“My soul, wait silently for God alone,
for my expectation is from Him.”
Ps. 62:5 NKJV
“There is no waiting on God for help, and there is no help from God…” What? Ahhh, wait for it. The rest of Spurgeon’s quote goes like this, “without watchful expectation on our part.”
Do you live out the year in watchful expectation for the answers to your prayers, for a word from the Lord? The word in the opening verse for expectation actually means hope and anticipation.
Will you join me in my quest? My pondering? I write this to myself and invite you to join in with me and read it as if it is to you.
Okay, Lynn (insert your name). This is a New Year. You stand here, on the precipice of new…new beginnings for all things. What will you see? What will you hear? What will you do? And what will be an influence on each of those?
What do you want to do the most? Think the most? Say the most? Have as your attitude the most? What then must you absorb to produce the best of what the Lord desires of you? Will it be the world’s cacophony of sights and sounds? Or will it be the sight of God’s Word and His precious voice?
Will you hear anything from the Lord without expectation? Spurgeon once said, “He whose expectation does not lead him to be on the alert for its coming will get but little. Watch for God in the events of your life.” He also said, “Unless you put out your water jugs when it rains, you will catch no water.”
How much water of God’s voice, that flowing water of life, do you desire to hear, to drink in? What will be the size of your expectation vessel? The size of a teacup? Or a giant water jug? Is it already filled with self or is it empty and waiting?
David Wilkerson once said, “He who expects little from prayer will not have much power and authority in prayer.”
Are you praying in faith, asking in power and authority? Are you waiting in hope and expectation for His answers? James says, “But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind…If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.” (James 1:6-8 TLB)
Another version says to those who waver, “Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.” (James 1:7-8 NLT)
Those who have prayed effective prayers, prayed boldly because they expected God to reply.
James wrote one of my favorite verses, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16 NKJV) The Greek translation says, “The prayer of a righteous one has great strength, having been made effective.”
Lord, I don’t want to waver. I want fire-breathing faith and to be like Paul in his letter to the Philippian church, “For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.” (Phil. 1:20 NLT)
What are you expecting from the Lord?
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