“My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is in Him.” (Psalm 62:5)
They came upon the scene about 190 BCE – shortly after the Maccabean revolt. They were the Pharisees, who played such an important part in Israel during the time of Christ. Their name was derived from a Hebrew word that meant “separated.” Their emphasis was on ritual purity and separation from what they considered to be unclean or impure. Sounds like a good religious organization to join back in that century, does it not?
But when we fast forward to the time of Christ, we learn that this religious club had become so self-righteous that they plotted to kill the Son of God. Though they themselves did not have the power to do so. The only authority they had was to harm Jesus by stoning him, which they took advantage of.
So in Jesus day, Israel had a group of men who not only read but studied diligently the Old Testaments scriptures, as well as taught them to the Jewish people. They were well respected. They were held in high esteem. And they were given seats of honor in the synagogue. Yet, there stood the Son of God before them, preaching the truth of heaven, and they not only hated him they plotted to have him killed. How does something as heinous as that happen? Where did they fall off the Richter scale of spirituality and slide into such a depraved hole?
The answer is simple. Though they knew about the Messiah, though they studied about the Messiah, their downfall was they did not expect the Messiah. And that, my friend, may be a problem many of us who even though we call ourselves Christ followers, struggle with. When we pray, when we beseech God with our requests, do we hope he will answer? Do we wish he will do what we want him to do? I mean, that all may sound good. In fact, it appears to be faith. But the real question is, do we really expect God to answer our prayer? Are we anticipating his answer, or are we merely hoping for his answer? Do we keep asking and begging God with our petitions because we are trying to change his mind or twist his arm into answering our prayer?
What are our expectations when we pray? Are we watching for God to show up in powerful ways, or do we settle into a long wait of “in case” he shows up? I want to challenge each of us to search our hearts before we bring our petitions to God and discover whether they hold the faith needed to expect God to answer, or if they hold the heart of a Pharisee.
Darlene