Expecting From God

If this is the way You treat Your friends, no wonder You have so few!" -St. Teresa of Avila

We expect more from our prayers because we know the God we pray to. God and I had this discussion today about prayers that were not answered as I’d hoped. I still do not understand the answer to many of my prayers. I suspect God and I will continue this discussion tomorrow.

In my mind I keep coming back to a book review I read in World magazine. In Sifted, author Wayne Cordiero tells the story of how ‘he spent a day wrestling with God’s question: “Would you serve Me in obscurity for the rest of your days?” If not, of course, then the question is, “Who are you really serving?” This and John Piper’s emphasis on knowing Christ above all else echo in my brain. If God answered my prayers in a way that brought me closer to Him then isn’t the answer the best answer?

The prayer I keep coming back to is twofold: To trust Christ and to want Him more than all the other things I want. I’m not even close to being there. Knowing He hears and knowing He is I pray expectantly for that’s the promise in Hebrews, “for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”