“Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Two years of chemotherapy. To an eleven-year-old, it lasted forever. As his mother, it seemed that way to me, as well. The hours we spent praying and speaking the Word were countless. We wrote scripture on index cards and posted them all around the house and in our hospital room with each visit. Whether I was cooking dinner, getting ready for work, or meeting another nurse, I had the Word in my line of sight.

When you want something badly enough, you will do anything. You will do everything! We were desperate for God’s touch and He did not disappoint. God defied every prognosis we were given, and our joy was indeed full.

Another Call

Then we got another call. My sister-in-law received a cancer diagnosis as well. We were devastated as our minds went back to the years of treatment and side-effects our young son had endured. I geared up to fight a battle with which we were familiar. I pulled out the index cards again and began declaring the Word over my sweet sister.

The war waged. After a long season of fighting, I could sense that she was tired. I prayed, declared, argued, and cried out to my Father. I questioned and pled her case, wondering why the answer I was praying for delayed. Giving up was not my desire, but I didn’t know how long I should keep believing for the miracle that was not yet evident.

How Long Do I Keep Believing?

I asked a precious friend for godly counsel. How long do I keep believing and praying over someone who is tired of being sick, tired of medicine, and tired of fighting back? What do I do? What do I pray?

“Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence.”

Proverbs 27:9, TPT

My friend’s answer was simple and profound. She said, “Keep praying the Word. Never stop praying and speaking the Word, no matter what the circumstances.”

You see, I was focusing on what I was seeing, and in doing so, I had taken a burden that wasn’t mine. In doing something good, fervent prayer, I had assumed liability for the healing. My job wasn’t to heal my sister-in-law. It wasn’t up to me, and I couldn’t bear the burden of when or how healing manifested. My only job was to follow Jesus’ example. He always prayed and spoke the Word of God, and that is what I must always do, too.

Fullness of Joy

God doesn’t always answer us in exactly the same way. There is no magic prayer formula. His command is to ask in His name and receive what He has for us. Keep believing. The fullness of joy we receive isn’t because we get everything for which we ask. The fullness of joy is that we learn to trust Him with every need and situation we face.

We need unwavering faith in His ability and trust He will keep His Word. It really is that simple. It’s not my job to be God. My job is to believe Him. Take Him at His Word. Receive, that your joy may be full.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the powerful promises in Your Word. They are for me!

Your Word says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are all answered ‘Yes.’ So through Him we say our ‘Amen’ to the glory of God.” I give You all glory for Your promises and agree with Your Word for every promise in my life.

I submit my life and will to You, and trust You with every situation. I thank You for the fullness of joy that comes through trusting You and relying on Your Word. Your Word is alive, active, and working in me, and I will keep believing it. I cast every care on You, knowing You care for me, and I receive the strength and joy of the Lord as my portion today.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

Let’s Talk!

Do you have good, godly friends you can go to for prayer or when you have questions? Praise God for your friends! Post their name in the comments below and share with them how they have blessed your life.

If you don’t have a close friend from whom you can receive godly counsel, ask God to bless you with a good friend. Make it a matter of prayer and keep believing. His Word says a man who has friends must himself be friendly (Proverbs 18:24). Be the friend you need to someone else and watch God’s Word work!

I can’t wait to hear from you!

Blessings,

Free Printable:

Enjoy this Thankful Series printable set as a free gift. Included in the download are five colorful watercolor style photos with scripture printed on each. Choose your favorite to print or print them all! They are 5×7, perfect for framing!

Click on the link and this printable will open as a PDF in a new tab.

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Today’s Must-Read Recommendation:

Empowered: A 31-Day Devotional to Empower Your Every Day

Get Rhonda Matthew’s 31-Day devotional, Empowered to empower your every day.

You’ll find her books as well as books and journals by other authors online at Integrity Publishing. (Purchases also available directly through Amazon.)

The post How Long Do I Keep Believing? appeared first on Holly D. Murray.

And now, Lord, for what do I expectantly wait?  My hope [my confident expectation] is in You.

Psalm 39:7 AMP

I recently went to Walt Disney World with some of my closest friends for a “girls’ weekend.”  It had been close to thirty years since I had been to Disney, and I had never stayed past dark.  This weekend was to be the exception.  I was eager with anticipation and expecting to have a great time!

Prepared with matching Believing for a Miracle shirts, we approached our day.  I am not even certain whose idea it was to wear the shirts, but it was a great one!  The shirts served a dual purpose.  First, it made it easier for Disney’s Cast Members to recognize us as a group when seating us on rides.  Second, wearing the shirts gave us the opportunity to start a conversation with those who saw us and were curious about the words displayed.  (I had the opportunity to share how God healed my oldest son from cancer and am currently praying for a young lady named Adolyn as a result of my friend talking about the shirt with me.)

