…No, I’m not talking about that.
I’m talking about hope versus expectation. How do you hope?
This might sound weird, but bear with me. Let’s say you’re struggling with something — a lot. You know Jesus has the ability to help you get through it (I mean, He’s God); but how do you pray for it? Do You try to believe that He will help in some general positive fashion that doesn’t allow for too much detail – you just believe it’ll be a good outcome (hope), or do you want a certain thing to happen – and when it doesn’t, you feel dejected (expectation)?
Can we expect anything from God? Is it bad to? Or should we just hope?
Because I gotta be honest with you guys – I want to do the right thing – but I find myself using language in my prayer that suggests that I expect way more than I hope.
For example:
How I pray:
“I prayed really hard for my friend, but her test results still came back positive for cancer.”
(I expect that because I prayed, God will act on that and heal my friend. God, you can like hear the pride dripping off that prayer, lol. Yikes!)
How I should probably pray:
“I pray for my friend, that God will heal her; and if He doesn’t, that He uses her illness for a good purpose and to draw her closer to Himself.”
(I hope that God will bring my friend to good health, but if He doesn’t, I can trust that He will work things out for good, because God is good.)
How I pray:
“I bought a lottery ticket, and I pray that I’ll win the lottery so I can finally get rid of all my soul-crushing debt.”
(I really crack myself up sometimes.)
How I should probably pray:
“I pray that God helps to provide the means I need to pay down my debt and to use my money wisely.” (The lottery ticket doesn’t really matter so much here.)
(It sucks to admit this, by the way — I’m like super embarrassed — but I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.)
Why do I do this? I’m afraid. Hoping is far too vague for me — I like my dreams concrete, my visions clear-cut. I’m afraid that if I truly let go and hope that God will work all things out for good, that I won’t be able to know when it’s coming. I won’t be able to plan for it.
Which leads to the idea of Grace, which I still have so much trouble with. I have issues with God taking care of me when I can’t, but…that’s a post for another day, haha.
So I guess I’m asking for advice, and prayers. What are ways that have worked for you? How have you moved from expectation to hope?
A Single Hour 