Prayer without expectancy = unbelief

I stumbled upon this quote in my journal this morning and smiled because over the weekend, I was faced with this reality...the reality that I sometimes pray, asking for various things and somehow still do not EXPECT God to answer the prayer.

As I am a big proponent for self-development, I consciously make an effort to identify areas of my life to work on. This is an ongoing thing...one of my personal values is that if I am living, I am growing (not just physically but in every aspect I can). Typically it is through various situations, that I am able to identify my "growth areas". One of the growth areas for this year, has been about being a good steward of my finances. I took it a bit further after reading a book, Living on the Third River, and asked God to literally stretch me in the area of giving so I can truly become a conduit as it relates to my finances.

This past weekend, while in Chicago, I visited an awesome ministry, All Nations Worship Assembly, and while there are literally about 4 blog posts from my experience there, the one for this post, had to do with giving. At one point in the service, toward the end (I think) the minister said (paraphrase): "I declare that we will be without lack, that we will stumble upon money, we will open wallets/drawers and find money that we didn't know we had...we would open our car doors and look down and find bills..." you get the point.

My response: an emphatic "Wooooo yes Lord, Amen!" in agreement with the declaration that the minister made. 

Fast forward about 3 hours later, I am at lunch with a fellow Bahamian who attends that church while my friend attended the wedding (reason for the road trip) and this is where the "object lesson" began. So even as I had come into agreement less than 5 hrs previously, I call shame on myself for literally being surprised when I stumbled upon $20 in my wallet! :gasp: This, unfortunately, was after I had already had to use my credit card to pay for my food, since the bill was slightly more than the cash I had. Nevertheless, I quickly thanked God for the blessing and left it in my wallet, smiling to myself about how amazing my God is. In line with my submission to being a conduit with my finances, this Third River living, God quickly provided me with an opportunity to bless someone else with my blessing.

Without going into detail of that story, let’s just say that I was obedient.....and then it happened again (twice). This is how the scenario unfolded- I checked my wallet, accounted for the bill(s) inside, only to open it again at a later point (the same wallet) and find another bill added to what I had previously seen. Woah!!! It could be that I can't count or I am careless but I honestly think this an object lesson that God has allowed as it relates to asking with expectancy, particularly since there are a couple of big ticket requests (well big ticket to me) that I have made and have been struggling with the how and if "it" will come.  Nonetheless, by the second incident, I began praying (and continue to do so), that my faith would increase, and with it, my sense of expectancy as I pray, so that I will not be surprised when God answers but just grateful for His provision and faithfulness.

I encourage you to take inventory of your expectancy level toward the prayers you have surrendered. Have you asked and forgotten to look out for the answer/response/blessing? Have you asked as the "thing to do" as a Christian but do not truly believe? In the spirit of transparency, I had to revisit my request (you can find the story here) and assess what my expectancy level is. Am I really waiting to receive the blessing of the funds needed to get Mercy House a formally established non-profit organization in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas? Not sure what my answer was last week…but now it is a  "Wooooo yes Lord, Amen!"

There is so much more to be said as it relates to financial stewardship and the like as I continue to trust God and grow in this specific area but this is it for now...

Grace, peace and love,

Gia