For assuredly, I say to
you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and
does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be
done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things
you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. “And whenever you stand praying, if you
have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also
forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:23-25
What do you expect? - In His Word 1/11/16
When we pray we should pray
with an expectation that God will not only hear us but that He will indeed
answer us. Whether it is a prayer for a heart felt need or a prayer of thanks
or direction God will listen to our prayers. How do I know? It says so; in His
Word! In Jeremiah 33:3 The Lord God tells us to call to Him and He will answer
us and tell us things we do not yet know.
He thinks about out need and
our desires; we know this because in Jeremiah 29 He tells us in no uncertain
words. If we know that He hears our prayers then we should know that He will certainly
answer our prayers.
For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon
Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for me
with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
The Lord upholds all who fall, and
raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and
You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Psalm 145:1416
When we pray do we expect
the answer? Or do we expect to have to work out our own answer? I have heard
many of people try to do it the selves and then crying when things did not work
out; when they should have had faith in God to do the work.
I believe we are to wait on the Lord and be of
good courage and He will strengthen our hearts. So why do I worry when I have
prayed for God to use me in a mighty way? Why do wonder and want to give up
when I reach adversity in the path I know He has given me to walk? What do I
expect God to do when I give up?
A man end prayed and asked
God for a new job, he then went out and applied everywhere but forgot to ask
God when he got a couple of responses which one he should take. He went with
the one he thought would be the most fun and ended up being in debt because he
could not keep the finances up with the salary of the fun job.
Then there was Sue, she
prayed and waited for God to reply with the answer for a new car. She then
offered up praise to Him and thanked Him for the blessing and began offering
people who did not have a car trips to the store. Each time her car had an
issue she would fix it with little or no financial drain. She had faith to wait.
If we are supposed to expect
something from God, we need to be patient and to wait for his response. We have
to have hope, and we have to have faith that God will do what He promises.
His Word, our Bibles are
full of promises. If you are praying for a physical thing it is best you be
sure it lines up with the Words He spoke. If you pray for a car, do not think
you will get a fancy car but trust that He will give you one that He can use
through you.
I think what I am finding
out in studying on the Word ‘expectancy’ is that it comes with a needed faith
in God for things to happen.
It’s not about me, its all
about Him. That is scary!
When we work to improve our spiritual
or physical lives; trying hard to be good is difficult on our own but
with God on our side we can walk the walk the way He wants us to, if we have
faith.
Hope is expecting that God
will do something; faith is, knowing He is, and that He will.
I called on the Lord in
distress; The Lord answered
me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man
do to me? Psalm 118:5-6
When we have faith like a
mustard seed we can believe for anything and know God is able and will do what
He promised. Now this one is amazing but in Mark 11 we are told that if we had
enough faith to believe for it God would move the very mountain we told to
move! That is a lot of faith! Sometimes I think I have that much when I see the
ladies show up at conferences, or the kids at vbs that were not signed up a
week before the events. We work hard to plan the events and order for the
numbers we are trusting God for, or so we say, then when it gets close and we
are short of people we tend to worry a bit. At least until we remember God is
in control! We can trust God for events, we an trust God for healing and we can
trust Him to have our backs at all times.
He said it right there, when
we pray believe, expect to receive what we prayed for and it will come to be!
In Jesus name!
Dear Heavenly Father, thank
you that you gave us faith to move mountains, help us to have the faith to heal
our loved ones, and the hope to see the growth you have planned for us this
year, in Jesus name, amen.
Suggested reading: Psalm
17:1-15, Jeremiah 33:1-26, Mark 11:1-33, and Psalm 145:1-25