Redeemed Expectations

The other day I was praying with my friend and I heard her say, Lord, remove my expectations of other people. It struck me as odd, but I didn’t know what to say at the time. Later on, the Lord spoke to me about redeemed expectations. 

The word “hope” is translated from the Greek word “elpizo” which means to “expect what is desired with confidence; expectation of good,” and waiting patiently and confidently. So when you have no expectations, you have no hope because hope is a positive expectation. Hopelessness (or despair) discourages and deactivates faith.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
-Proverbs 13:12

When you have hope deferred you have defiled expectations. Jesus died on the cross for our sin and for all the corrupt and defiled areas of our lives, including our expectations. Pray and ask God to redeem your expectations. 

“Lord, make your hopes, my hopes. Redeem my expectations of myself, of You, of my family and friends. I ask, Father, that you would give me a renewed faith and hope.”

And why shouldn’t we ask. James implores us “You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” 

We must ask God for redeemed expectations.
And we must communicate our expectations to others. 

So many Christians have a negative expectancy, or what they hope doesn’t happen. 

If you have a redeemed expectation, faith is the natural response. Hope builds our faith. Hope motivates and activates faith. Hope and faith are always tied together and dependent on one another.

“So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” -Romans 15:13

Who/what do we put our hope in? What do we put our faith in? 
Unredeemed expectations put your faith in something that is unworthy of our faith.