The Road To Spiritual Success Understanding the Role of Expectation

2 Kings 13:14-16 Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, "O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!" [15] And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and some arrows." So he took himself a bow and some arrows. [16] Then he said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. And he said, "Open the east window"; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, "O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!" [15] And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and some arrows." So he took himself a bow and some arrows. [16] Then he said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. And he said, "Open the east window"; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot.

2 Kings 13:17-19 And he said, "The arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them." [18] Then he said, "Take the arrows"; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground"; so he struck three times, and stopped. [19] And the man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.

Sometimes we have just enough faith to take a step, but not enough expectation to seize a full victory! John 5:2-5 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. [3] In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. [4] For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

John 5:5-8 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. [6] When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" [7] The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." [8] Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.

John 5:14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.“ Acts 12:5 (NIV) So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

Acts 12:13-16 (NIV) Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. [14] When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!“ [15] "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel.“ [16] But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

Matthew 14:22-27 (NLT) Immediately after this, Jesus made his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he sent the people home. [23] Afterward he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. [24] Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. [25] About three o'clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on the water. [26] When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost. [27] But Jesus spoke to them at once. "It's all right," he said. "I am here! Don't be afraid.”

Mark 6:3-6 (NLT) “He's just the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us." They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. [4] Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family." [5] And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any mighty miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. [6] And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.