Expectation

I apologize for not having an entry on Tuesday.  The computer decided it didn't want to work and I have no idea about making these modern technological entities we are all so attached to work when they choose not to.  Thankfully the nice lady on the other end of my phone was able to get me up and running, although it will be going in for service next Tuesday.  I'm hoping we stay going until then! 

Sunday I was praying.  I was praying for revival in our land.  We've been going down hill for a long time now.  Sometimes it feels like darkness is overwhelming the light in America.  But as long as we are here, I pray that we, as Christian will outshine the darkness.  And so I prayed.  I will continue to pray.  While I was opening my Bible to  go to the book of Acts for our Sunday service sermon, the first page I came to was Zechariah 4:6  Then he said to me, "This is what the Lords says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies."  What a glorious answer to my prayers!  The Lord will bring about revival and restore hope by His own strength.  Not shouting and anger, not laws and regulations...the Lord's own Spirit will work in the hearts of people to show them right from wrong, lead them in righteousness and love. 

His church only needs to pray and be the vessel He works through.  Matthew 5:16  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.  We have our part.  We love.  We bless.  We tell the truth.  And we pray.  God does the rest...He moves and changes hearts.  His Spirit works the miracle of salvation in the hearts of men and women.  We talked about this in Ladies Bible Study this week...beating people over the head with a Bible will never draw people to the Lord. 

And this leads me to the next part of this visit...expectation.  When we are praying are we expecting answers.  I saw an answer right away to my prayer on Sunday.  It was, "I've got this, wait and see."   As I mentioned we are in the book of Acts on Sundays.   In Acts 12, we have Peter being arrested and thrown into prison.  And so the church prayed.  Peter 12:5  But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.  

And then Peter was miraculously delivered!  But when he came to the door of the house where the brethren were praying they didn't believe it was really him...they thought it an apparition of some sort.  Why was that? They were praying, didn't they believe God would answer?  Even Peter thought it a dream or vision when the angel came to take him out of prison.  And aren't we like that sometimes too?  We kind of send  up prayers but don't ever think about the fact that as we pray, God is working.  He's not putting our requests on some kind of list to check on at a later date. There's not a big blackboard with and angel writing the days prayer needs on it, to be erased when God finally gets around to answering them.   He's working now, on our behalf, for His glory and His plan.  Things may not always get answered in the way we want or expect but God does answer.  And His way will always be a million times better than ours. 

So when we pray are we expecting an answer?  That is the question God gave me this weekend.  And I am passing it along to you.  I for one am choosing to believe God is at work.  He is a prayer answering, love filled, taking care of things, kind of Father and I will trust and believe.  Not just for the big things like revival, but for the little day to day stuff we all experience.  He cares about nations and He cares about individual lives.  He cares about you. 

Acts 12:1-17  About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. 2 He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) 4 Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. 5 But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.  6 The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. 7 Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered.  9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. 10 They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.  
11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”  12 When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. 13 He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”  15 “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”  16 Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place.  

Thank You God!  You are an awesome God!  I choose to believe.  I choose to trust.  You are worthy of all our trust.  Thank You for be a loving, caring, tenderhearted Father.  You weep with Your children when they hurt, You rejoice with them when they laugh.  Your heart is for us, not against us.  Oh, Lord, Help us to remember that, even when things don't go as we would like.  You are always for us.  Even in discipline.  You are for us.  Thank You in advance for all You are going to do in my life.  And in the lives of those I pray for.  And I pray for Your blessings to be poured out upon the people reading this.  Your love to be evident and your plan to be beautifully unfolding in their lives.  Increase all of our faith.  And I pray for this land.  That Your will would be done.  That Your Holy Spirit would flood our country and our lives so that You may be lifted up once again in America and around the world. Bring us to repentance.  Let Your holiness, and Your righteousness prevail.  Thank You.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.