Request, Wait and Expect!

Psalm 5:3 ~In the morning, Oh Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning Lord, I lay my request before you and wait in expectation.

There are times that I pray in spits and sputters, lifting up requests and concerns as I become aware of them. I am on an email prayer list and I lift up the request as I open the emails. I have a sister in Christ that I lift up and pray for every time I drive by her house on my way to work. This is good; God tells us to pray without ceasing. But today I want to explore the soul satisfying meal times that include a daily portion of intimate prayer.

I was convicted by the phrase from our key verse that says “I lay my request before you and wait in expectation.”

What does it mean to ‘expect’? The definition says: to look forward or anticipate the coming or occurrence.

As a child I knew the ‘feeling’ of expectation. It was the feeling I had when I went to bed Christmas Eve expecting exciting things to be under my Christmas tree the next morning. I ‘felt’ the definition of expect, looking forward to or anticipating the coming occurrence. In this case, I knew gifts were coming and I looked forward to it with great excitement (expecting results)!

This scripture tells me that every prayer I lift up to Him should have the same ‘feeling’ of expectation; that I should know that something is coming and should look forward to it with great excitement. My soul was convicted that I could not say this was true with every request I laid before the Lord.

More specifically, my conviction was that I couldn’t say that I often prayed and then waited in expectation. I would pray and leave it for God to handle, but I couldn’t say I often found myself looking to see what would happen; watching in full expectation of seeing God do something. How often did I lay a request before God and then miss the excitement of seeing it occur?!

I want to have that ‘feeling’ of expectation I had as a child. I want to look forward and anticipate the coming or the occurrence of seeing God answer prayers. Just as a child on Christmas morning doesn’t walk by the tree and say “Oh ya, there they are, the gifts I asked for” and then carry on with the day; I want to be waiting with expectation to see and recognize the working of God in my life.

This is not a desire to see God give me everything I want, but a desire to watch and see God work out His will in my life. Not with a grumbling spirit, but with great excitement and anticipation.

When I was a child, there were times that I asked for Christmas gifts my parents chose not to fulfill. I would go to bed expecting them to be under the tree the next morning only to find something else was there instead. Of course, the ‘something else’ was so exciting that I completely forgot about what I was actually expecting. My parents knew what was best and always had my best interest at heart. I may not have gotten what I requested, but my expectation of being thrilled by the gifts given was met completely.

So much so does our Heavenly Father desire great things for us. And while we may lay our requests before Him with great expectation of seeing them fulfilled, He will deliver exactly what we need. And what God gives thrills us more than we could have ever imagined or even asked for.

Oh to pray with such expectation that we finish each prayer with “Lord, I wait with great anticipation and excitement to see what You are going to do!” And then to actually wait with eyes and ears ready to see and hear it when it does; not to miss it as just one more occurrence of the day.

What are you waiting for and expecting God to do in your life?

Our recipe today is to Request, Wait and Expect.
The ingredients are from Psalm 5:3.
The directions are to lay your request before Him and then EXPECT to see God; looking forward to and anticipating the working of God in our lives.

Application:  Ask God to give you eyes and ears that are ready to see His working in your life. Ask Him to let you ‘feel’ the anticipation of expecting Him to show up. Write what is impressed upon your heart today.

CLICK HERE for a printable version of today's recipe for the soul. Make notes on it of how God is speaking to you today, and carry it with you to feed your soul as needed.

PRAYER:
This morning Lord, I come before you with a humble and sincere heart. Oh Lord, hear my voice. I come ready to lay my needs and requests before You. Oh Lord, give me a faith that has great expectations of You working in my life, meeting these requests as You see best. Give me a heart that waits with anticipation and feeling of expectation. Give me eyes to see the work You are doing in my life daily. Father, I don’t want to miss what You are doing for me, in me, and thru me. I want to experience every gift you provide with great excitement. I want to be thrilled by all that You do. I confess that I can be so distracted by the work of the day, the distractions of the world and the desires of my flesh that I can miss seeing and recognizing answered prayers. Today Lord, I lay my requests before you and I WAIT in EXPECTATION. I look forward to seeing You come and seeing what will occur. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.