Do You Know What It Is to Qavah in the Lord? August 2026 — Challenge & Promise

Isaiah 40:31 says, “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Some translations say, “those who wait in the Lord will…”

The Hebrew root word used there is qavah (קָוָה, qāwâ). So the verse could be translated: “those who wait” — or more literally, “those who qavah.”

What qavah actually means

The root carries a rich double sense that the English word “wait” flattens:

1. To wait/hope expectantly — not passive waiting, like sitting in a queue, but an active, forward-leaning anticipation.
2. To be bound together, to twist or intertwine — qavah is related to the word for a cord or rope (qav, קַו), from the idea of strands being twisted tightly together. This is the same root sense behind the word used for a measuring line or cord elsewhere in Scripture.

Could we then say that the “hope” or “wait” in this context is not passive waiting?

When Scripture says those who wait/hope in the Lord — it doesn’t mean doing nothing. It’s the opposite. It’s active waiting, active hoping, by qavah-ing in the Lord. During this time of waiting, a child of God is intertwining themselves with the Lord — His mind becomes our mind, His thoughts become our thoughts, His ways of response become our ways of response.

A Union, Not Just a Wait

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:17, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” The word “joined” here is the same word Scripture uses for a husband and wife becoming one.

Waiting on God is a holy act. And one of the best postures of waiting on God in prayer is by repeatedly meditating on a portion — sometimes just one part of a verse, or a single verse. The fewer the words, the deeper you can fill that Word into your mind and heart. As you keep thinking, turning it over, and speaking those words in your own heart — life is produced, because a union happens.

Remember how the Lord Jesus said, “If my words remain in you” — while that can mean following or obeying His words, it can also mean becoming one with the Word.

This Month’s Challenge

Why don’t you try meditating on the scripture below, over and over, for maybe 30 minutes — and then write to us about your experience?

John 14:20 — “…I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”