For many years, I had a love affair with sleight-of-hand magic. Magic can carry us into a delightful world of make-believe and fantasy—provided that is our expectation. Our expectation to be amazed, to laugh, and to have fun is as important as the magician’s skill.
If you were going to see a famous magician perform, your expectation—because of his reputation—would be to lose yourself in fantasy and wonder, to be amazed, to laugh, and to have fun.
I was not famous. That meant my audience did not know what to expect. For that reason, my first task was to raise in them the expectation that they would have fun and be mystified. Once I did that, they relaxed, laughed, and allowed me to amaze them.
You see, their expectations pulled the fun, laughter, and amazement out of me. What they expected was what they got.
Expectancy and Faith
Jesus said expectancy was the key to healing.
“According to your faith let it be to you.”
(Matthew 9:29, NKJV)
To another, He said:
“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
(Mark 5:34, NKJV)
And Scripture tells us:
“He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
(Matthew 13:58, NKJV)
If you want the Presence of God—if you want God’s glory to come down—make that your expectation.
What we expect determines what we get. Even our actions, the decisions we make, the things we do, the way we talk, how we treat others, and how others treat us are all governed by our expectations.
The same is true for us as the Church—the Body of Christ. If we come into unity expecting to see His glory come down, it will.
The Rain Stick and Expectant Faith
When I was about four years old, my dad read me one of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. It told about a little boy living in an Indian village during a drought. Their corn was about to die for lack of water. The boy took a little stick, tied a wilted corn leaf on it, and stuck it in the ground so that the Great Spirit would see it and send rain.
Some days later, my dad said, “We need rain. Everything is drying up. If we don’t get rain soon, everything in our garden will die.”
I told my dad I wanted to make a rain stick. He helped me make it and stick it in the ground. I expected God to send rain—and He did! He sent rain that time, and the next time too.
Learning Expectancy at Camp Farthest Out
At Camp Farthest Out (CFO), we practice expecting God to answer prayers—and He does. CFO is alive with God and His power. They taught me how to pray with expectancy.
I took Helen to the Iowa CFO camp on our honeymoon. CFO helped bind our hearts together. We left that camp united in our heart’s desire to be totally sold out to Jesus.
We learned that if we wanted God to talk to us, and if we wanted our prayers answered, we had to start expecting it to happen. We had to develop an attitude of expectancy.
If we expect God to talk to us, we must keep an ear open to listen! We need to learn to recognize the sound of His voice and the different ways He speaks to us—so as not to miss Him when He talks.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
(Romans 8:28, NKJV)
As we practiced expectancy, we discovered something else: if you want God to speak to you, you need to be prepared to do what He says!
We had to set our wills to obey God when He spoke, and to trust Him to work all things out for good. Obeying and trusting isn’t always easy. It means trusting when it looks like everything around you is crumbling—just because you obeyed.
Geraldine, Michael, and the Glory
Geraldine Conway was a speaker at the Iowa CFO. She was one of those rare people who could charm the raging lion. God put the desire in my heart to have her come speak in our churches. But when I asked Geraldine, there was no way she could fit it into her schedule.
The day after we returned home, Geraldine called and said, “Can you use Michael? He’ll do a good job for you.” God seemed to say “yes.”
Michael Dawson was something else! We just didn’t know how much of a “something else” he was. I trusted Geraldine’s wisdom, her assurance that Michael would do a good job, and I trusted the “yes” God spoke into my spirit.
Michael was an excellent pianist and organist. He had spoken to the junior high youth at camp, and they liked him. I brought him home and turned him loose to do what God wanted him to do.
Have you ever kicked a hornet’s nest? Turning Michael loose was like that! He was tall, skinny, and definitely different. The kids loved him because he dared to be different—and yet was genuinely real.
Helen and I watched as Michael did his thing for God. It was hard to keep our hands off and trust. At times our insides churned. Would we still have a church next week? God said, “Trust Me!”
Things got so stirred up that Michael knew the only way to handle it was to have Geraldine come. He called her: “Geraldine, you’ve just got to come. We need you. If you don’t come, Matt may lose his church.”
