It is right to wait expectantly on God when we pray. So often, however, our prayers can secretly have a cynical cast; “I want you to do this for me God, but I’m not holding my breath.” And so, having said a perfunctory prayer, we trudge on, trying to make the best of a situation absent of any real faith that God will be any part of the solution. After some time, we may cease praying about our situation altogether. Our challenge becomes just one of the many we have to attend to by ourselves. Or, out of our anxiety or a demanding spirit, we turn to others in hope for rescue. Yet, something remarkable happens when we pray expectantly, as David did in the Psalms. When we truly believe that God desires to answer our prayer, we become sensitized to His presence in our lives. Things we may not have otherwise noticed become pronounced. Joy within us grows as we begin to see Him working in and through us bring about His answer, though not necessarily as we might have conceived it when we asked. And that’s the remarkable part, for God delights to reveal Himself to those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6). Prayer without expectation of a deeper relationship with God is nothing more than making a shopping list, without concern for who gives us what we want.

Your thoughts? Are you praying with that kind of expectancy today?