Praying with Expectation (PART 1/2)

Expectation is not arrogance; it is alignment. When I come to God in prayer, I am not crossing my fingers and hoping for the best—I am positioning my heart to receive what a faithful Father has already purposed to give.

Most mornings, before the emails, before the sessions, before the training plans, I sit with Psalm 5:3: “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait expectantly.” I love that last phrase: wait expectantly. It is possible to pray and still carry the weight as if I am on my own. But this verse invites me to lay my requests down and then shift my posture—mind, body, and spirit—into expectancy.

Expectation is not demanding a specific outcome from God. It is confidence in His character. Faith says, “I don’t know how You will move, but I know You will move in line with Your goodness, wisdom, and promises.” Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” When I pray earnestly and seek His face, I am not just sending words into the air; I am responding to a God who has already revealed His heart in Scripture and in my own story.

I think about Hannah, pouring out her soul in the temple. She leaves that encounter with God before her circumstance has changed, but her countenance is different. Something has shifted on the inside. That’s expectation: a heart that has moved from despair to trust before the evidence arrives. Or the lame man in Acts 3 who looked at Peter and John “expecting to receive something.” He expected pocket change and encountered a miracle. Often my expectations are too low, too narrow, too controlled. God is free to exceed them.

Then there is that quiet, stubborn confession in Psalm 62:5: “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” That line confronts the part of me that is tempted to place my expectation in timelines, people, or my own performance. As a psychologist, I know the power of what we anticipate—expectation shapes perception, emotion, and behavior. As a believer, I know my expectation must be rooted in a Person, not an outcome. My expectation is not from my effort, my résumé, or my hustle. It is from Him.

If you are in a season where you have prayed, wept, journaled, and still feel that holy frustration of “not yet,” I want to encourage you: don’t downgrade your expectation to protect yourself from disappointment. Instead, relocate it. Take it off of specific details and place it back onto God’s character. He is good. He is wise. He is present. He is moving even when you can’t see it yet.

PRAYER

Lord, I have prayed and I have sought Your face. Now teach my soul to wait expectantly—not on my plans, but on Your heart. Align my desires with Your will and give me the courage to expect Your goodness again. Amen.

REFLECTION QUESTION

As you think about this topic, what kind of situation did you feel when expectation came to mind—was it more about delayed promises, unanswered prayer, or stepping into something new?