Expectations

The speaker welcomes the audience to the Morning Glory Devotion and leads them in prayer. The theme is expectations, and the scripture reading is about Naaman who had expectations of how he would be healed. The speaker emphasizes that our expectations should align with God's word and promises, and that we need to be flexible with our preferences. We should not let our expectations become obstacles to our faith or receiving miracles. The speaker encourages holding fast to God's promises and letting go of expectations that are contrary to His will. The audience is reminded that God's ways are higher than ours. The speaker concludes with a prayer for the audience to hold fast to God's promises and let go of contrary expectations. Shalom, wonderful family. You are warmly welcome to today's Morning Glory Devotion. God bless you for being a part of the Just and Dead Prayer Time. My name is Joshua from Harvest Chapel International, Kumasi, and it is a privilege to be facilitating today's Morning Glory Devotion. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for another wonderful day. This morning, I pray that you will put us by your Spirit and awaken our ears to hear your Word which alone is able to give life. I pray that you will grant us the grace to live by your Word and prosper by it. In the name of Jesus, we pray with thanksgiving. Amen. Let us take our confession from Joshua 1 verse 8. This book, O Lord, shall not depart out of my mouth, but I shall meditate in it day and night, that I may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then I will make my way prosperous, and then I will have good success. Amen. The theme for today's devotion is expectations. And our scripture reading is from 2 Kings chapter 5 verse 9 to 11. I'll be reading from the New International Version. So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed. But Naaman went away angry and said, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot, and cure me of my leprosy. Amen. Here we read about how Naaman came to see the prophet Elisha, and we see that Naaman came with an expectation, actually two expectations. The first was that he would be healed, and the second was how exactly that healing would come about. Now it happened that things did not happen according to his second expectation, and because of his anger and disappointment, he nearly missed out on his first expectation too. In our lives today, we face similar challenges. Many have lost their way because of anger and disappointment towards God for not meeting their expectations. Some have simply walked away from their faith and their miracles because the instructions God gave to them did not align with their expectations. Beloved, God is not obliged to meet our expectations, but he is obliged to honor his word and his promises. The scriptures say that the promises of God are yea and amen. Our expectations can be met only to the extent to which they are aligned to the word and promises of God. As human beings, we have expectations and preferences in how we would like God to answer us or meet our needs, but we must be careful not to let these expectations and preferences become a hindrance to our obedience to the instructions he actually gives us as to how to obtain his promises, either through his word or his sermons that he has set for us. The scriptures say in Isaiah chapter 55 verse 8 to 9 that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways higher than ours. We must humble ourselves with the knowledge that God indeed knows best. Like in the case of Naaman, many such secondary expectations stem from a heart of pride and we know by the scriptures that God keeps the proud in heart. As children of God, we must learn to hold fast to the promises of God and have faith and great expectation for their fulfillment, but we must learn to be flexible with everything else because God in his sovereignty and wisdom decides how he fulfills his promises to us. We need to learn to be willing to discard our expectations in favor of his instructions when we go before him and we will find fulfillment in him. We must be careful not to let our expectations and desires become obstacles to our faith or growth or obedience or to the receiving of our miracles. Amen. Let us take our memory verse from Isaiah chapter 55 verse 9. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your word that has come to us today. We pray that you will help us by your Holy Spirit to learn about and hold fast to your incredible promises. Help us to let go of every expectation and desire that is contrary to your will and instructions so that we may find fulfillment in you. In the name of Jesus, we pray with thanksgiving, Amen. Thank you for listening and stay tuned for more Spirit-filled content on Radio HCI Today. Until we come your way once again tomorrow morning at the same time, do stay blessed. Amen.