Expect Great Things!

Summer Day 26

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24.

“God… calls into being things that were not.” Romans 4:17

Expect Great Things

 

Lately, I’ve been doing the “Love your Spouse Challenge” on Facebook and have enjoyed it even more than I ever thought I would!

While sharing my posts, I’ve been writing all the things that I loved about my husband at each stage of our relationship. Pondering how we met, and all of the fun we’ve had together over the past 25 years has caused me to smile at my husband a little more this week, and my heart has felt happier than usual thinking about our great life together!

I think that’s the key to being happy; we remember the good, and also EXPECT the good, especially from God!

When we expect great things from God and other people we often get what we’re looking for: GREAT THINGS! But if we allow ourselves to stay in a place of doubt and look for all of the things which are WRONG in our relationships with God and the people in our lives, we will stay in that place of unbelief, and experience the fruit of a faithless life.

This type of life does not please God, and the lack of trust and faith affects our relationship with Him and others. Even when we don’t feel God is helping us or changing a situation, rest assured, He hears every prayer and His answer will come in the perfect timing which God himself knows to be best.

Our faith is very precious to God, and He wants us to show faith constantly while we are praying and waiting on His wisdom, answers, and help.

Here’s an example of how to stay in faith in our relationship with God and others:

I remember when my daughter, Christie, was younger and super strong-willed! It seemed as if she was CONSTANTLY in trouble, and my heart prayed and cried out to God day and night for help and wisdom! During this time, my husband was reading “The Sacred Romance,” by John Eldridge. Through this book, he became aware of the power of focusing on the good in people and seeing them as they could become, not as they presently are. We both agreed to apply this principle of speaking of things that don’t yet exist as if they are real, (Romans 4:17, ERV) to our daughter.

I believe this one habit changed our relationships with our daughter and set the stage for the beautiful, close relationship which we all enjoy as a family now.

Our words have POWER, and they show our faith or lack of faith in God and the members of our family and friends. Was my daughter perfect all of the time or did God answer my prayers by giving us only easy days from then on? Certainly not! But we began to treat Christie like she was the sweet, godly, purpose driven person she could become.

We spoke words of faith NOT because of anything Christie would do or accomplish, or whether or not she decided to obey. We based our words of belief we spoke to her on GOD and HIS FAITHFULNESS and POWER to help make her into the Christ-Follower and amazing woman she is today.

That’s the key; we speak words of faith to the people and situations in our lives as if the outcome ALL depends on God, His power and the promises in Scripture. That’s the BIG difference; base your words of faith on GOD answering your prayers, no matter how long it takes. I’m not saying for you to live in denial or be blind to your child’s sin or the problems in your life, but I am saying to “call forth” the possibilities in your child’s life or your particular situation.

Go Deeper:

Pray and ask God to give you list of encouraging words you can speak over your husband or children. Write them in you journal use them for the “What’s Next” exercise below.

What’s Next:

Do you have a difficult spouse or child? What about instead of complaining about him to God or your friends, pray instead! Then BELIEVE God is answering your prayers! Act as if God is answering right now! Catch your difficult child being good as much as possible! Praise your husband and tell him how much you love and appreciate him. Live your life as if God is making the changes and answering your prayers. Call the greatness into being with your words.

Does this require humility? You bet! You husband may not be encouraging, or your teen may be rude, but still be kind and trust God. Remember, you are NOT placing your trust in people and their behavior, you are placing your trust and hope in the living God; the one who made the heavens and the earth and is faithful to answer!

expect great things

[box type=”download”]

Join the Community!

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

[/box]

 

 

 

Deb Weakly

11 Comments on “Expect Great Things!”

  1. This message was so amazing! Just goes right along with the things the Lord’s been dealing with me recently. I too struggle with looking at the circumstances instead of focusing on the outcome that God has promised me. It parallels with something Max Lucado wrote about this week in his ‘upwards’. He said Daniel prayed for people who had been oppressed for 70 years. He had fasted, labored in prayer, persisted, pleaded and agonized for 21 days and it seemed like there was no response. On the 22nd day an angel of God appeared! He revealed to Daniel that his prayer had been heard on the first day, and that a battle had been raging in heaven! Sometimes it doesn’t look like anything is happening on earth, but from a heavenly perspective, things start happening the second we pray!

    1. Yes yes yes!!! I LOVE that story!! It always helps me to remember that God loves me and hears every one of my prayers!! Thanks for sharing Rebecca!!

  2. This is very practical and insightful! I wanted to ask you for examples of what you said to your child, but then I read your encouragement to ask the Lord instead. I was convicted by this because I’m constantly asking others for the right words. This is a great follow-up to the Love Your Spouse Challenge because there’s so many people out there whose struggling marriages make them feel ashamed instead of eager to do it.

  3. Oh my goodness, this is exactly what I needed to read! I feel as if it was written just for me! Thank you for allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through you! What a blessing this study was!

  4. Thank you for this Deb! I was thinking of my daughter the whole time I was reading this! I’ll be praying for the encouraging, faith-filled words to speak over her just as you got for Christie! It is so hard some days trying to interact with strong-willed children!! This study gives me real hope and support!

    1. I agree! It can be really hard to find those words, especially in the heat of the moment when they are acting disobedient! I am so grateful that the Lord gives us words of encouragement to speak to our children when we need them! He is our helper and will help us to believe Him for the promises to come!

  5. Oh I love this! I really appreciate how you wove a Biblical Truth/Scripture into practical application in this study! Amen. Remembering God’s goodness from the past and looking for opportunities to expect great things from Him keeps us in faith! Thanks Deb for your encouragement this morning.

    1. I love that you stay in faith and believe God for amazing things! Staying in faith and believing God is the way to peace and joy. Thanks for your sweet comment!

  6. Very true. God does answer prayers, although He often does so in a different and better way than we are expecting.

    1. God is so good and can be trusted to give us exactly what we need when we need it! He is the One who can do miracles and accomplish GREAT things in our lives!

Leave a Reply to Tara Davis Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.