Do We Pray with Expectation?

Do you ever pray…yet doubt? I certainly do. And my parents did. 

My father was the youngest of five brothers. They all got married and then – one after another – my aunts and uncles all had sons. No daughters, just sons. Initially, my own parents followed that same pattern. Boys. Lots of boys. 

After four sons of their own (along with two late-term miscarriages that also were boys) my dad and mom were passionate about having a daughter. They prayed fervently for a girl. They specifically asked God to bless them with a girl. 

Yet when I was born, they didn’t even have a girl’s name picked out! Only a boy’s name. So I was nick-named “Sweet Pea” for 3 days while they decided what my name should be. 

I find this fascinating, and so revealing, about how hard it can be for us to actually believe that God might respond to our prayers. About how easy it is for us to believe that patterns of life have been set in motion which won’t change. 

Despite their life-long faith in Jesus, my parents doubted that God might – just might –grant them the desires of their heart. As a result of their doubt, they took no steps to prepare for even the possibility that God’s answer might be “yes”. They did not live with any sense of expectation that their prayers might result in a changed pattern for our family; that instead of yet another boy, they might have a girl. And really, how hard would it have been to choose a girl’s name, as well as a boy’s name? 

Despite their prayers, they were stuck. 

I don’t resent my folks for this, because I understand how easy it can be for any of us to pray, yet to pray without any sense of expectation. Realizing this tendency, I remind myself – over and over – that when I pray, something should change. I may not receive exactly what I ask for, but God will respond in some way. He may change my circumstances, he may change me, he may change my attitude, he may change the people around me. Something will change. 

Yet it’s easy to pray, then live as if we never prayed at all. It’s easy to pray and ask God to intervene, then forge ahead and try to figure things out on our own. Instead, we need to look around. We need to pay attention to see what God is doing, so we won’t miss whatever answers he provides. 

For many years now, my example about praying, and then living with anticipation, comes from King David:

Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. [Psalm 5:1-3 - NIV] 

It is amazing to me what a difference it makes when I follow David’s example. So I make every effort to lay my requests before the Father consistently and passionately. Then I look and I watch. I listen for the small, still voice of the Holy Spirit. I live with expectation. 

And when I do - more often than not – I see how God is at work in me, and through me, and around me. I have the opportunity to be surprised; to be amazed; to be thankful. I see things change because I have prayed...yet I only discover many of God's answers because I am actively looking for them. 

Would you join me in this simple, profound, spiritual practice? 

Would you join me in making every effort to pray with expectation?

Let me pray for you as you go out into your day.

Dear Jesus, help us to recognize those moments when we have doubts about you answering our prayers. May we acknowledge our doubts and ask you for a fresh sense of expectation as we wait. Help those who read this blog to trust - as David prays in Psalm 5 - that you hear their voice and their cries. Give them a sense of patience as they watch and listen for your voice, knowing that you are at work in and through them; that change is possible as they talk toyou and withyou. Thank you for hearing our prayers and for choosing to always respond in some way. In your name, Amen.


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