What are we expecting?

I wonder how many of us put God in a box?  This is a genuine question!

I've had the privilege of walking alongside some amazing folk on their various journeys of faith over the years. Some have had huge expectations of what God can and will do in their lives, and the lives of their families, some have slightly less expectation.

It's got me thinking however: What are my limits? Where do my expectations on God stop, where do they start?

This morning our Psalm was 89. It says “You rule the raging of the sea, you still its waves when they arise” – Do we still believe in a God who calms the raging sea? (be that literally, or metaphorically?)

Jesus says in Matthew "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you".

If I look out of my window I don't see a mountain, but I do see a house. Much smaller and easier to move than a mountain perhaps. But do I truly believe that if I said to the house to move that it would move? Probably not, but why not?

Most commentators suggest Jesus probably wasn't being literal here, he was using it as a symbol, that we should have faith in God to do things just as difficult and seemingly impossible. I wonder however where the box in which we place our expectations reaches it's limit?

At times over the last 10 years of so, I've felt God couldn't help me find a job, but then he has.

I've felt like I would spend my life alone, clearly God finding someone to marry me would be impossible, it wasn't.

I've thought an illness too great and incurable to be beyond his help, but then seen healing.

I've thought 'God will speak to everyone else but it is actually more likely he will move a mountain than speak to me' - then he's spoken.

The list goes on… God has pushed and broken most of the lines I've drawn, sometimes quickly (I declared, seriously, that I would be single forever 3 days before meeting Jess) sometimes over more time (the healing I mention took a couple of years).

And of course, sometimes the things we pray for don't happen, people are jobless, they are alone - despite not wanting to be, they don't see healing, they don't hear his voice. I wonder if it’s these experiences, these sadnesses, which narrow our expectations?

The reasons why it the things we pray for don’t happen are largely unknown and probably for another blog post, but I'm always encouraged to know that John Wimber apparently prayed for over 1000 sick people before he saw his first healing.

The key thing is, he kept praying, he kept expecting.

The point of today's reflection is to encourage you, as I've been encouraged, to check what the mountains are in your life, what seems impossible and out of God's reach, and to pray for it.

Some questions to consider:

When was the last time I prayed for something well beyond my expectations, when was I bold in my prayers?

How would I feel if God sent his Holy Spirit on my church, community or even just me like we see in Acts, if people from outside saw us and wondered if we were drunk? Do we expect Him to move this powerfully or would we prefer him to be a bit more restrained, a bit more British?

How do we react when we don't see an answer to prayer, does it discourage us and limit our prayers next time, or do we keep our expectations wide?

Pete Greig tells one of my all time favourite stories on this topic...

In a small south American town, a bar, known locally as Drummond's Bar began construction on a new building to increase their business. They wanted to add a strip club to the activities they provided. Next door to the bar was the local Baptist church and they started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions, and big banners and signs, and prayers.

Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground. The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise in its reply to the court.

As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the

paperwork. At the hearing he commented, "I don't know how I'm going to decide this case. It appears that we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not."

Finally, these verses from Ephesians were prayed over me many years ago, I use them again today as my prayer for myself and His church.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the deadand seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.