During Lent, it is the custom at Trinity to substitute the following Taize chant for the Agnus Dei in the Eucharistic liturgy: “O Lord, hear my prayer, O Lord, hear my prayer. When I call, answer me. O Lord, hear my prayer, O Lord, hear my prayer. Come and listen to me.” The chant is based on the tenth verse of the psalm appointed for today: “Harken to my voice, O Lord, when I call; have mercy on me and answer me.”

Years ago, when I worked for the government in Washington, I participated in a weekly lunch-time prayer group. One day a woman used the phrase “a prayer-answering God.” Those words have stuck with me because that has been my experience of God. Most often, as you might imagine, the answers haven’t necessarily come when or where or how I might have expected. In fact, I find surprise is frequently the hallmark of the answers that come my way, that my eyes are opened to recognize as answers. Of course, the answer may not always be “yes.” Sometimes it is “no, or “not yet” or “I have something much better in mind for you,” as the Book of Common Prayer (p.831) puts it: “…better things than [you] can desire or pray for.” Whatever the answer may be, I have come to trust that is what I need at the time, that it is working for my ultimate good, bringing me to wholeness and holiness.

In today’s culture, it is common to look for instant gratification of our desires. That is not often the way God works, however. The psalmist was well aware that God works in God’s time and ends his psalm urging us: “O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure; be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; wait patiently for the Lord.” In my experience, it is worth the wait!