Sacrificial prayer.

It takes time.

It requires effort.

It thrives in a spirit of expectancy.

When you pray to God and ask Him to show up in some place, some way, to bring Him glory; what do you expect?

Do you expect anything? Do you expect God to do something through you and through your prayers? And then when God does show up in an amazing way, are your surprised?

Years ago I heard a story told about a small town in the south that had been locked in a "wet/dry" struggle over the sale of alcohol. A local tavern owner battled to expand the availability of the sale of drink. One of the local churches took the lead in opposition. In fact, the church called a prayer meeting to ask God to intervene.

The night of the prayer meeting, there was a terrible storm. It just so happened that the tavern burned to the ground after a lightening strike.

The tavern owner sued the church claiming that the prayers of the church had caused him harm. The church members denied that they had anything to do with the fire or the lightening that caused it.

The presiding judge heard opening arguments and then made this observation: "This is the strangest of cases. Here we have a tavern owner who is convinced of the power of prayer, but we have a church that denies its power."

It would be funny, if it wasn't so close to the truth. What are you expecting? Do you believe God answers prayers?

What are you expecting? Tell me. Drop me a line. I would love to hear what we are expecting of God!