December 12, 2016
Thirty Days of Prayer…Week five
Finding Strength in the LORD…Waiting with Expectation…
“Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” Psalm 5:3
This is truly the season of expectation, the season of hope, the season of promise, the season of waiting…It is Christmas! Just watch the children with the glow of the lights and the season reflected in their faces…It is the season of waiting with expectation. Over two thousand years ago, the waiting and the expectation of God’s promise was fulfilled in the manger, the bed of the tiniest and most glorious gift of Christmas. The waiting, the expectant waiting for the Messiah had finally been fulfilled in God’s perfect time! Immanuel, God with us, came to earth to be present with and to dwell among us.
Today, our Almighty God’s intention and His attention is still towards His people. His people experience His Presence in countless ways, and certainly in the intimate prayer time spent with Him. I am confident that you have had a glorious time with your Heavenly Father spending time with Him each day. It is wonderful that He always shows up and is always on time, and, He is never in a rush. He delights in spending time with His children; He delights in spending time with you.
Over the past few weeks:
- You have Accepted God’s invitation to “come to Him”, to meet with Him, to spend time with Him, and to allow Him to lift the heavy burdens from your shoulders, and to fight and defeat the GIANTS in your life which threaten your joy and your peace.
- You have Offered your worship of praise and thanksgiving, expressing your gratitude for who He is and the great things He has done.
- You have Agreed with your Heavenly Father, and confessed His authority and His sovereignty, your own weakness and sin nature, acknowledging your total dependence on Jesus Christ, His birth, death, and His resurrection.
- You have Trusted and Yielded your life to God’s perfect will, cooperating with Him, to say earnestly and honestly, “Have your way in my life, LORD”…not my will, but your will be done.
As you conclude the Thirty Days of Prayer this week, I encourage you to continue to seek the presence of your faithful God, and to Wait with Expectation for the great and mighty things He is doing in your life and in His Kingdom…Your Father hears the cries and the petitions of His children…Your Sovereign God over Heaven and Earth, your Compassionate Christ…promises His answer and His intention and His attention for your life, as you yield, and trust Him and say, “Have it your way, LORD.”
Perhaps you are like me and have found that often, His answer comes not in changed circumstances, which He promises to see you through…rather, His divine and wonderful answer comes in the changed condition of our hearts when we sit in the Presence of our Holy and Righteous God who fights for us, defeating the daunting giants, each day of our lives.
You now have a written account, a record of your time spent with your Father, a testimony of His faithfulness…of His goodness…of His attention and His intention towards you, His child. And now my friend, you can run with it to tell others the amazing news about your God, and you will not forget; you will always remember.
I pray for you as you continue to meet with your Loving Heavenly Father, the One who is for you, the One who is faithful to carry you to the place He has prepared for you. Your strength comes from His Presence through His Spirit and through His Word. As you walk in relationship with Him, He defeats the giants…You, my friend, are strong enough in and through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings…THE LORD OF HOSTS!
Praying for you with great expectation…
Additional “Strength” verses:
- Deuteronomy 31:6
- 1 Chronicles 16:11
- Psalm 22:19
- Psalm 28:7-8
- Psalm 29:11
- Psalm 46:1-3
- Psalm 59:16-17
- Psalm 73:26
- Psalm 118:14
- Psalm 138:3
- Isaiah 12:2
- Isaiah 33:2
- Isaiah 40:28-29
- Isaiah 41:10
- Ephesians 6:10-18
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3
