EXPECTATION IS A NON-NEGOTIABLE FACTOR IN THE SCHOOL OF ANSWERED PRAYERS!
GOD DID NOT JUST CALL US TO PRAY, HE CALLED US TO THE PLACE OF PRAYER BECAUSE HE HAS PROMISED US AN ANSWER!
THE CYCLE OF PRAYER IS NOT COMPLETE UNTIL THERE IS A RECEIPT OF AN ANSWER!
EXPECTATION IS ALL ABOUT LIVING IN THE REALITY OF YOUR TOMORROW, TODAY!
GENUINE EXPECTATIONS AFFECT OUR COUNTENANCE!
ABRAHAM DID NOT GO TO THE MOUNTAIN MOURNFULLY RATHER HE WENT THERE WORSHIPFULLY!
THE FIRST JOY OF THE MOTHER IS NOT AT THE POINT OF DELIVERY, THE FIRST JOY IS AT THE POINT OF CONFIRMATION THAT THERE IS AN EXPECTATION!
THAT MEANS THAT ANYTIME THAT YOU FIND A PERSON WHO IS JOYLESS IN PRAYER; IT IS BECAUSE THAT PERSON CANNOT SEE THE EXPECTATIONS IN PRAYER!
EXPECTATION CONFERS CONFIDENCE!
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WHETHER CORPORATE OR PERSONAL, EXPECTATION IS NON-NEGOTIABLE!
WHETHER IT IS INDIVIDUALLY OR CORPORATELY, OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE VITAL INSTIGATORS OF GOD’S RESPONSE!
IF YOU CAN’T DEFINE YOUR PRAYER, GOD WILL NOT DELIVER YOUR PRAYER! IT IS WHAT YOU ARE ABLE TO DEFINE THAT GOD IS COMMITTED TO DELIVER!
-Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr. at Covenant Hour of Prayer|| 29th October, 2022.
For all those amazing Acts of God, will you lift your voice and hands to Heaven, glorify God this morning. Church Gist. Give Him Praise, Glory and Honor! Give Adoration to God, He is Worthy of Praise. Make sure that your voice is lifted before the Lord!
And that your gratitude is expressed before the Lord! Give Him qualitative thanks from the depth of your heart! Church Gist. For all the answers this morning, give Him thanks, appreciate Him! Glorify Him! He is worthy of Praise, Glory, Honor and Adoration!
And now this morning, ask Him to speak to you yet again! Every time in His presence, is an opportunity for a Word from Heaven!
Therefore Lord, speak directly to me this morning! let Your Word come in my direction, let it transform and change my life! Church Gist. Thank You Mighty God, In Jesus Precious Name we have prayed!
-Prayer: Our Father, this morning, we have come to give You the praise and Glory for the privilege and blessing to be in Your Presence!
Thank You, Lord, for all of the answers that You have granted to all of our prayers! We give you Glory and Praise! Lord for all of the testimonies of Your continuous Acts in our midst, we say that we are grateful! Church Gist. Lord, today, our eyes are solely on You! Asking that You will speak directly to each one of us! All the people gathered early in the morning to hear You, we have come this morning to hear Your Voice, speak to us again and change our lives! Church Gist. Thank you Mighty God, in Jesus Precious Name, we have prayed! Amen!
Praise the Lord! I’m more than a conqueror and congratulations! Amen and Amen!
Our line of exhortation all through the week has been, ‘PRAYING ANSWERS EXPECTANT PRAYERS’
So God did not just call us to pray, He called us to the place of prayer because He has promised us an answer! There is a promise of an answer! Church Gist. Matthew 7:7-8, Jeremiah 33:3. That means that as believers, we should never be satisfied with simply the exercise of prayer- that’s not the conclusion of the matter! James 4:2.
The cycle of prayer is not complete until there is a receipt of an answer! So prayer is not just offering of desires, prayer is not concluded until we have taken delivery of answers Habakkuk 2:1.
Now, what is expectation?
In our context, expectation is anticipating and waiting for the receipt of something! Mark 11:24. It is the ability to see what you desire before it arrives- that’s expectation Isaiah 60:4. Church Gist. That means living in the reality of tomorrow, today- That’s expectation!
