Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
— Psalm 5: 3
Are you confident when you pray that God hears you and will answer? Do you wait expectantly for the answers to come? God has been incredibly faithful to me in my prayer life and I have been blessed beyond anything I could ask or imagine. But, let me be honest. There have been times when I felt like my prayers were bouncing off the ceiling. There are some unanswered prayers deep in my heart that I’ve been waiting on for years. I’m sure there is movement forward in the spiritual realm, but from my vantage point, I see no movement at all. I can be tempted to give up and assume no answer means the answer is “no.” But the Scripture says I must wait expectantly.
In this place of waiting, I’m reminded of a classic story written in 1828 by Emily Steele Elliot called Expectation Corner. It’s about a man named Adam who lives in a redeemed land where a kind and loving king cared for his subjects. There were large storehouses on 
the land with everything they needed. All they had to do was make their requests and the king would send messengers out to deliver the supplies. The only condition was that they always needed to be found waiting and ready to receive the delivery when the king’s messenger came. But Adam lived in poverty while all his neighbors lived in plenty. One day, a messenger took him to the storehouse and showed him all the packages of daily provision and gifts of favor addressed to his home. Sadly, he never received them because he never stood watch and answered the door. Adam finally comes to enjoy all the blessings of living in the land by learning how to petition and wait on the king for his daily needs.
We can be a lot like Adam. Maybe we don’t request what we need because we feel unworthy. We think God won’t provide 
for our needs because we have fallen short. This is certainly true; we all fall short. But that’s why Jesus died. You are a redeemed child of God and there is no condemnation in Him (Romans 8: 1). He has set you apart and is waiting to lavish His unlimited love and provision on you. Sometimes we lift up half-hearted prayers because we don’t want to be disappointed if God doesn’t answer. We don’t want to get our hopes up, so in a sense, we give God an out. We pray without expecting to receive. When God comes with the answer, he finds the house dark and the door closed. Like Adam, we can’t receive what we don’t expect to receive. Sometimes, we just get tired of waiting. We stop asking altogether or we rush out ahead of God and take matters into our own hands. Instead of waiting for His best, we settle for much less and wonder why things aren’t working out the way we had hoped.
Beloved child of God, you are a citizen of His Kingdom and entitled to all His blessings. You can rest assured that when you make a request, the King hears and the King will answer. Sometimes the answer might be different than you expect or it might take longer than you would like for your supply to come, but it will always be the King’s very best. Bring Him your requests and expect great things. Stand watch at the door and be ready to receive. His storehouse is full of packages and promises addressed just to you.
Father, thank you that you hear my prayers and that you always answer. Help me to wait expectantly to receive all the blessings you have in store for me. Amen.
Excerpted from Peace For Each Hour by Mary J. Nelson; Copyright © 2013; ISBN 978-1938388170; Published by Comfort Publishers; Unauthorized duplication prohibited