Ready

The weather was a perfect temperature.  Wearing short-sleeved shirts and long pants kept us comfortable all day and ready for anything! While it had been chilly at home the week before, in sunny Florida it was a beautiful 80 degrees.  It was warm enough to enjoy an icy orange sherbet and ice cream treat, but cool enough that we weren’t sweating as we walked around on the black asphalt. We even rode a water-ride since one of our friends had the foresight to come prepared with a poncho for each of us.  It was a grand adventure.  And we loved experiencing each detail of every ride together.  Even the time spent in the queue lines made way for peals of laughter over things as simple as how to properly hold a water-bottle. (Yes, there can be joy even in seasons of waiting!)

Everything in the park was so beautiful in the daylight. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like at nighttime.  Throughout the day, my friends and I “oohed and ahhhed” over one display or another, and each of us took a plethora of photographs.   The flowers, greenery, and intricately-woven ribbons in stunning displays were breath-taking.

The Castle

As the sun started to set, my friends and I began to make our way toward Cinderella’s castle.  The park had not been overly crowded all day, at least not as much as I knew was possible.  There was so much to see and do at the park, but the rides and activities were so spread out that even with the vast number of people within the gates, my friends and I had room to walk two-by-two most of the day.

The closer we got to the castle, however, the more crowded it became.  It seemed that everyone was looking forward to seeing the lighting of the castle.  We had arrived 15 minutes prior to the scheduled lighting.  Even with that early arrival time, hundreds of people seated themselves en-masse before the castle.  There were just as many standing along the fences.  People were laughing and talking with loved-ones, taking photographs, and pointing at one interesting item or another.  There was a definite, tangible excitement!

I took several pictures of the castle and some of my friends, but then I began to look around at the people.  I like to watch people anyway, and I found it particularly interesting watching the crowd that evening.  There was such a diversity of people – different ages and ethnicities, various backgrounds.  There was such a colorful array of people, and I found the details of all that I was seeing absolutely fascinating.  But as I studied the crowd, one dominant emotion surfaced in the eyes of each person – expectation.

Expecting

Expecting, according to Merriam-Webster (n.d.), is defined – to wait, stay: to look forward: to be pregnant; to anticipate or look forward to the coming or occurrence of.  I literally had no idea what I was expecting, exactly.  I had never seen Disney at dark.  But I knew that whatever it was – it was going to be worth the wait.

What if we, as believers, were all in a state of expectation, all the time?   What would that look like?  Would people notice and inquire what was so different about our gazes?  How piqued would their interest be?  Would our demeanor or expressions raise their own personal awareness enough to ask?

Looking among a crowd of gatherers with their eyes peeled to a darkened castle, the light in their eyes was one of expectation.  We were none of us disappointed.  Over 200,000 lights dripped down the turrets and walls of Cinderella’s castle after the lighting explosion was complete.

The castle, in its enlightened splendor, was breathtaking, and tears pricked my eyes.  What I saw was even better than what I had expected, and Holy Spirit nudged my heart.  Was I expecting in my real life with even a fragment of the eagerness of the lighting of the castle?  Did my eyes hold a light of holy expectation?  Did that level of hope make me look different from those around me?

The Truth

The truth is that God has limitless love for us and boundless resources.  While those who work at Disney are big dreamers and have much in the way of finances and connections as resources, they can’t even compare to the dreams and supply that God has for us.  My favorite Scripture is Jeremiah 29:11, and reads “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (NIV).

[tweetshare tweet=”Don’t limit God’s ability because of a human’s limited imagination.  Take the limits off!  Expect the miraculous!” username=”HollyDMurray”]

To whom is that verse a promise? The prophet Jeremiah originally wrote the verse to the elders, priests, prophets, and other people whom had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon (see Jeremiah 29:1).  But this verse is also a promise for us – that we can expect the miraculous – not because the idea is a mere fancy, but because it’s an expectation of our faith.

Faith Works

I may not have a clue HOW things will work for my good when I’m facing a difficult situation in the natural, but I can expect and believe that He will work all things for my good.  His Word declares that truth in Romans 8:28. It is our faith that pleases and moves God.  Hebrews 11, dedicated to defining faith, gives a multitude of examples of people who lived by faith.  But if we are not expecting God to move on our behalf or expecting to see the miraculous, we might miss out!  Don’t settle!  Be expecting to see God do what His Word says He will do.

Are the things you are expecting going to be worth the wait?  If not, maybe you are thinking on too small a scale!  Get your expectation high!  Believe unwaveringly for the miraculous!  And be looking for God’s directions so that you don’t miss any opportunity that He has for you.

His love for you is greater than you could possibly dream, and He only wants the very best for you.  Believe it, trust Him, and expect the miraculous.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it on Twitter or Facebook!  To read about some of the purposes of God-given dreams, read the author’s post Stepping out into your Dreams.

Thanks for stopping by!

References:

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright ©2015 by The Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.  www.Lockman.org

Scriptures quotations marked (NIV®) are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission.  All rights reserved worldwide.

Expect. (n.d.). Retrieved January 9, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expect

The post Expectation appeared first on Holly D. Murray.