Praying, Then Expecting - #9863

A Word With You

I saw one of those bumper frames for your license plate. It said, "Happiness is being a grandparent." Oh, that's the truth! I mean, I remember when I was a little kid. Happiness was having a grandparent with you, especially my grandmother. Because it always meant surprises; it meant going out to eat, and it almost always meant money! That's what grandparents are for, of course, to spoil kids. Any time I knew that I would be seeing Grandma I was excited to see what surprises she would bring. If we're that way about grandma, we should really be looking forward to what Father has for us today; that's Father with a capital F.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Praying, Then Expecting."

As you know, life is divided into 24-hour chunks. We have this sort of death and resurrection thing that takes place every day. You know, we sort of die about 10:00, 11:00, or 12:00 o'clock at night, and sort of start all over again the next morning. It's like beginning again the next day. So, life isn't this big old blob - life. It just really comes down to these 24-hour things doesn't it: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc.?

There's a very interesting look in the Bible at a day in the life of a child of God, because that's really what it amounts to...have a good day. That's how you live the life of a Christian, you have a good day.

Go back to the book of Psalms, and here's what a day in the life looks like at beginning and end; sunrise and sunset in the life of a child of God. Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 5:3 - "In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation."

Okay, that's one end of the day. Let's go to the other end of the day. The sun has gone down now. Psalm 4:8, same page in my Bible, says this; "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Now, it's interesting as you read this morning beginning with the Lord, beginning this 24-hour period of time. It talks about the many moods of praying. There's not just one mood of praying; it's sort of like Baskin Robbins. There are a lot of flavors you can pray in. It says, "Give ear to my words, O Lord." Okay, that's just kind of making a statement. Then it says, "Consider my sighing." This is the kind of praying when you're totally depleted; you don't even know what to say. "O Lord, I can hardly get this out." And then it says, "Listen to my cry..." my cry for help. This is desperation. And then he says, "I lay my requests before the Lord" every morning laying out the concerns of my heart.

By the way, did you do that this morning? Do you do that every morning? Talk to Him and say, "Lord, here's what I'm afraid of today; here's what I'm hoping for today; here's what I'm dreaming about; here's what I'm crying about; here are the people I love; here are the needs I'm anticipating." You empty your hands. Now, how can you tell if you've really prayed or if you just went through the motions? Notice that it says, "I lay my request before the Lord and wait in expectation." Hey, that's like Grandma's visit; waiting in expectation for her surprises.

You know you've really prayed when you get off your knees expectantly and you go through your day looking for the fingerprints of God on that day. It may not be like I thought it would be, but there will be His surprises. Expectation is the byproduct of faith. So, are you uh... expecting? You say, "No, I'm a man. How could I be expecting?" No, I mean expecting good things from God. Expecting God's touch on what you've turned over to Him.

No wonder at night we can lie down and sleep in peace. You allow time each morning to turn over the specifics of that day to Jesus, and then you live in an air of expectancy. My grandmother seldom disappointed me, and your Heavenly Father never will.