Communication with God – We Must Expect a Response!

Now that we know we have been heard and we know that God understands us because we’re speaking in faith, we should expect a response. Expect means to look forward to or to look on as likely to happen or to anticipate. I would guess that all of us, when we come to the Lord in prayer, come with this attribute in high gear. We want an answer and we know that God is able to supply those answers no matter how difficult the situation. We are going to look at three different words that are used in the Bible to signify waiting and expecting. There are more, but for sake of brevity, I would rather use only 3. All of these words show an understanding that the waiting, the expectation, will be answered.

The first word is from the Old Testament and is the Hebrew word qavah. It is translated wait or look for or looking for. It denotes an anticipated response in due time.

Psalm 40:1 King James Version (KJV)

I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

Is this the way we wait for God – patiently? Or do we get anxious wondering when, oh when, will He give me an answer. Patience is essential in our waiting. We have absolutely no control over when God will answer, and whatever we are going through is in His hands. He will decide when to lift the burden. In James 1:2-5, we are told that a trial comes to test our faith and teach us patience. Do you learn this lesson when going through difficult situations, or do you fret and stew because the answer has not yet come. Look at the promise of this Psalm. If I wait, He will incline to me and hear me. I picture a loving God leaning over so I can whisper in His ear. What a powerful portion of scripture.

Lamentations 3:25 King James Version (KJV)

²⁵The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

God will never disappoint you if you are waiting for His answer, not your own. If you are looking for what you want, then perhaps you will be disappointed, but that is not God’s fault. He always sends the best answer, the good answer. We just need to put ourselves in a place of waiting and anticipating His response.

Isaiah 40:31 King James Version (KJV)

³¹But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I’ll guess most of you figured I would be using this verse. It is probably the most well-known verse on waiting. The promises contained here are staggering to me. God tells us, through Isaiah, that if we will be patient and wait for His timing in our lives that He will strengthen us. That means to me that He will give me the strength in the middle of my struggles to wait for His perfect response. That strength will carry me through the trouble until he decides to bring the solution. That strength will help me to run and not grow weary, and walk and not faint. I do not have to worry about falling short or about not finishing well – His strength will carry me through. In the meantime, I can soar above my troubles like an eagle soaring above the ground. I can be confident to rise above the struggles! What a mighty God we serve.

The next word is the Greek word ekdechomai. It means to look for or expect.

John 5:2-4 King James Version (KJV)

²Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

³In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

⁴For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

In these verses we see the people at the pool of Bethesda. They come here because an angel comes down every once in a while, and troubles the water. The first person who sets foot in the pool after the troubling of the water is healed. Now that’s a miracle in itself and anyone who goes to that pool should be expecting an answer because they have seen answers before. This word talks about people who are waiting for something that is a certainty. They know that the pool will be troubled and they know that the first person in would be healed so they waited, They just have to wait for the angel to come. We should so wait for our answer from God – that it is a certainty and we should be ready to receive it whenever it comes.

James 5:7 King James Version (KJV)

⁷Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

I live in Iowa and farmers amaze me. They invest thousands of dollars in seed, spend hundreds or hours preparing the soil and their machinery, and don’t get a result for 90-120 days. They know the seed will produce fruit and they just need to wait until the appropriate time to gather that crop. They expect the seed to produce. I don’t know any farmer who ever has planted who does not expect a return on that planting. He just waits for what He knows is coming. We should have the same expectation with our prayers. They are seeds planted and God will provide an answer when the time is right.

1 Peter 3:20 King James Version (KJV)

²⁰Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

This time the word describes God waiting! God waited on those preparing the ark. He knew for a certainty it would be completed someday and He would send the flood. There is no doubt in God’s mind that this was going to happen – it was just a matter of time. God will always waits until we are truly ready to receive the answer, never early, never late. We might think His timing is off, but it is not. His answer will come once He knows we are prepared to receive it.

