honored, the more surely and mightily God will do His work in and through us.
Are Churches Waiting On God for His Counsel?
The great danger in all church assemblies is that we trust in:
- Our bible knowledge
- In our past experience of God‘s leading
- Our sound creed
- Or in our honest wish to do God‘s will
Yet, we fail to realize that every step needs and can have heavenly guidance. There may be elements of God’s will, applications of God’s word, experiences of God’s close presence and leading, and manifestations of the power of His Spirit, of which we know nothing yet. God may be willing—no, God is willing to reveal this to those intent on allowing Him to have His way entirely and willing to wait patiently for Him to make it known.
When we come together, praising God for all He has done, taught, and given, we may simultaneously be limiting Him by not expecting greater things. Remember, it was only after God had provided water out of the rock that the Israelites didn’t trust Him for bread. Likewise, only after God had given Jericho into his hands did Joshua think victory over Ai was a sure thing. Joshua thought he knew what God would do; thus, he didn’t wait for further counsel. And so, while we may feel that we trust in the power of God and know what to expect, we may be hindering God’s work by not taking the time and cultivating the habit of waiting for His counsel.
A minister has no more solemn duty than teaching people to wait on God.
Why was it that in the house of Cornelius, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word (Acts 10:44)? Perhaps it was because earlier they had stated we are all present before God to hear all the things commanded you by God (10:33). We may come together either to give or to listen to the most Earnest exposition of God‘s truth and little spiritual profit because there has not first occurred the waiting for God‘s council. In all gatherings, we need to rely on the Holy Spirit as the guide and teacher of God’s saints and learn to wait for His leading into the things that God has prepared, the things our minds cannot conceive.
The more illness of the soul to realize God’s presence, the more confession of ignorance of what God’s great plans may be. And the more faith in the certainty that God can do more incredible things, the more longing that God will be revealed in new glory. These must characterize the assembly of God’s saints if they would avoid the reproach: They did not wait for His council.
“My soul, wait only on God.”
Now take 10 to 15 minutes to be silent before God and enjoy His company. Listen for His voice or just rest in His presence. REMEMBER: A minister has no more solemn duty than teaching people to wait on God.
Five years ago, these words from Day 15 leaped off the page at 4:30 AM on our back porch. I fell to the carpet face down and committed my life in and through Igniting Prayer Action to teach people to wait on God. Following this command from God in joyful obedience is why we now have “Waiting on God” in eight different languages. We praise God for the 1000s of transformed lives in the 14 nations where people are spending more time with God daily through the joy and peace-filling practice of waiting.
Move Again Mightily, Lord!
Ask God if He would have you buy a $500 box of 60 “Waiting on God” books to give as gifts to people He puts in your path. With over 15% savings per book when you purchase a box of 60, you could distribute books to neighbors, friends, family members, restaurant servers, and church members!
You, too, can experience the joy of seeing transformed lives as people spend more time with God by waiting on Him and accepting the 31-Day Adventure into God’s heart!
Many thanks and blessings to you all! 😊 Chkk-Chirrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
– Colin
