²⁴ Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received^[a] it and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24 CSB)

I have been working to change my prayers into prayers of affirmation over prayers of expectation. Meaning that I try to pray affirming God’s answers to my prayers instead of expectations over what I hope He will do. I am working to affirm that God will do a work in my life and release some of my personal expectations over what that work might look like.

This has not been easy. It is not that I do not believe that God is acting in my life. It is that my human nature is to want to mold the outcome instead of simply waiting on what will be a better outcome than I might have imagined.

As a new friend noted to me yesterday, “maybe I need to just shut up and listen.”

I realize that this my be extremely difficult when our prayers are over something like a terminal illness or a dark situation from which we cannot imagine a positive outcome.

Viktor Frankl said “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” I think this is often what God is waiting for. To see us change ourselves rather than continually pray for changes in our situation. Thanking Him for the opportunity to change.

Of course the most stubborn part of this is the part between our ears.