Exodus 24:14
And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
Three times we see that God’s people are commanded to tarry. Now, the word tarry is always a picture of praying. So, when the believer is commanded to tarry, they are being commanded to be in prayer. Each of these three times that the believer is commanded to tarry is a time that they should pray until something happens. Let us look at these three times.
The first time we are reminded to tarry is when Moses tells the people to Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you. In other words, God is saying that we are to be a people of prayer until Jesus comes again to take us home to Heaven. Jesus is coming again, but we will never be the people we need to be for God to use us if we do not tarry in prayer until He comes again. The need for people to tarry in prayer is critical to what they are for Christ to use.
The second time we are reminded to tarry is when Jesus told the disciples to tarry ye here, and watch with me. (Matthew 26:38) Jesus knew that the greatest of spiritual battles was about to happen, and that they would falter unless they spent time in prayer. You cannot overcome Satan’s attacks against you on your own. You must spend time in prayer if you are to win the spiritual warfare in which you are battling. Jesus spent forty days and nights in prayer before He faced Satan’s three temptations. Jesus also spent the night in prayer before He faced the battle of the cross. You will never come through the spiritual warfare that you face on the victory side without tarrying in prayer for God’s protection and power.
The third time we are reminded to tarry is in Luke 24:49 when Jesus commanded the disciples to tarry until ye be endued with power from on high. The power of God is never found without much time in prayer. A little ditty prayer to ask for God’s power is certainly needed before you do anything, but you will never find God’s power on your life until you tarry.
What does it mean to tarry? It means to linger and wait until you get from God what you need. Too many have given up too early when they should have tarried until they received and answer from God. You cannot be impatient in prayer. When your burden is great, your load is heavy, and the need is critical for God to do something, you will find it easy to tarry in prayer until He answers.
However, we notice what happens when people do not tarry. Moses told the people to tarry until he came again, but they did not listen. Instead, Exodus 32:6 says that they rose up to play. If you do not tarry, you will always find yourself playing in sin. One of the great secrets to keeping from sin is to pray in times of battle, pray for guidance until Jesus comes, and to pray for His power on your life.
Are you tarrying in prayer? You are either tarrying in prayer or playing in sin. The great need of our day is for God’s people to stop trying to work things out themselves and instead spend time tarrying in prayer for God to work out their situation. You will always find that any time we do not tarry in prayer for the present need will always result in bad decisions and sin.