I’ve been reading the book [easyazon-link asin=”0310333024″]The Circle Maker[/easyazon-link]by Mark Batterson lately. In it he shares a saying that’s been passed down in his family for generations and it goes something like this “You can’t never always sometimes tell.”  Translated it essentially means this: Anything could happen. And when applied to our prayer life this phrase holds a holy expectation that God can at any time, in any way, show up and do the unexpected.

When’s the last time you felt like that? When you felt like anything could happen at any moment.That the dream you’ve been holding onto for years could come true at any moment.  That the prayer that you’ve been praying for decades is on the verge of being answered? I don’t know about you, but it’s been too long since I’ve prayed with that kind of true expectancy accompanying it.

There is both power and surprise in prayer. When you circle a promise in prayer, then anything can happen. The “surprise”here is not one that jumps out at us & shocks us because we don’t believe it will happen. The surprise lies in the fact that we have no idea where or how God is going to do it. The shock factor is in the revelation of just how amazing and creative God gets in his answers. And I think for many of us, the element of “surprise” is what’s missing in our prayers. We believe He can but do we believe He will? Our anticipation for the answered prayer, the miracle we’re waiting for, is greatly lacking.

One of the reasons I believe our anticipation wanes is the fact that we seem to take our every day miracles for granted. Or, as Mark Batterson likes to call them, our “manna miracles.”  The kind that happen day in and day out. The kind that seem to lose their “luster” in our eyes because we’ve become too accustomed to them. Take the Israelites for example. What a sorry bunch! Here God was providing a miracle, causing manna to fall out of the sky for them to eat each and every day. And instead of thanking God for the miracle they had, they were busy complaining about something else they wanted. You would think the Israelites would have been happy with whatever food there was to eat considering the fact they were no longer slaves. They were finally free!  And yet instead, In Exodus chapter 16 we find them very dissatisfied. Verse 2 says, “The whole company of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron there in the wilderness. The Israelites said, “Why didn’t God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat? You’ve brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death, the whole company of Israel!”

Wow.  They had just been set free from the tyranny of the Egyptians, no longer being beaten or made to work grueling hours in horrible conditions and all they could think of was their stomachs? In Numbers 11:4-6 it says this, “The riffraff among the people had a craving and soon they had the People of Israel whining, “Why can’t we have meat? We ate fish in Egypt—and got it free!—to say nothing of the cucumbers and melons, the leeks and onions and garlic. But nothing tastes good out here; all we get is manna, manna, manna.” They sound like a 2-year-old taking a fit! And like most toddlers who are taken to fits, they were focused only on themselves and their wants. Daily living had taken it’s toll and their focus had shifted inward, onto themselves. They needed a fresh perspective.

And that’s exactly what happens to us at times. We read the story of the Israelites complaining and we’re a little amazed at how ungrateful they are. But really, don’t we do the same thing?  Don’t we sometimes turn a blind eye to all the blessings we have only to focus on the one thing we don’t? Doesn’t the daily grind sometimes take its toll on us and slowly but surely our focus begins to shift inward. We start looking to our own interests instead of the interest of others. And when we’re focused inward we can’t see the miracles that God is doing all around us. We miss out on all that God’s up to.

The best thing for us to do when we find ourselves in this place is dig in to His word and the promises He has made. In prayer ourperspective gets an overhaul. Matthew 6:6 is one of my favorite scriptures. It says, “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” I love this verse because it’s a promise we can circle. He promises us that when we get before God and come just as we are we can be assured that our focus will shift off of ourselves and onto God. Talk about a “manna miracle”. And what comes next? He promises we will begin to sense his grace. And His grace has the ability to grow in us an excitement, a holy anticipation for all the promises we have yet to claim. Prayer can add the element of surprise to our lives that we all seek. And when we begin to pray expectantly to God (a God who Ephesians 3:20 tells us is able to immeasurably more than we could ever ask or think!!) well…you know, You Can’t Never Always Sometimes Tell!