Student Devotionals
Join Christian students and the Meant for More community from across the nation for a devotional series focused on 7 ways to grow as a leader during this time of crisis.
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Ephesians 3:20-21
Pray with Anticipation & Expectation
Hi guys! My name is Matt, and I pray that the Lord encourages your heart through this devotional. Today I want to focus on praying with anticipation and expectation… an incredibly important subject in the midst of this challenging season.
Recently, I heard a man named Lee share his story about contracting and battling COVID-19. His condition got to be so bad that he was admitted to the hospital and wasn’t sure if he would live through the night. He was desperate and completely alone. No family, friends, or pastors were allowed to see him. With nowhere left to turn, Lee cried out to God. He begged God to do something… anything...even something supernatural... that would encourage him and bring him through the night.
Can you relate to this feeling of desperation? Have you ever prayed a big, impossible prayer to God when everything looked hopeless? We have good reason to pray this way.
I will return to Lee’s story in a minute, but let’s first take a look at Ephesians 3:14-21, and discuss why the Bible challenges us to pray big prayers:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Where are you rooted?
Let me emphasize a few key words from what we just read:
“Be rooted and established in love…
grasp how wide the love of Christ is…
know this love of Christ…
be filled with God’s fullness.”
Do you hear it? Do you hear this language of aggressively pursuing the end goal of being filled with God’s love and truth? So my first big question for you today is this: Are you rooting yourself in God through prayer? Are you actively seeking God’s presence? Or are you aggressively reaching for other things that will never be able to feed your soul? Netflix? Social media? Other forms of entertainment and communication? The news?
So many times, God puts the people of the earth through trials because He wants us to get our attention, remove all the distractions in our world, and help us realize again that a relationship with Him is the most worthwhile thing to chase after.
As we root ourselves in God, we are able to experience the fullness of His power in our lives. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Friends, how can our lives be full of God’s power if we do not first fill up with God?
If we are filled with God, and His power becomes at work within us, we can expect Him to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine!
Prayer Gets Answered
Now let’s return to Lee, who has just prayed that God would do something, even supernatural, to encourage him and bring him through the night. Shortly after praying this, a powerful thing happened. As he would later put in his own words, “When no one else was allowed in... no family and no friends… God sent a cleaner (a hospital janitor)!”
This cleaner shows up at the door, asks how Lee is doing, and listens to him. Suddenly, Lee finds himself being encouraged and prayed over by this cleaner. The cleaner shares God’s love with him and prays that God would spare Lee’s life. Reflecting back on this moment, Lee later said, “When God needs to reach a person, He knows exactly who is the right person.”
So the cleaner left, but he would periodically walk past Lee’s door and give him a thumbs up. In the following hours, Lee started to get better! Later that night, after the cleaner left to go home, Lee felt well enough to begin feeling hungry. Encouraged by the way God had answered his previous prayer, he now prayed, “God, would it be possible for you to bring me a bottle of coke and a bag of prawn chips?” And the next morning, the most amazing thing happened. The cleaner delivered a bag to his room, and in the bag were two oranges, a bottle of coke, and a bag of prawn chips. As he dropped the bag off, he just said, “It’s a gift from the Lord.”
Looking back on this whole experience, Lee shared two powerful truths that he learned.
First, he shared that “God is a God who is personal. He knows the deepest desires of our hearts, and He knows what we have need of.” Guys, if God knows we need a bag of chips and a coke and can hand-deliver these things to us in a miraculous way, he also knows how to satisfy the deepest needs of our heart. This is the God we serve! Do you believe this? Do you see God, and even pray to God like He really knows you, and knows your needs, and is powerful enough to provide those needs?
Second, Lee learned to “never underestimate what God can do with you.” As he reported the story, he said “I want to give a ‘thank you’ to that cleaner. You know who you are. If you ever see this, thank you for hearing the voice of God.”
Now that we’ve heard Lee’s story and looked at God’s Word, I’d like to offer two ideas of my own for how we can apply this biblical truth to our lives.
1. Pray Boldly With Anticipation and Expectation
Because God is able to do more than we can ask for or imagine, we need to pray to God in faith that this is really true.
...If you are sick, pray that God heals you. He can do it!
...If you have been in a pit of discouragement for a long time and see no way of escape, pray that God encourages you and brings you out. He can do it!
...If there is a sin that you haven’t been able to overcome for a long time, pray that God helps you overcome it! He can do it!
Don’t put a limit on what God can do, and boldly ask Him to show up in your life in powerful ways. God wants to surprise you with His love.
Now to be clear: we’re not promising that God will answer every prayer in exactly the way that you want it. After all, we need to pray for God’s will to be done… not our own (Matt 6:10)! Nevertheless, both our passage in Ephesians and stories like Lee’s encourage us to grow in boldness when we seek the Lord in prayer.
2. Pray Boldly for God to Send You.
Remember how Lee said to “Never underestimate what God can do with you”? Friends, sometimes we need to pray for God to miraculously send us a cleaner, but sometimes we need to pray that God sends us as cleaners. If you are watching this, God wants to use you in ways you never dreamed of. He wants to use you to bring His love and encouragement to a world that is desperately looking for hope. So like the cleaner that blessed Lee, seek and listen to the voice of God. Ask God to show you people in your life He wants you to encourage. Reach out to them, pray for them, and share God’s love and the message of Jesus with them. Maybe even send them a coke and a bag of chips! God just might use you in ways that you would have never imagined.
