Amen and Expectation

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”

Have you ever had your hopes up about something? Maybe it was a promotion, your dream house, or your future children. You couldn’t stop imagining it, talking about it, and you may have even begun preparing for it – even if you weren’t qualified for it or of age for it just yet. Somehow you were absolutely certain it would happen eventually. No one could have told you otherwise! You’d already picked out your new wardrobe and office, designed your dream home, and determined the names for your future children. There was an excitement and expectancy about the future that filled your heart with hope and left no room for doubt.

If you’re anything like me, though, it seems that sometimes in your current place of prayer, you don’t always come to Him with that same faith and expectation. You don’t actually pray with confidence in that which you hope for. You don’t actually walk in assurance of that which you are praying for (that you can’t yet see), or that which God has communicated to you that He will do. 

But, there’s a reason that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. What delights the heart of God is when we pray and respond to Him in prayer with the kind of faith and expectation that Abraham had – the kind that not only believes but declares that He will do that which He has said, or that which we are contending with Him to do. 

Abraham and others in Hebrews 11 were commended for their faith and expectation in God’s promises through prayer. Not only that, they were still living by this very faith when they died! Here’s the challenge for you and me: they remained in faith and expectation despite “not receiving all the things promised”. While we understand that hope deferred makes the heart sick, they believed in Him and His promises wholeheartedly until the end. And I think that is what He desires of you and me, too. We don’t lose heart in prayer, but we pray continually with faith and expectation until the very end. 

Where has your hope been deferred in prayer? Where have you stopped contending for the promises of God over your life with faith and expectation? Who has told you “it is over”, or “it’s too late”? Friend, don’t allow unbelief, doubt, or fear to rob you of all that He has for you. I dare you to pick up the mantle of faith in your prayer life and contend with faith and expectation until the end. It is when we pray with faith and expectation to this end that His pleasure in our faith meets the beauty of His faithfulness. 

A Prayer:

Lord, increase my faith! Help me to always pray with confidence and great expectation, full of faith! Give me the grace to trust in Your timing, to never give up in prayer, and help me to remember that faith and expectation in You is what pleases Your heart. I stand expectant for all that You have in store for me! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

– Kelli Baca

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”