Do We Really Expect God to Answer Our Prayers? - Sharon Jaynes
Have you ever prayed about something, but didn’t really expect God to answer…I mean really expect it? That happened to a bunch of Peter’s friends.
In the early years of the church, King Herod had many Christians murdered and many more put in prison. James, the brother of John, was put to death with the sword, and Peter was thrown into prison.
The night before Peter was to be taken to trial, a group gathered at Mary’s (John’s mother’s) house to pray for him. While they were praying, there was a knock at the door. A servant girl named Rhoda answered it.
“Who is there?” she asked.
“It is Peter,” the freed apostle answered.
She knew it was Peter—she recognized his voice! God had answered their prayers! Rhoda was so excited, she didn’t even let Peter in, but ran back to tell the group that he was standing at the door.
“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. “Maybe it is his angel.”
Peter kept knocking. Finally, they opened the door and were astonished to see Peter alive and well, standing right in front of them.
Why were they surprised? Why didn’t they believe Rhoda? While they were praying for Peter’s release, they didn’t really expect God to free him. Do you see it? We can pray about a situation and miss the glory moment standing at the door because of unbelief and low expectations that God would actually answer.
Click & Tweet!
Sometimes, I fear we have lowered our spiritual expectations to match the experiences of people we know, rather than what we read in the Bible. We look around and see what has occurred in the lives of other believers, and that’s where we set the bar. As a result, we lead mediocre lives, forfeiting the abundant life Jesus came to give.
I love what David wrote: “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly,” (Psalm 5:3 NIV). Let’s do that.
Dear Lord, I am bringing my prayers before you today. Forgive me for praying and not expecting You to answer. Here is my prayer: (Fill in this spot with you own prayer.) I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Let’s pray for each other today. Share your prayer request in the comments and then pray for the name above yours.
My book, A Sudden Glory: God’s Lavish Response to Your Ache for Something More, is all about raising your expectations to experience the full, abundant life that Jesus came to give. If you’ve settled for a ho-hum, so-so, Christian life, it is time to start enjoying the abundant life Jesus came to give. God wants you to experience His presence every day through moments of sudden glory where He makes His presence known. Ready to get started? Download a free
sample chapter or watch the videos on my website! It also includes a Bible Study guide for group studies!
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