God is not in a rush: Prayer, vocation and the pressure of turning thirty

‘Modern culture often presents life as a sequence of milestones to reach at the right moment’, but Pippa Fletcher wants anyone who is approaching those milestones – whether you are on track to meet them or not – to know that God isn’t working to that timescale. A life grounded in prayer and a relationship with God will unfold in its own time, as she tells the Things I Wish I Knew podcast.

Milestone birthdays have a way of focusing the mind. Approaching thirty can bring a mix of expectation, comparison and uncertainty. By this stage of life, many young adults feel they should have settled careers, a clear direction and some sense of stability. Yet for many, the decade of our twenties is marked more by experimentation, unexpected turns and gradual discovery than by clarity.

A recent conversation with lay missionary Pippa Fletcher on the Things I Wish I Knew podcast offered a thoughtful reflection on this experience. Looking back on her twenties, she spoke about the surprising paths her life took and what she wishes she had understood earlier. Her story raises wider questions about vocation, prayer and the pace at which a meaningful life unfolds.

Like many young adults, Pippa began her twenties with ambitions that seemed both clear and conventional. She had once hoped to become an actress and later found herself building a promising career in advertising. At 21, she moved to London, entering a professional environment that was demanding and rewarding. At the same time, she became deeply involved in a Catholic community, discovering friendships and a rhythm of prayer that shaped her daily life.

Yet even as her career progressed, something began to shift. The outward signs of success did not remove a growing sense that God might be inviting her to invest her time differently. The thought of leaving a stable career was not something she entertained lightly. For many young professionals, the idea of stepping away from what feels like a successful path can feel risky or even irresponsible.

Discernment, as Pippa describes it, was neither quick nor dramatic. It unfolded gradually through prayer, conversations and a growing attentiveness to the desires that surfaced in her heart. One of the reflections she offered in the conversation was simple but striking: ‘I wish I knew how powerful prayer is before I turned thirty.’

This insight touches on something many people discover only with time. It is easy to see prayer as something supplementary to the ‘real’ decisions of life. Yet for those who take it seriously, prayer becomes the space in which those decisions slowly become clearer. Rather than offering immediate answers, it forms a deeper relationship with God that changes how we make choices.

For Pippa, prayer did not provide a sudden instruction about what to do next. Instead, it cultivated attentiveness. Over time, she recognised a persistent desire to serve more directly in the life of the Church and to invest in the spiritual lives of others. Eventually, this led her to leave her job and become a lay missionary.

Stories like this can sometimes appear dramatic from the outside. Yet the deeper point is not the particular decision to leave one career for another. It is the way vocation emerges through a relationship with God. In Christian tradition, vocation is not primarily about achieving a particular status or role. It is about responding to God’s invitation within the circumstances of our lives.

This perspective can be helpful for anyone approaching thirty with a sense of pressure. Modern culture often presents life as a sequence of milestones to reach at the right moment. Career progress, relationships and financial stability can begin to look like markers by which we measure whether we are ‘on track’.

But the Christian vision of life is less about hitting predetermined targets and more about growing in holiness and character. Pippa spoke candidly about how easy it is to feel rushed by these expectations. Her reflection was disarmingly simple: God is not in a rush. We are usually the ones who feel the need to hurry.

This insight resonates with a long spiritual tradition. Many saints teach us that patience is an essential part of discernment. Growth in faith rarely follows a straight line. Instead, it often develops slowly through ordinary experiences, relationships and moments of quiet reflection.

Another theme that emerged in the conversation was the importance of seeking God before seeking a specific vocation. This revelation, however, can sound counterintuitive. When faced with uncertainty about the future, our instinct is usually to focus on solving the practical question of what we should do next.

Yet the Christian tradition suggests reversing that order. The first step is not to identify the perfect role but to deepen our relationship with God. From that foundation, the next steps of life tend to become clearer. The focus shifts from constructing a life plan to responding faithfully to the invitations that arise.

Now in her mid-thirties, Pippa works with the One Hope Project, a worship collective that seeks to nurture prayer and worship among young people across the UK. A significant part of her work involves mentoring young women and helping others grow in confidence in their faith. Her path into this ministry was not something she predicted when she first began her career in advertising.

Looking back, she sees her twenties less as a decade that required firm answers and more as a period of formation. The unexpected turns were not obstacles to God’s plan but part of the way it unfolded.

For those approaching thirty with questions about direction or purpose, this perspective offers reassurance. The most important task may not be to resolve every uncertainty but to cultivate attentiveness to God’s presence in the present moment. From there, the future can unfold in ways that are often more generous than we imagine.

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