Praying All the Day Long: A Fourth Watch God

I have been spending a ton of time thinking about why sometimes the Lord allows us to go for so long with no clear answer or direction. Well, I was able to receive enlightenment to that question in a couple different ways. First, a friend of mine offered me a talk about how the Lord is a fourth watch God. He does not come to offer peace and freedom from struggle during the first watch, or the second, or the third. Not until the fourth and final watch does the Lord come. If the Lord has not yet offered you the peace and relief you need, it just means that it is not yet the fourth watch. Then, in our Book of Mormon lecture, we learned of those believers of Christ who were appointed to be put to death if the sign of Christ's birth was not given. As Nephi, the prophet of that time, observed the wickedness and hatred of that generation, he was weighed down with great sorrow. In 3 Nephi 1, it describes the following:

10 Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.

11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.

12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:

13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

What stands out as we learn of Nephi's search for peace is the experience he has in the actual action of prayer. Nephi prayed all that day. He didn't just pray for a few minutes and then go forward hoping that that would be enough. No, he spent all day praying. Why didn't the Lord answer his prayer at the beginning of the day? The Lord already knew the answer he would give, so it would not have been any more difficult for him to answer immediately. No, the Lord had a plan much bigger than just making things convenient for Nephi. Our professor made an insightful statement in class on this point: "God loves you far more than he loves your sense of peace and contentment and well being. He’s willing to let you get reeeaaallly uncomfortable because he’s getting you to stretch to become something that you are not." 

I am quick to wonder if, when the Lord isn't answering, it means he isn't listening. But that isn't the case. God listens to our prayers, and he loves us very dearly. It's because of that love that he waits. God is a fourth watch God. He is an End-of-the-Day God. He is shaping us, not just gratifying our need for immediate results. God has a much bigger plan for you than your current question or your current trial. Hold on, keep praying, keep asking, keep trusting. He knows what he wants to make of you. Let him shape you into the masterpiece you are designed to be.