I had a friend make a comment to me last week that needed some reflection. He was talking about his religious background, having grown up in a Charismatic church. He now attends a Baptist Church with a fantastic pastor.
During the conversation, he noted that when some friends ask for prayer, afterwards they make a comment to the effect of “when you pray, you seem to expect something to happen”. He continued by telling me of several prayer experiences where miracles occurred after he prayed. Once he was awakened by the Holy Spirit and prompted to drive a distance to someone’s home and pray for them. He did so and arrived in the middle of the night. Woke them up. Prayed for them and saw the answer to his prayer.
He prayed at the Spirit’s direction. Expected God to respond. Witnessed God’s answer.
What grabbed me in the story was that when he prayed, he expected God to answer!
That seems to be Biblical and much the way Jesus prayed.
The question came: When I pray, do I really expect God to act or is it just hopeful words?
What about you?