The other day I was thinking about how God answers prayers. He really can be so specific in how He answers prayers. I have seen it first hand. Sometimes, it is not exactly what I was picturing, but He listens and He responds.

Every time this happens, a prayer being answered, I want to praise God for what He did. I want to give Him the proper glory. I want to make it known to others that this thing happened because I entrusted it with the Lord. Especially having a little one, I want to make sure I model that gratitude and acknowledgment for my children. They need to know that when the Lord answers our prayers, we give Him all the glory.

But then I thought, will that come across wrong? Will that seem to my children or others that are new to faith that God is some wish granting genie that gives me all I want? Because I do not want to paint that picture in anyone’s head.

So, how do I represent proper praise without making it seem like God gives me everything I ask for?

Praise Him when my prayers do not get answered. Give praise when it feels like all I have heard is radio silence. When it feels like I’m talking to a brick wall. Let God and everyone else know that I believe He is still good and faithful.

Like Job after his whole life fell apart and he lost everything, he still gave glory to God. In Job 1:21 he said, “‘the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.'”

When we view God as someone who grants us all our earthly wishes, we are missing out on so much. The mindset creates a sense of entitlement in us. Where we think we should get this one thing we are praying for because we are praying for it. It makes us think we deserve all these things we wish for when in reality, we do not deserve any of it.

The only thing we deserve is death. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (NIV). So, thinking it is our right to receive anything our hearts desire is a flawed path.

Expectation is something else entirely. The way I see it, expectation is faithfulness. When you are expectant something will happen, you are hopeful. You believe the Lord will answer your prayer. You are excepting Him to answer you. And if it doesn’t happen? Because sometimes it doesn’t. You are faithful to God. You trust His ways are higher than yours.

In Daniel, when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are told they will be thrown into the blazing furnace if they don’t worship the golden image, here is their response:

“‘If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up'” (Daniel 3:16-18 NIV).

Did you see that? Expectation but not entitlement. They said that God could deliver them and He will, BUT , they added a but, even if He didn’t, they would remain faithful to Him.

Those three mean were expecting deliverance from God. They knew He was able to save them. They also knew deliverance was not something owed to them. If God did not save them, He was still their God and still good.

The lie of entitlement lets us believe that we deserve everything. That if we do not get what we want, then someone messed up or something is wrong. The truth is that if God answers our prayers the way we want Him to or not, He is always right. He does not make mistakes and He has a plan for everything.

There is no faith or praise that comes with entitlement. It is a self-focused mindset. When things do not go our way, with entitlement, it’s only anger, fear, and sin.

Expectations are God focused. They are focused on His power and ability to do anything with the faith that He will. If it doesn’t go how we want, praise, trust, and still follow.