We see in all three uses of this word that these are not answers set to our time. They are answers that take a little while and we have to wait until the appropriate time. That is how God works. He gives us an answer in the appropriate time and we should be in an attitude of expectation to receive from Him when He’s ready to give.

The next Greek word is prosdakao. This word means to watch for or look for.

Luke 1:21 King James Version (KJV)

²¹And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.

Zacharias had gone in to do his duty and burn incense in the temple. While he was in there, behind the veil, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that his wife would give birth to a son. This son would be mighty for God, and would be named John (John the Baptist). Zacharias was much longer in lighting the incense than normal and the people were waiting for Him, wondering why it was taking so long. This type of expectation is one that knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that something is coming. We need to be certain that we will receive an answer. Even if it is delayed longer that I would like or expect, I need to know He will answer. God always answers our prayers!

Luke 3:15 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;

People were waiting to be baptized and they had long been expecting the Messiah to come. It was a foregone conclusion that He would come someday. There was absolutely no doubt in their minds. Now they wondered if John the Baptist was that Messiah, that answer to their expectation. This is the kind of expectation we should have when we pray!

But we must also be wary to wait for the right answer, not just any answer. John the Baptist was not the answer. In my current situation, I could be thinking God has answered my prayers because I am in remission – the cancer is gone! But I have not received the whole answer yet. I am believing for complete healing – neuropathy and tiredness will be gone as well. I need to continue in a state of expectancy for the full answer to my prayers. Glory to God!

Acts 3:5 King James Version (KJV)

⁵And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

Peter and John were entering the temple one day and saw a lame man begging for alms. They approached the man and told him to look at them. He looked at them and it says he expected to receive something from them. He had no doubt in his mind that these men would give him something. The man expected to receive money, bit Peter and John had something much more precious. They gave him back his legs!

God answers our request, and it is always His best for us that is given in response. It may not be what we expected to receive, or what we asked for, but we can know of a certainty that if we wait on His timing, it will be the best thing for us. Again, with this definition we see the type of expectancy that we should all have. One that knows there will be a response and that it is soon to come. We should never stop being in this expecting state.

How good are you at waiting? Are you always in a position that you expect a response, and are you willing to wait for God’s perfect answer for your life? Are you drawing strength from God to endure the wait? Are you soaring above the problem while you wait? God loves us and He will answer in His time. We should expect that. Patience is all we need to enjoy the time of waiting. Let us wait on Him with expectation!

Next, we will discuss the fact that while we are waiting, we must be listening for a response. So often God will answer, and I will not hear His reply because I am not paying attention. Hopefully, we can learn better to listen to Him!

Prayer is Communication With God (Part 2)

I can get easily involved in a television show or sporting event. When I do, my wife can be sitting right next to me, ask me a question, and I won’t even hear her. She has to get my attention first before she is heard. If she wants to communicate effectively with me, this is a necessary step. If I am trying to talk to someone and they are not hearing me, communication will not happen.

The next step in our communication is that we must be heard. When I see a scripture that tells me if I take certain steps, He will not only hear me, but He will forgive my sins and heal my land, I take notice. By inference, this verse says He will grant our request if we do as He asks. The key verse I want to make sure you get a hold of is 2nd Chronicles 7:14. This verse gives us a great outline on effective prayer

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

“If my people”

Paul tells us that if Christ has become our Savior (circumcision of the heart), then we are considered in the same way as Jews. Romans 4:11-16 explains this further. Abraham was not only the father of circumcision, but also of faith. The seed of Abraham is not only through circumcision, but also through faith by grace. That makes us God’s people, so we can apply these prayer principles to our situations today.

“Which are called by my name”

The followers of Jesus were first called Christians in Antioch. Christian is a derivative of the word meaning Christ, Messiah, or anointed one. Having this name says we are called by His name. His name is the most powerful name in the universe. This association with His name carries His authority. He gave us that authority before He left this earth (Mark 16:17-18). He also gave us authority at other times in His ministry (Luke 10:19 and Matthew 18:18-20). Being called by His name also means we can call on His name.

