Patience, One of Nine Great Fruits

It is often said in Christian circles that some hesitate to pray for patience because after praying for patience they feel the Lord sends situations their way that demand patience. I have heard this increasingly lately and it causes me unrest. So I started asking the Lord why I was not at rest with this sentiment.

A few things happened to bring me clarity on this. I heard a wisp of teaching to the effect that patience is only one of the nine fruits of the Spirit. We are to pray that the Lord will manifest Himself in our lives through the Holy Spirit.

Everyone has circmstances in life that require patience. They abound in every day and night! The Lord does not need to break through the heavens and send these situations to us as if we could not find them on our own!

So asking the Lord for help at these times should become a routine part of our dependence upon Him for help to live as His people. " Lord, give me patience" should not be a dreaded prayer. We must pray earnestly to be made in His image! So when conditions arise where we need patience, I think it would be a good experiment to pray asking the Lord to manifest Himself through us with the fruit of patience. Just as we ask Him to make us more loving, to teach us to pray and to remain faithful, we can desire to be more like Him in the attribute of patience without fearing that our world will crash down around our heads.

He has promised to be with us at all times. He can teach us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Through His Holy Spirit we can be made new in His image. Never fear, little flock, our Good Shepherd cares for us eternally and He is kind to us every respect.