Praying with an Expectant Heart!

God answered a big prayer today regarding all that's going on with Ethiopian adoptions. Our adoption agency sent out an e-mail to let us know that the Ethiopian government is processing 40 adoption cases each day. Praise Jesus! That is such great news! There for a while we thought they were going to cut back and only hear 5 cases a day.
This week I'm preparing a devotion that I have to give at work on Friday morning. The key verse of the devotion is Matthew 7:7-8

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

The devotion talks about how the church prayed around the clock for Peter when he was imprisoned. Their prayers worked and Peter was released from prison. However when the angel of the Lord came and delivered Peter to the door of where the group was praying they didn't believe it was really him.

The devotion says, "they were praying, but not believing. They were locked into a posture of asking, but not expecting. Maybe that's where you are, expecting little or nothing."

The devotion goes on to say that we should pray with an expectant heart. "When praise fills your mouth, expectation will fill your heart, and God will move on your behalf. When God gives you a word, act on it! Start praising Him now for what He is about to do."

When we started praying about the adoption situation in Ethiopia, we expected God to move on behalf of the 5 million orphans who are in need of hope and love - He has moved! When God put adoption on our hearts in January 2010 we began to pray knowing that God would someday bless us with children from Ethiopia. I pray for my future babies expecting that God will move...knowing that He will fulfill His plan for our family in His perfect time. I may not be able to get on that plane to Ethiopia as soon as I would like to, but God has made it clear to us that we are supposed to adopt from Ethiopia and I am praying with an expectant heart. Just waiting for the day I see those babies faces.

Has God given you a word or pointed you down a certain path? Are you praying for a specific situation or person and not seeing any results? Don't give up! Pray and expect God to move. He will!