“Shall humble themselves”

Here is the main point and stumbling block to a majority of our prayers, in my opinion. As human beings, we don’t want to humble ourselves. We want to tell God when and where and how to answer us. We expect Him to do what we want Him to do, like we are in control. So we pray as if we are in charge of the answer. This is not humility. It is pride, and pride has no place in prayer.

Have you ever taken notice that God says to humble ourselves first? Before we pray, seek or repent, we must humble ourselves. When we come to God, we should have a reverence and awe for Him that transcends anything else. We should bow low before Him, and remember that He owes us nothing and that He has given us everything. I am nothing without Him except a lowly shell of a man. I need His mercy and strength, wisdom and guidance every day.

“ and pray”

This whole study is on the activity of prayer. We have already spent a lot of time on prayer and will be going further into it throughout the rest of this study, so I won’t spend much time here. Just a few scriptures to keep the word active.

Mark 11:24.

”Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

These words of Jesus are very powerful. When they went up to the tree, there was no fruit. Jesus says that the fig tree would not produce any fruit forever. The next morning, they came by the same tree. It was withered and dried up, and the disciples were amazed.

When we pray for the right reason, it will be answered. This fig tree is symbolistic of those who show on the outside the fruits of righteousness, but inside they are dead and non-productive. Jesus wants all of us to be fruitful, not just what people see but what is inside of us. This fig tree was hypocritical in a sense, and we must not have hypocrisy in our lives. He goes on to say that we can move a mountain if we believe. If we are desiring the things of God, our prayers will be answered if we believe that God will answer them.

“and seek my face”

We must take time to seek Him, to seek His will and His face. Our prayers need to line up with His will and how will we know that will if we are not seeking Him? Zseeking Him means to be in His word, to meditate on that Word, to spend time in prayer and praise and to just be still before Him (Psalms 46:10)

Deuteronomy 4:29.

“But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”

Psalm 119:2.

“Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.”

If we seek the Lord with all our heart, we will find him. As I said before, He’s not hiding. He’s right there waiting and hoping that we will call on Him. God does not force himself upon us or into our lives. He wants to bless us. He wants to have a relationship with us. God does not move away. It is us who move away from Him. If we seek him with all that we have, we will find Him. I believe this applies to absolutely everyone, even those who say there is no God. If they seek Him with all their heart, they will find Him.

“Turn from your wicked ways.”

We need to repent of the things that we have done that don’t line up with the Word. If you would like to do a great daily Bible study on repentance, I suggest you go to Amazon.com and buy the book entitled The Walk of Repentance by Steve Gallagher. It is an amazing 24 week journey, and you will not regret it. We need to walk with a repentant heart on a daily basis because we are sinners saved by grace. There is never a day goes by that we don’t need to repent before the Lord, that we don’t need to turn from our wicked ways and come to Him.

After these steps God says he will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. This is something to take deep into our souls and make sure we are a=carrying out these steps each time we pray.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to see the full study on this verse, please pick up “The Ask Principle” by clicking on the “Buy Now” button in the side panel of this web site.

Prayer is a Conversation with God

Are you a conversation starter? Can you keep a conversation interesting? Some people just have a knack for carrying on a good conversation. They have a natural inquisitiveness that knows the right questions to ask. When I was a salesman travelling in my car, I listened to a talk show host named Jan Michelsen on WHO in Des Moines. He was exceptional because he always had a follow-up question. You learned a lot about the guests because of his skills. I marveled at the ability he had to stay focused with any person on any subject.

I am not a very good conversationalist. Finding that opening question and knowing what to say next is difficult for me. Unless it’s somebody I know the right questions are not top-of-mind. When I was selling magazine ads I attended networking meetings held by the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations. Meeting new people was the goal. Saying hi and meeting them is one thing. Getting them to talk is another, especially when you don’t know them.

