Pray and expect?

September 7, 2016

I pray and then what? Do I doubt or do I wait in expectation for God to answer me, for Him to speak to my heart? (Psalm 5:3). Prayer is the easy part, but waiting with expectation, well that can prove to be a challenge.

I expect from those I trust.  If I am worrying instead of expecting after I pray then there is a trust issue going on and I have some backtracking to do in prayer. The first petition should then be to have a heart to fully trust God.  How do I get to this place of trust and expectancy?  It begins with a knowledge, appreciation and acceptance of the love God has for me. Romans 5:8 says, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” That’s extreme love and anyone willing to die for a wretch like me is worthy of my love and my trust.  I am afraid that the term “Jesus loves me” has been reduced to just a simple song and not an extravagant life changing truth.  When I really get this, I can pray with boldness and wait with expectation for my loving trustworthy God to speak to my heart and show up.  Reflect on the following questions and use the answers to direct your prayers.

  1. Do I pray and wait with expectancy that the Lord will speak to my heart and answer?  Or do I often find myself doubting that He will answer what I have asked of Him?
  2. Why do I doubt God; past disappointments, a lack of revelation of how much He loves me?
  3. Meditate on the following scriptures
    1. Psalm 5:3 Listen to my voice in the morning,Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
    2. Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Anika Jones

About the Author

Anika Jones

Anika Jones is a speaker and author of the book Lessons Learned Along The Way: A 40 Day Devotional. She blogs about faith and family at LivingForLater.com and posts weekly videos on her YouTube channels, Living For Later (@livingforlater) and Living Life Now (@livinglifenow). Anika loves speaking about developing intimacy with God and understanding who we are in Christ. She serves alongside her husband in ministry. They live in Illinois with their 6 children.