What's next? - Living with Expectation

What's next? - Living with Expectation

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Praise the Lord RC family, we did it!

We did the twenty-one days of prayer and fasting while we gathered virtually. If you had told me that we would be meeting for twenty-one days for online prayer just twelve months ago, I would have disagreed with you. I would've said, "there's no way on earth we could successfully accomplish that." But praise God! He gave "us" (that includes you) the strength and courage to accomplish it.  Thank you for allowing us to come into your homes and lives over the past few weeks! And thank you for connecting online.

Many of you asked that we continue meeting online, so I’m happy to announce that starting tonight Feb 3rd and every Wednesday, my wife and I will be online at 7pm on our social media platforms. We are calling this ConnectPoint Online and will be continuing in prayer, devotionals, live chat and a question & answer period. If you have a question that you would like us to answer during the broadcast, just ask me at resurrectioncenter.com/askbishop.
 
The question is now; what's next? Well, now we start looking and expecting the manifestations of the prayers that we've prayed and fasted for. After you've prayed and fasted, we must look in faith to see how God is going to answer our prayers. If we don't look for the manifestation, our prayers become an empty ritual of mouthing out words to God.

There's an exciting story in the twelfth book of Acts, where the disciples were praying for Peter, who was in jail about to be killed. And while they were praying, Peter shows up. Acts 12:13-16 says, "And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, 'You are beside yourself!' Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, 'It is his angel.' Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished."

See, I desire that we become a people whose faith is so strong that we are not shocked or surprised when God answers our prayers. What is the point of praying prayers that we don't believe that God is going to answer?

One of the blessings of being a Christian is to lift up our needs and concerns to our heavenly Father knowing how much He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and then to look by faith for His answers. I don't want my prayer life to become an empty ritual. When we pray unto Jesus, we must look in faith to see how God is working to answer our prayers.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we are exhorted to pray without ceasing. In James 5:14-16, we are told that God hears and answers our prayers. If we believe that these scriptures are true, then we should be expecting by faith to see how God is going to answer our prayers. Maybe, at times like me, you find yourself praying about the same things over and over again, and you fail to raise your level of expectancy. But remember, God is faithful to hear and answer the cries of His children.  

In Acts 12, the Holy Spirit uses Luke to write about the situation regarding Peter. The Christians had been praying because the church at Jerusalem was being persecuted by Herod, who had killed the apostle James, had Peter arrested, and was planning on bringing Peter before the people to have him put to death after the Passover feast.

So the Christians started praying without ceasing on Peter's behalf, and God answered their prayer by sending an angel who woke Peter up from between the two guards before whom he was sleeping. The angel led Peter out of the prison, down a street, and then departed from Peter (Acts 12:6-10). Peter realized God had delivered him and went to Mary's house, where the Christians had gathered to pray on his behalf (Acts 12:11-12).

Peter knocks at the door of the gate. Rhoda goes to answer his call, but when she recognizes his voice, in her excitement, she forgets to open the gate to let Peter in the house. She runs and announces that Peter is at the entrance (Acts 12:13-14).
God has answered their prayers! These same Christians couldn't believe that their prayers were answered. In Acts 12:15, they said, "But they said to her, 'You are beside yourself!' Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, 'It is his angel.' They think she is crazy! Think about it. They were praying but were shocked when the answer came. Peter continues knocking, and when they finally open the door, they couldn't believe it. Imagine even the disciples were shocked to see the manifestation of their prayers, and they were fully aware of God's promises to answer their prayers (Matthew 7:7-11). Still, yet these disciples were actually "astonished" when God did it.

Family, the atmosphere of expectancy is the breeding ground for miracles. So let's believe that God is going to answer our prayer requests in the year 2021. STAND STRONG AND BE VERY COURAGEOUS!

Bishop Burton