Expectation

What ever David bought to the Lord he waited expectantly, assured that the Lord would hear, acknowledge the prayer and act appropriately according to His will. This is faith!

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As part of my daily readings this week I was directed to a few verses in Psalm 5, these verses have blessed and challenged me all week. Psalm 5 is one of King David's Psalms and starts with a plea from his heart. `Oh Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly` (Psalm 5:1-3 NLT). I have found that starting the day with prayer is by far the best way to start every day. On days when for different reasons that does not happen somehow the day never quite feels balanced, it may go well but somehow there is the feeling that something is missing, that I’m not starting from a place of stability.

The psalm shows us that David was very aware of the need to ask the Lord to listen to him and pay attention to his cry for help. It also confirms that David acknowledged that even though he was King and could command anything he liked, his dependence was on God and no one else. I also realise that this is the position I need to take in coming before the Lord, to humbly ask Him to listen to me and to hear the cry of my heart, rather than just blundering into His presence with my requests and not recognising who He is and the awesomeness of His presence. The Lord is very gracious and sometimes in times of need a quick cry of “help me or help them Lord” is all we can cry and the Lord hears those prayers of desperation and answers. But in our morning prayers time is needed to really come into his presence knowing that he is our Father in Heaven and Hallowed is His name.

`Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly` However this was my greatest challenge. Do I? Do I really bring my requests and wait expectantly? I know I pray and offload all my cares and worries onto the Lord, I know I express my frustrations, fears and feelings to Him, I know I cast all my cares on Him for he cares for me, but do I really wait expectantly. And yet King David says I wait expectantly, wait for the answer, wait for direction, wait for guidance, wait for a miracle, wait for peace. What ever David bought to the Lord he waited expectantly, assured that the Lord would hear, acknowledge the prayer and act appropriately according to His will. This is faith! 

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The writer to the Hebrews tells us that `Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us the assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation` (Hebrews 11:1 NLT) Wow, what a revelation. It was their faith not their deeds that earned them a good reputation. Hebrews 11 then goes on to list some of  the great people of the Old testament that put their faith in the Lord against all odds and saw His hand move in amazing ways. `All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do that by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith` (Hebrews 11:39 – Hebrews 12:2 NLT). It is hard to imagine that even as David prayed each morning and waited in expectation for the Lord to move, and we have lots of evidence of how God moved in his life, God has something better in mind for us. And that was a personal redeemed relationship with God the Father through Our Lord Jesus Christ!

This is an even bigger challenge to my sense of waiting expectantly. Because not only do I know that God is the great creator and can do anything but he also is living in me through the Spirit, and I have a living relationship with Him brought with love. So, in the light of this, me waiting expectantly should be an amazing journey of waiting to see how the Lord will work in to answer every prayer rather than hoping that He might.

This was the reading taken from `Jesus calling` its written in the form of Jesus speaking directly to us and goes:-

Wait quietly in my presence while My thoughts form silently in the depths of your being. Do not try to rush this process, because hurry keeps your heart earthbound.  I am the Creator of the entire universe, yet I choose to make My humble home in your heart. It is there where you know me most intimately; it is there where I speak to you in holy whispers. Ask My Spirit to quiet your mind so that you can hear My still small voice within you. I am speaking to you continually; words of Life...Peace…Love. Tune your heart to receive these messages of abundant blessing. Lay your requests before Me and wait in expectation (readings were 1 Kings 19:12, Psalm 5:3)   

So today Lord please help me to still my heart to come into your presence, so I can fully acknowledge who you are; the creator of the whole universe; and who I am; your child who you love. Help me to wait for you to speak to me in your still small voice and guide my prayers, and help me to wait in expectation for your will, your direction and your answers to my prayers. Thank you in faith filled anticipation.

Author: Jan Pearson

May God bless and enrich your life

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