I Believe

You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what He said
Luke 1:45 (NLT)

Recently I've come to notice how completely awesome belief is. There's more than just saying you believe in God and the Bible and going to church and praying. There's this new level that I've just recently broken into. I can't pinpoint the exact moment.. Sometime either last semester or this semester (sure doesn't narrow it down any), where I just have more belief. That God will do what He says He's going to do, and that He will answer when I pray. It's not just casual prayer- run through the shopping list of things I want to see happen and people I want to see touched and how I want God to speak to me- and then go about my business as usual. There's been a shift. There's more expectation now. I don't just upload my prayers to the big guy and then not think about them again. When I ask God to teach me something, I actually wait until He does, because He says He will. And let me tell you, God speaks a lot more when I expect Him to talk and thus actually listen. When I pray, I expect God to answer. When I pray for this campus, I expect to see God bombs exploding all over the place. When I pray for healing, I expect Him to show up. That blows my mind- when we can pray for some miraculous healing and then look and completely expect to see a miracle. For a group of people to be confused when an incurable disease doesn't disappear on the spot- that takes Jesus.
Prayer is not powerless. Prayer moves the heart of God. He longs to answer prayer. We just need to make sure that we really expect Him to answer, and aren't just sending up a list of "hm, well, wouldn't it be nice if...". There is no room for doubt. Which is still a huge struggle, especially when praying for the more outlandish things. So I just pray for more belief and more confidence, that doubt and wavering would not be an obstacle to everything God wants for us to live in.

If you need wisdom- if you want to know what God wants you to do- ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that you really expect Him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord
James 1:5-7