When You Pray, Expect Joy

Read The Daily:
“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” – John 16:24

Post by Eric Maloney

When things don’t go as planned, it’s hard to keep hope alive. I’ve been there—feeling frustrated and ready to give up when life completely derails your expectations. Have you ever been so disappointed that you wondered if praying was even worth it?
Growing up, my community was tied to a tight-knit crew. My best friend, who was two years older, was the center of it all. From age four through my mid-20s, our lives were all connected. As adults, we had late nights out, lazy mornings, and really lived a lifestyle that I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole now. But then everything started to change. I hit a turning point with my weight loss journey, got a day job, and suddenly had to figure out what community looked like on my own.

At 25, I desperately wanted to be around people who liked me for who I was, not just because of who I knew. I struggled with the idea of being “enough” as a friend. Every time things fell apart, I’d catch myself wondering if my prayers for community were even making a difference. I asked myself, “Am I so hung up on my idea of what community should be that I’m missing everything that is right in front of me?”

Eventually, I learned to let go of that mage. Instead of chasing after a perfect community, I started focusing on being present for the people around me—no matter how our lives crossed paths. I realized that for years I’d been praying for community the way I imagined it, and in doing so, I was blind to the ways God was already answering me. Now, my prayer is simpler: help me see the people around me clearly and be the best version of myself for them.

In light of John 16:24, I’m left wondering: when you pray, are you open to God’s unexpected answers, or are you stuck on your own plans? What if, instead of letting disappointment shape what you expect, you trusted that God knows exactly how to complete your joy?

Prayer for the Day

God what are you  showing me?  What am I going to do about it?
God help me to see one person that I can serve through a kind word, random act of kindness, or simple gift today?
Make sure you complete the reading or comment today.

Read The New Testament In A Year

4 x 6 Plan | Read: Mark 4:1-9 & 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”  Mark 4:1-9

I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.  1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Read More – Bible Project Overviews: Mark, 1 Corinthians