“To expect the good, to expect answer to our prayers — this we think of as faith. The other half of expecting is waiting, and we do not often associate waiting with faith. In fact, if we pray with great faith and expectation and our answer does not come immediately, if we have to wait, we may think that we have failed, that our faith has failed. In our despair we may even think that God has failed. . . .
“Expecting and waiting: both are forms of faith. It takes faith to expect answers to prayer, to expect healing in the midst of pain, to expect guidance when darkness envelopes us, to expect peace when turmoil prevails, to expect success though we have heretofore failed.
“It takes faith to expect answers to prayer, it takes faith to wait for the results that we have the faith to believe are forthcoming. . . .
“When Jesus compared faith to a grain of mustard, He was showing us that our expectation can far surpass the present smallness of that in which we place our faith. An acorn is a small seed, but ‘lo! the mighty oak.’”
— Martha Smock
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