1 John 5:14-15 – “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”  NKJV

Years ago I was called to the home of one of our members for prayer.  The husband and wife were elderly and had served in ministry for decades.  She was ill and wanted me to pray for her that God would raise her up.  I began to pray and in my prayer I asked the LORD to “touch her”.  She stopped me in mid-sentence and said, “I don’t want just a touch I want healing.”  Not to split hairs on what she said, she caused me to evaluate my prayers and expectations in prayer.  The lesson learned has been invaluable through a number of years and countless times when I or someone I was praying for needed an answer from God.

As we talked later she explained in very simple terms that too many people have little expectation when they pray or when they are prayed for.  The thought of a “touch” often carries with it less than urgency and might result in a casual prayer that never presses through to the answer.  It was out of that mindset that she resisted asking for a “touch” she wanted all God had and His promises realized in her life.  She wanted me to pray with the urgency she felt in her need.  One could argue that it is the “touch” of the Master’s hand that brings all the promises to fruition in our lives and I would not disagree.  However, I understood her heart and it altered the way I thought about prayer.

Often we are asked to pray or ask for others to pray and we or they respond, “Will do”.  I do not question the sincerity of that commitment and am always appreciative of any prayer that is being offered on my behalf.  I was recently challenged by the Holy Spirit regarding “expectation” in prayer.  I do not want to pray half-heartedly, casually, or without urgency.  I do not want to pray without expectation.  I want to meet the requirements of the text passage and receive that which Jesus declared in the Gospels that if we ask ANYTHING in His Name we receive.  I want to find His heart, mind and will and then grab the horns of the altar and like Jacob refuse to let go until I hear from heaven.

John tells us that we can have complete confidence that if we ask ANYTHING according to God’s will He hears us.  He then presses it further and declares that IF God hears us WHATEVER we ask we receive.  That is incredible and something that too often we miss and flounder in wonder hoping and praying rather than knowing and praying.  There are times when we simply do not know the will of God or the mind of God in a matter and that is where the ministry of the Holy Spirit becomes invaluable.  He knows and when we allow Him to guide our prayers and pray through us we can pray the will of God rather than adding the addendum, “if it be thy will” we are praying the will of God and doing so with expectation.

There are heroes of faith in the Bible and Church history who took God at His word and when they prayed they expected mountains to move, drought stricken lands to become watered, life to be restored, healing to transpire, the schemes of the devil to be thwarted and victory to be the result.  We should not pray as I heard after a doctor told the family, “All we can do now is pray.”  One of the family members said, “Oh no!  Has it come to that?”   Prayer is not an act of futility we do in times of desperation it is a weapon and a means of worship.

God bless you as you go through this day and build you up on your most Holy Faith praying in the Holy Spirit.