Have you ever heard it said that you don't get what you want, you get what you expect?

Expectation is the key to receiving. Whether you're expecting good, or bad, you are sure to receive it.

When we pray we are always asking God for good things. No one asks Him for negative circumstances, but yet, that's what many people get. The reason is because even though they are asking God for good things they are, at the same time, believing something altogether different. In fact, maybe just the opposite of what they are actually praying for.

It does no good to pray without expecting God to answer. The Bible says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is God, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

Jesus said in Mark11:24, "Whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe you receive them and you shall have them."

What is it that you desire? Whatever dreams you have for your life, they will always include abundance and prosperity, for God is an abundant God. He wants you to experience abundance and prosperity in your health, your relationships, and your finances. Every area of your life! He wants you to be happy and enjoy your life to its full because it is a gift.

Before you can experience God's best you must first believe Him for His best. Why can't some people believe? Many things can keep one from believing, but the biggest factor that keeps one from believing is fear.

Fear is a common problem from which none of us is immune. It is an acquired disease because we weren't born with it. It is very contagious and is passed around from one person to another. Fear will impair your normal functioning and keep you from making positive and long lasting changes in your life. It will also cause you to make weak and irrational decisions that will make you sell out your future for the sake of today. Fear will completely steal your peace, your joy, and your very life.

Fear is obviously a tool the devil uses to attack your thoughts, which causes you to choose the words you speak. The words you speak are what create your experience because they are the proof of your true beliefs. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34).

Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart with all diligence because out of it flow the issues of life." If you allow the enemy to control your thoughts and emotions, he can indirectly control your words. Your words are what shape your life more than any other thing. If he can control your words, he then can control your life. Don't be controlled by the adversary for he is the father of lies (John 8:44).

Put your faith in what God says...

~ "Give attention to my Words, for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh" (Proverbs 4:20-22).

~ "My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge, but you should know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (Hosea 4:6, John 8:32).

~ "I am the Lord Who teaches you to profit and leads you by the way you should go" (Isaiah 48:17).

God wants the best for you! He said, "Ask, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). But, before you ask, make sure you are going to expect to receive from Him.

I see a lot of good people pray to God, asking something from Him, and never doing anything on their part to bring it to pass.

God will do His part, for sure, but we are required to do our part as well. What is our part? Believe, expect, confess, and anything else that could physically be done on our part for "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:20).