Nothing More - Nothing Less
Year Delivered or Published: 2007
Author: C.V.Conner, Ph.D.
Author's Faith: Christianity
Date Submitted to Inspiration and Issues: May 21, 2007
Watch Video
Topic: Spirituality
Citation: Mathew 6:7-7
In March of 2001 I found myself standing before a Houston divorce court judge. On my right stood my high priced attorney, and to my left stood the excessively desirous female attorney of my then estranged wife. All but numb and hearing only faint voices, I managed to fight back the tears as the judge went through her list of property divisions. The beautiful home that I had worked so hard to purchase went up on the chopping-block first. Then the new SUV went to my wife while the family sedan went to me. All furniture from the family home was divided equally between us, but I was ordered to payoff all the estate financial obligations.
In less than thirty minutes the judge erased a life that I had worked for many years to create. My pulse raced and my face burned with anger and disbelief. Words simply cannot describe the feelings one has when betrayal by someone you have committed your life to surfaces. I can barely recall the reality check as my attorney asked me did I have any questions, obviously repeating what the judge had just asked me.
Yes I had some questions! I had questions like you would never even imagine. But not a single one of them was for the court. They were all questions for God! Why had he allowed me to end up in this situation after I had prayed, begged, and pleaded of him? What had I done to deserve such mess? Didn’t he hear me crying out to him just the night before? And what about the prayers of all the other Christians I had called upon to pray for my situation, did he not hear them either? You bet I had questions! And the more of them I thought of, the angrier I became. My mind raced around the vicious circle of questions followed by anger, followed even closer by more questions. I remember finally storming out of that courtroom with my attorney striding to keep up, mumbling some rehearsed words about the importance of obeying the court orders.
I realized that my attorney had done a proper and professional job in representing me. But at that moment I felt no reason to be thankful to him or anyone else. In fact, all I wanted to do was get out of that place, make it to my car, and scream at God for having allowed me to loose my marriage. If I could just reach the safety of my vehicle I was really going to let God have a piece of my mind. How could he have failed to answer my prayers when his word had promised me differently.”
An eternity seemed to pass in what couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes as I made my way outside of the court building and across the parking lot to my car. But finally I was there. Slamming my door shut behind me, I rammed my fist into the passenger seat and let go of the burning tears I had been holding back for the past hour. Drowning in self-pity and misdirected anger, I looked towards the heavens, fighting to form my first of many planned harsh words. But I never once expected what would happen next. In a voice so plain and clear that it caused me to look around, God immediately begin to answer all the questions I had yet to ask. And he would continue to do so over the next five years; giving me revelations I would have never otherwise accepted.
“My son, my son, yes I heard your prayers. And I heard the prayers of all those who came before me on your behalf. I have never left you and I never will, he began. Tears poured down my face like small rivers as I quickly began struggling to put forth my anger and disagreement. But unlike the many times before, this time he was having none of it. “Why did I not come through for you back there as you wanted me to? The answer is very simple, he went on, “Today, like many times before, I didn’t answer you because you didn’t expect me too”.
“I didn’t expect you to? I questioned in shock. “That is right, you didn’t expect me to! You believed that I could have changed everything back there if I desired to do so. You also hoped that I would change everything to fit your requests. But you never once expected me to.
Wiping the tears back from my face I sat up a little straighter in my seat. What was going on here? What was the Lord saying? I had prayed for his help, and yes I had hoped that he would turn everything around for me. Was that not the same as I expected him to?
“No, it is not the same, his voice silenced me. You have studied, questioned, and read of me more than many who know me better. How long will you continue to ignore my real workings? Have you not noticed that every time I’ve answered your prayers have been times when you expected me to? That is because I meet you at your point of expectations, nothing more…nothing less. I cannot meet you at your point of unsure hope anymore than I can at your point of absolute doubt. “You have hope, and that is good, for you could not even have faith unless you first had hope. But your level of hope is nothing more than a desirable possibility. When you hope for something you believe that it may be obtained. So hope alone is not enough, you must also expect, or await it, God explained. And then as suddenly as his voice had come, all went silent.
I vaguely remember even leaving the parking lot or my drive back home. But God’s words to me that day will never be forgotten. Over the next few months I devoted myself to rereading scriptures, and his revelations continued to shadow me. Slowly I begin to realize that it was my own interpretations and attitude that had been causing my constant heartbreak and loss. I began learning to expect better and higher things of God as he expected better and more from me. And in this series of sermons titled “Nothing More – Nothing Less, You Get What Your Faith Expects”, I’m going to share with you those revelations that will change your life. If you have ever prayed for anything that you didn’t receive, this series was written for you! It was not written to be a “Read It One Time And Shelf It” book, but it was written to be read over and over until the words of the pages become an integral part of your being.
You need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that expectation is what causes God to answer prayers. It is not the length of the prayer itself, nor the repetitions you use therein. Mat 6:7 says; “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking”. God does indeed know what things you have need of even before you ask him. The question is, “Do you expect him to answer? Think about it, are you even sure you want the things you have been asking for?