Prayer can be a conversation with God. It can be a give and take on many different levels if we are keenly in tune with the Holy Spirit. The biggest problem we have is taking the time to listen in the middle of our prayers. Requests seem to be what we offer up, and that is a one-way street. There are many examples of conversations with God in the Bible. Here are just a few:

Gen 3:9-13 – Adam and God have a conversation about eating from the Tree of Life
Gen 4:9-15 – Cain and God discuss Abel and the consequences of his disappearance
Gen 17:15-19 – Sarah discusses with God about having a child in her old age
Gen 18:23-33 – Adam pleads with God over Sodom and Gomorrah
Exodus 3:11-4:17 – Probably the longest conversation in the Bible was Moses and God when Moses was commissioned for the task ahead at the burning bush
Exodus 32:30-35 – Moses admits Israel’s sins
Job 38-42 – God and Job exchange words
Isaiah 6:8-13 – Isaiah’s commission to go to the people
Acts 9:4-6 Paul on the road to Damascus.

Many of the prophets held short conversations with God. One of the things I notice is that the further we read through the Old Testament the less we see people having conversations with God. Man becomes so entrenched in himself and in his everyday situations that he no longer converses with God. He just takes his request to God and then leaves without listening. Today, people come to God with their requests and then walk away, not taking the time to listen to what He has to say.

I think that God wants to have conversations with us. He wants to speak to us even more than we want to speak to Him. He wants to ask us questions and see where our hearts are. If you look at the Psalms closely you will see several times that David speaks and the Lord speaks within the same Psalm. This is the type of prayer that we should be praying. Allowing God to actually fit into our conversation and into our words as we listen to him in between what we say to Him.

For more on conversing with God, please buy a copy of my book, “The ASK Principle.”

Introduction to “The ASK Principle”

I am convinced that everyone prays. Even an atheist has a way of expressing their needs to someone or something other than themselves. They too need help through difficult times. There is something deep within every human being that cries out for help. When trouble comes our way or when someone we know is going through struggles, we reach out. Major religions around the world each have their own view of what prayer should include. There are also many ideas on how prayer should be delivered. Some require a set schedule of prayer, while for others, it’s more a form of meditation. Prayer is a vital element of the human soul.

First Congregational Church, West Boylston, Mass

I was raised in church. My mom was the church secretary in a small congregational church in Massachusetts when we were growing up. We had to be in church! I sang in the children’s choir. Our family was involved in everything that went on at church. At 13, I was confirmed and started being a teacher’s helper in Sunday School. A friend and I ran a small teen hangout in the church for a while. We were at church often.

We learned to pray at an early age. Reciting our bedtime prayers and praying over meals were the two ways we practiced. Unfortunately when I reached the rebellious age of 16, I wandered away from church and set out on a road of self-destruction. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and parties were all that seemed to matter. Church was ignored. Even then, I can remember praying at certain times. It is something that stuck with me even when I was away from God. I wasn’t even sure at times who I was praying to. I just knew I had to call out to something greater than myself.

I remember one instance where my group of friends and I were working on a car. We were all far from God and full of trouble. We were trying to get the transmission apart from the bell housing and one of the bolts just would not come out. We all tried with no success. None of us really believed in God and we never darkened a church door. As a last hope, my friend Wayne made the statement, “OK, God. If this bolt comes out, I will go to church this Sunday.” He gave it another try and the bolt came out like it was never stuck. I remember it like it happened yesterday. Today I ask myself why that prayer was answered and so many others, from true Christians who love the Lord, seemingly go unanswered. By the way, he did not go to church the next Sunday.

In 1976, I made a trip to Iowa. We attended a service earlier in the week. The preacher had me convinced I was going to hell, and I knew I did not want to go there! The night before I was going to head home, my friend’s pastor came to his trailer. There, in my best friend’s mobile home, I prayed the sinners’ prayer. I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I was saved that night. Upon returning to Massachusetts, I started attending that same congregational church I grew up in. Two years later, on a return trip to Iowa, I met my future wife and moved to Iowa in 1978. We were married by year’s end. Three children and five grandchildren have come along and we will soon be celebrating 40 years together.