Abraham knew that he was carrying Isaac to that mountain to sacrifice him but he has already seen that he will take Isaac down from the mountain alive- living in the reality of tomorrow today! He was too sure that that issue was for a testimony, he was accounting that God was able to raise him from the dead, so he received him in a figure Hebrew 11:19. Church Gist. So that’s what expectation is all about, living in the reality of your tomorrow, today!
And that is why you discover that genuine expectations affect our countenance! Abraham did not go to the mountain mournfully rather he went there worshipfully! Genesis 22:5. Church Gist. His countenance was not dejected but rather he has already seen the answer before he arrived at the place!
In Acts 27:21-25, Paul was seeing the answer before it arrived! Those who have genuine expectations have brightened countenance! They are excited at what they can see- they are anticipating what they can see! Don’t you look at the woman who has been trusting God for the fruit of the womb, and goes to take a pregnancy test, and the test shows positive but her stomach is still flat but she begins to rejoice! She is living in the delivery of what she is expecting before the baby arrives!
The first joy of the mother is not at the point of delivery, the first joy is at the point of confirmation that there is an expectation! So the moment that you can confirm an expectation, joy is stirred up! That means that anytime that you find a person who is joyless in prayer; it is because that person cannot see the expectations in prayer!
That’s why I tell people all the time, you find someone saying, “Pastor, pray with me”, and then before the prayer starts, they begin to cry! They are crying concerning the thing that they are talking to God about! They cannot see the answer! So I tell them first, stop crying! It is the prayer that is prayed with the anticipation of what you see coming that God will give answers to! Shout Halleluyah!
And the reason why expectations affects countenance is that, expectations confers confidence! Because we know that there is an answer and a response, we have confidence! Church Gist. 1 John 5:14, I John 3:21. That confidence is what procures the delivery of the answers!
So, it is expectations that stirs confidence, it is expectations that brightness countenance! And with those factors in place, we take delivery of our answers. Shout Halleluyah! Church Gist. It is important to note that whether corporate or personal, expectation is non-negotiable! Proverb 24:14.
Let’s look at some examples from the Scriptures:
- The early Church: one of the characteristics of the early Church was singularity of expectations! They were a corporate body but they have a singular expectation! Acts 4:32. And we see this playing out in the prayer of the early Church Acts 1:14, Acts 2:1-4. And the result of it, we began to see, was an eruption and explosion. Singular expectations bring about Divine Intervention! Church Gist. Acts 2:46-47, Acts 5:12, Acts 6:7.
You see! Singularity of purpose and expectations as the Church corporately prayed and the result of it were Supernatural manifestations. Therefore, what God is telling us is this- Whether it is individually or corporately, our expectations are vital instigators of God’s response!
- Peter, the apostle: At the gate called ‘Beautiful’. Church Gist. The Scripture says that the man looked at him expecting to receive something. And what was the result? That man’s condition was Supernaturally converted by reason of expectation Acts 3:1-16.
As we begin to conclude this morning, let’s take note of this:
- Expectations cannot be genuine except it is specific! Every general prayer is expectation barren! Genuine prayer is specific! Blind Barthimaeus was crying, “Have Mercy upon me!” but Mercy has various expressions. So Jesus said to him, “What exactly did you want, be specific!” Mark 10:50-51. Hannah went to the Lord and began to cry to the Lord, and ask God in specific terms, “I desire a man child”.
And according to the specifics of her desire, God delivered her answers. So it is important for us to understand that genuine expectations are always specific in nature! Church Gist. If your prayer will be answered, it must be expectation loaded and if your expectation is genuine, it must be specific!
So, if you can’t define your prayer, God will not deliver your prayer! It is what you are able to define that God is committed to deliver!
-Prayer: I pray for each one of us this morning that from this time forward, none of us will pray barren prayers again in the Name of Jesus Christ! Is it concerning your Kingdom engagement, needs of people around you, specific directions that you require, be specific! And be expectant and God will deliver your answers!
From this day forward, your prayers will receive swift attention! And by that attention, there shall be dramatic interventions! As you call upon the Name of the Lord, He will grant you swift answers! Prayers shall no longer be for you a religious exercise! Church Gist. Every time that you call on the Lord from this day forward, you will see His Hand manifesting in your direction! In Jesus Precious Name!
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