A Prayer to Help You Live Expectantly

It all started as I listened to one of my son’s pray. On our way to school, my boy told God thank you for bringing another student into his life. 

This student was new to the school, and it turns out my son had been asking God for the opportunity to reach out to another student who needed a friend. He invited the new student to have lunch with him, and my son was eager to get to school and welcome the a new friend to the lunch table.

That’s when I thought about what I’ve heard called the ministry of availability. (There is a whole series on this on my podcast, The Best Day Ever. Check it out!) I realized my son had been an example of exactly that. He asked God to bring someone into his life he could serve, then he expectantly looked for his open door. How simple, yet how powerful!

Years ago a few of my kids asked to plant mustard seeds in the yard. We had a little jar full of these seeds Jesus talks about in Matthew 17, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible” (Matthew 17:20b).

We lost a few seeds before any made it to the dirt. They really are tiny! Even in the palm of a tiny preschooler’s hand, the seeds seemed to almost vanish.

My favorite part of the planting was watching their eyes light up with wonder. Their excitement didn’t blossom from the near-invisible seed in their hands. Instead, it bloomed from the expectation of what it would become.

They’d heard Jesus’ words and believed Him – a small seed of faith planted in God’s power produces the impossible. 

As we seek to live more available to God and His purposes, here is a prayer to help us open our arms and trust God to carry us:

Dear God, I know in my own strength I can do nothing. But, I also know in my Father’s strong arms nothing is impossible. Help me run into Your arms today and live available to be used by You. Give me an opportunity today to serve You and love others. I expect You to do more than I can imagine. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.