This was a time when I really started to grow in the Lord and learn His ways. I was focused on building a family and growing in the Lord. Long hours were spent in prayer and in the Word. Reading through the Bible several years in a row brought understanding. Studying things I did not understand were all priorities of mine. Seeking God for wisdom was at the top of my list during those years. I became a worship leader in my small church. Some lay ministry and prison outreach occurred. I developed a prayer life, but I always sensed there was a lot more than I currently realized.

I had so many questions about prayer through these years of my walk with the Lord that I decided to study and learn for myself. What is prayer? When should we pray? How should we pray? Why should we pray? How can we pray effectively? In 1990, I earnestly sought the Lord with these questions and developed the basics for what I thought would eventfully be a book. After finishing the study, it sat on a shelf at home. I was busy raising a family and growing my career. The book would not get done and the study was forgotten.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma Cancer in the spring of 2016. My treatment included two stem cell transplants in the first six months. The recovery was lengthy. Maintenance chemo would continue for two years during which I slowly regained strength. In the winter of 2107-2018, the notes from this study were found in a house cleaning session. I decided to take another look at what I had written out thirty years earlier. I found dozens of scripture references, notes to myself, ideas I had forgotten about and a study just as relevant today as it ever was.

During my illness I felt directed to start a blog which would concentrate on Bible study. After going through Philippians, Galatians, Psalms and James, the Lord put it on my heart to take this study and put it out on my blog. Ideas and concepts were added that I had learned since the original study. I was pleased it was so well received by my fellow bloggers.

The blog posts were gathered together and I realized that I now had the book from thirty years ago. It amazes me how God can bring things about. Had it not been for my illness, this book would not have happened. It is my belief that God uses our worst circumstances to do amazing things in our lives. This book is a prime example. If I had not become sick and had such a long recovery time, I would have been too busy with career and other things to put this all together. Because He gave me this time and directed me to put this book together, I believe the church will benefit greatly by the contents.

My desire is that together we can get a better understanding of the inner workings of prayer. There are a lot of very familiar concepts and verses included. There are also some things that God has allowed me to share with you that might be a little different than the way you have always understood prayer. By keeping an open mind, I believe we will all gain new insights into our prayer lives.

We desperately need prayer in this world today. Effective, heartfelt prayer that will touch the heart of God. Prayer for healing. Prayer for deliverance. Prayer for finances. Prayer for our cite, our state, our country. Prayer for our families. I pray this book will help you develop that kind of prayer life and will strengthen the kingdom of God in these last days. I pray it will glorify God for the wonderful gift of prayer that He has given us. I pray this book will start a tsunami of prayer that will sweep the church, our nation, and our world. The enemy of our souls is raising his head in so many places. It’s time to come against him with our most effective weapon – our prayers!

What is Prayer?

Prayer is asking something of God, hoping that He hears and understands our prayer, and then listening for and accepting the response. Prayer is our faith-in-action.

I believe everyone prays, even the atheist. We all say words of hope that some being will intervene in our lives. When we are faced with a major decision, we may do all the comparisons of positive and negative points to arrive at our conclusion, but often we will ask that inner man what those points are. This is a prayer for guidance. We cannot always come up with all of them on our own. When we are faced with illness, we hope within ourselves that it will not be too bad, and that we will heal quickly. This is a prayer for healing. Even though we may not be petitioning God, we are asking some entity to intervene.

To put it simply, prayer is communicating with that entity. Most of us call that entity God. Prayer is asking something of God, hoping that He hears and understands our prayer, and then listening for and accepting the response. Prayer is our faith-in-action. Prayer can be in the form of a conversation or can be a statement of faith. It takes on many forms and all can be effective.