Surrender Your Expectations

One of my favorite times of the year is when our church prays and fasts. I love the challenge of laying down my flesh. I love the morning prayer groups at church. I love how pivotal these times have been in my life and others’. I just love it!

My recent prayer and fasting experience was different. The Lord spoke to me about expectations. You see, I expected to hear from God when I was in church participating in community prayer at 6am. I expected to lay down my flesh for 21 days to connect with Him on a new level. But what were my expectations of my morning time with God on every other day? Was I expecting to hear from Him the same way? No. What about laying down my flesh during the rest of the year to connect with Him? No. I set aside these 21 days and expected the impossible, but for the remaining 344 days I expected only the possible. I boxed God in and gave Him only a few days of my correct heart posture instead of living a life of constant surrender and obedience.

First Samuel 4:3-11 tells how the Israelites also had the wrong heart posture. They wanted the Ark of the Covenant to do the impossible but forgot that it wasn’t the physical ark or their surroundings that brought forth miracles. They thought they could carry God and have Him do what they wanted, only to wind up defeated and losing the Ark of the Covenant to their enemies, the Philistines. Do you ever find yourself trying to carry God when it should be God carrying you? Me too.

Another group also struggled with their expectations based on what they could see versus believing the impossible. In Luke 9:1-17 the 12 disciples witness Jesus perform healings and miracles but still doubt that they could feed 5,000 people with only two fish and five loaves of bread. How often have we lost our faith to believe for the impossible as quickly as we gained it?

This time, I sat in my living room praying and fasting and expecting to hear from God instead of attending the church gathering at 6am. I laid down my flesh but not in the typical food or social media way like many people, it was the secret flesh (that isn't glamorous) that I brought to the surface and laid at His feet. For 21 days it was me seeking His face, asking for revelation about His character and surrendering my expectations while being expectant for whatever He wanted to do. And want to know the best part? It didn’t end after 21 days. I needed to learn what it meant to live a lifestyle of my heart postured on His will and abilities instead of my own.

Let’s pray together: Father, thank you for Who You are. I will forever be in awe of the magnitude of Your majesty and plan especially when I see Your goodness was on display for the Israelites, for the disciples, and for all of us today. Holy Spirit, reveal to us areas of our lives that we need to realign our expectations to You and where we can posture our hearts in surrender and walk confidently in the Spirit. Father, help us to have big, bold faith that believes in the impossible because we know that Your work is not limited to the world’s standards. We pray all these things in your name, Jesus, amen!