Check back tomorrow for a new devotional! God bless.
-Matt Lohse
Recently, I heard a man named Lee share his story about contracting and battling COVID-19. His condition got to be so bad that he was admitted to the hospital and wasn’t sure if he would live through the night. He was desperate and completely alone. No family, friends, or pastors were allowed to see him. With nowhere left to turn, Lee cried out to God. He begged God to do something… anything...even something supernatural... that would encourage him and bring him through the night.
Can you relate to this feeling of desperation? Have you ever prayed a big, impossible prayer to God when everything looked hopeless? We have good reason to pray this way.
I will return to Lee’s story in a minute, but let’s first take a look at Ephesians 3:14-21, and discuss why the Bible challenges us to pray big prayers:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Where are you rooted?
Let me emphasize a few key words from what we just read:
“Be rooted and established in love…
grasp how wide the love of Christ is…
know this love of Christ…
be filled with God’s fullness.”
Do you hear it? Do you hear this language of aggressively pursuing the end goal of being filled with God’s love and truth? So my first big question for you today is this: Are you rooting yourself in God through prayer? Are you actively seeking God’s presence? Or are you aggressively reaching for other things that will never be able to feed your soul? Netflix? Social media? Other forms of entertainment and communication? The news?
So many times, God puts the people of the earth through trials because He wants us to get our attention, remove all the distractions in our world, and help us realize again that a relationship with Him is the most worthwhile thing to chase after.
As we root ourselves in God, we are able to experience the fullness of His power in our lives. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Friends, how can our lives be full of God’s power if we do not first fill up with God?
If we are filled with God, and His power becomes at work within us, we can expect Him to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine!
Prayer Gets Answered
Now let’s return to Lee, who has just prayed that God would do something, even supernatural, to encourage him and bring him through the night. Shortly after praying this, a powerful thing happened. As he would later put in his own words, “When no one else was allowed in... no family and no friends… God sent a cleaner (a hospital janitor)!”
This cleaner shows up at the door, asks how Lee is doing, and listens to him. Suddenly, Lee finds himself being encouraged and prayed over by this cleaner. The cleaner shares God’s love with him and prays that God would spare Lee’s life. Reflecting back on this moment, Lee later said, “When God needs to reach a person, He knows exactly who is the right person.”
So the cleaner left, but he would periodically walk past Lee’s door and give him a thumbs up. In the following hours, Lee started to get better! Later that night, after the cleaner left to go home, Lee felt well enough to begin feeling hungry. Encouraged by the way God had answered his previous prayer, he now prayed, “God, would it be possible for you to bring me a bottle of coke and a bag of prawn chips?” And the next morning, the most amazing thing happened. The cleaner delivered a bag to his room, and in the bag were two oranges, a bottle of coke, and a bag of prawn chips. As he dropped the bag off, he just said, “It’s a gift from the Lord.”
Looking back on this whole experience, Lee shared two powerful truths that he learned.
First, he shared that “God is a God who is personal. He knows the deepest desires of our hearts, and He knows what we have need of.” Guys, if God knows we need a bag of chips and a coke and can hand-deliver these things to us in a miraculous way, he also knows how to satisfy the deepest needs of our heart. This is the God we serve! Do you believe this? Do you see God, and even pray to God like He really knows you, and knows your needs, and is powerful enough to provide those needs?
Second, Lee learned to “never underestimate what God can do with you.” As he reported the story, he said “I want to give a ‘thank you’ to that cleaner. You know who you are. If you ever see this, thank you for hearing the voice of God.”
Now that we’ve heard Lee’s story and looked at God’s Word, I’d like to offer two ideas of my own for how we can apply this biblical truth to our lives.
1. Pray Boldly With Anticipation and Expectation
Because God is able to do more than we can ask for or imagine, we need to pray to God in faith that this is really true.
...If you are sick, pray that God heals you. He can do it!
...If you have been in a pit of discouragement for a long time and see no way of escape, pray that God encourages you and brings you out. He can do it!
...If there is a sin that you haven’t been able to overcome for a long time, pray that God helps you overcome it! He can do it!
Don’t put a limit on what God can do, and boldly ask Him to show up in your life in powerful ways. God wants to surprise you with His love.
Now to be clear: we’re not promising that God will answer every prayer in exactly the way that you want it. After all, we need to pray for God’s will to be done… not our own (Matt 6:10)! Nevertheless, both our passage in Ephesians and stories like Lee’s encourage us to grow in boldness when we seek the Lord in prayer.
2. Pray Boldly for God to Send You.
Remember how Lee said to “Never underestimate what God can do with you”? Friends, sometimes we need to pray for God to miraculously send us a cleaner, but sometimes we need to pray that God sends us as cleaners. If you are watching this, God wants to use you in ways you never dreamed of. He wants to use you to bring His love and encouragement to a world that is desperately looking for hope. So like the cleaner that blessed Lee, seek and listen to the voice of God. Ask God to show you people in your life He wants you to encourage. Reach out to them, pray for them, and share God’s love and the message of Jesus with them. Maybe even send them a coke and a bag of chips! God just might use you in ways that you would have never imagined.
Check back tomorrow for a new devotional! God bless.
-Matt Lohse
As Most Needed
Give Where It's Needed Most
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