Do you expect God to move in your life? Do you go to Him in prayer out of habit or do you really believe you are having a conversation with the Creator of the universe and He will respond to your conversation?
King David expected God to respond to what he shared with Him in prayer. Psalm 5:3 says “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Don’t miss the fact that King David started his day with the Lord. He shared time with the Lord before his day began, to prepare him for what he would face, not as an after thought. Not only did he start his day with the Lord, but he was looking for the Lord to act in his day in some way.
The same verse in the Message says “Every morning you’ll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend.” This implies King David is sacrificing his life to the Lord daily. He even states every morning twice to allow the reader to know this isn’t a once in a lifetime decision, but a daily act of sacrifice.
Do you place your life on the altar of the Lord each day for Him to do whatever He wills? Do you expect Him to move in your life daily as a result? If I’m honest, I’d have to answer “no” to both questions. I give my life to the Lord most days, but there are days I wake up late, hit the ground running and realize when the wheels have fallen off my bus that I forgot to take time with the Lord. There are times I pray and ask God to move in my life and then go about my day as if we never talked.
When we are faithful to build our relationship with the Lord, spending time with Him daily, then we can expect Him to respond. He may not respond the way we would like or think He should, but He will respond [Isaiah 55:8]. He loves His children and He loves to give us good things [Matthew 7:11].
One of my favorite Old Testament stories can be found in 1 Kings 18:16-39 when Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. He allows them to try to summons Baal to consume their sacrifice on their altar with no success. Then he stacks the deck against himself by building an altar, digging a trench around it, soaking the wood and the sacrifice with 12 jars of water until the water ran down into the trench. After all of his preparations, he turned and prayed to the Lord asking Him to receive the sacrifice. Now that is a prayer with real expectation.
Have you taken time this morning to talk with the Lord? What are you expecting Him to do in your life today?