Praying with Expectancy – By Dan Spitz
I just finished reading a book by Joyce Meyer, The Power of Simple Prayer, and it’s another excellent book. So I want to share the section about praying expectantly, because I found it Particularly powerful, especially since God has really been stressing the importance of prayer to me in the past few days.
Most of us are demonstrating faith by praying consistently, but are we REALLY expecting God to answer our prayers? Well, my answer is yes; most of the time…until I begin doubting! And that is NOT what God calls us to do!! God intends for us to be extravagant in our expectations and to express them in our prayers; fully expecting Him to do great things in the earth and in our lives. And that is what WILL happen when our prayers are filled with God-given expectations, God-given desires, and God-given visions; prayers that are prayed in faith from a pure heart.
Joyce states that if we want to see the power of God released in our lives, we need to have attitudes that are pleasing to Him. We need to have positive expectations instead of negative ones. Our basic approach to life needs to align with faith and hope and good expectations, because the Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and that hope will never disappoint us (Romans5:5).
She continues by saying there is nothing negative about God; there is nothing in Him or in His actions that will ever disappoint us; everything He does is for our good, so that’s what we need to expect as we pray. WE should not pray and then wonder if God will do anything at all; instead we should pray expecting God to do even more than we have asked or dreamed. And she says we should confidently expect big things from God. Ephesians 3:20 (AMP) says Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]–
Now that is pretty amazing and should give us the confidence we need to pray expectantly. The passage also states that it comes from the power within us, which is the power of God – and it comes from simple, believing prayers.
When we have power, we are able to pray expectantly, but at the same time, expectancy carries its own power; the power of hope, and the power of faith. God’s power is released when we pray in faith, trusting and believing Him, because faith pleases God. So expectancy is an important attribute of faith. Faith reaches out into the spirit realm and expects God’s supernatural power to show up and do what no person on earth can do. Doubt, on the other hand, is afraid nothing good will happen; it does not please God and is not something He tends to bless. We are powerless when we live with doubt, disappointment, and lack of confidence in God.
Father God, help us to come to You with confidence and expectancy. Let us bring our faith and hope to You and release Your power in our lives. Lord, our trust and belief in You are tremendous. We know You are working in our marriages and that healing has already taken place in the spiritual realm and will soon manifest here in Your Kingdom on earth. Help us to be patient, yet, persistent in our prayers. God, we know that You love to answer our prayers and bless us and You are anxiously waiting for us to bring them to You. Help us to be obedient in our daily living and in our stand for the restoration and healing of our marriages. You are gracious and awesome, Lord, and we glorify and honor You with praise from our hearts. In Your Precious Son’s Name, Amen
Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Romans 5:5 (NLT)
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.