Geraldine dropped everything, rescheduled her meetings, and came. That was when the Glory of God came down on our church. The people loved Geraldine and forgave Michael. The floodgates of salvation opened and poured out upon the people.
Do you see God’s strategy? If Geraldine had come first, few people would have come to hear her. So God sent Michael first. Because of Michael, people came out of curiosity—and stayed to hear Geraldine share the Good News of Jesus.
Geraldine suggested we plan a school assembly and a youth rally. She couldn’t talk about religion in the assembly, but she could tell the students about the rally at our church.
Doubters said no one would come—but we packed out the church! Youth came from surrounding towns to see who this Michael was, and many were saved.
If we had not expected to hear God speak, Michael would not have come. If we had not set our wills to obey and trust, we wouldn’t have stood fast and seen God’s glory come down.
“Sell Your Magic”
It was because we had set our expectations on hearing God’s voice that my love affair with magic ended. I loved performing. I loved holding the audience in the palm of my hand, tickling their funny bones, watching them stare in amazement.
Then one day, I heard three words I had never expected to hear. I knew Who spoke them, and I had to obey. Three words, with no explanation: “Sell your magic.”
I resigned from the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the presidency of our local club. I packed up the magic and called a friend in Omaha who had a magic shop. He agreed to take it.
I prayed, “God, if this is of You, take away my love of magic. I can’t do what You’re asking if You don’t take that love away.”
That love tugged at me as I packed the car, as I unloaded the boxes, and as I said goodbye. But I was resolute. God told me to do it, and I was going to obey. I trusted Him to take away my love for magic.
As I drove home, heaven came down and glory filled my soul. The love of magic vanished, and the presence of God filled the car.
Expectancy Brings the Glory
If we aren’t expecting to see God’s glory come down, we won’t see it. If we don’t set our wills to obey, nothing will happen. If we don’t set our wills to trust God—regardless of outward circumstances—those circumstances won’t change.
We want God’s glory to come down upon us to transform, lift up, heal, meet our needs, and empower us for ministry. We want to see His glory come over us and cause us to shine like the sun—the glory that makes people look at us and ask, “What’s happened to you?” so we can share the good news of Jesus.
Sadly, many Christians miss God’s glory. They miss it because they’re not expecting it. They let things distract or irritate them. They have a critical spirit that finds fault with the vessel God is using to channel His glory.
Tommy Tyson’s Story
Tommy Tyson, a United Methodist evangelist, was speaking about how to hear God’s voice anytime, anywhere. To illustrate, Tommy told what happened at an airport.
He was walking past a waiting area where a few passengers sat. One couple caught his eye. As he walked by, he heard the words, “Go tell her she is healed.”
“Are You talking to me, Lord?” Tommy wondered. He walked on. The voice came again: “Go tell her she is healed.”
Tommy hesitated, saying, “Lord, I don’t know her, and she might be offended. But if You still tell me when I come back, I will.”
As he came back, he heard it again: “Go tell her she is healed.”
Not wanting to disobey, but still unsure, Tommy went into the waiting area, knelt in front of the woman, and said, “Ma’am, I don’t want to offend you. But as I walked by, Jesus spoke to me and said to tell you, you are healed.”
The glory of God fell on that waiting area. The woman burst into tears. Her husband said, “Sir, we aren’t offended.” The lady had been diagnosed with an incurable disease. This was the news they had prayed for—Jesus had healed her.
Because of his obedience, Tommy got in on the glory.
Tommy expected to hear the Spirit speak, kept his ear tuned, and set his will to obey regardless of the cost. He trusted God to work all things out—that’s why he got to deliver that good news.
When Tommy’s talk was over, I heard a woman say one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard: “If Tommy is such a man of faith, why doesn’t he use it to lose weight?”
This poor woman missed seeing the glory of God. She let something trivial offend her. Her offended feelings stood between her and God, and she went home with her needs unmet.
Keep Your Expectation Open
Too often, we are like that woman. We let silly little things offend us. We’re offended because God uses someone we don’t approve of, or because He asks us to do something uncomfortable.
We become like the people in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth:
“Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief.”
(Mark 6:5–6, NKJV)
Our unbelief kills expectancy and stops the glory.
The expectancy that sees God’s glory come down must be open and unbiased. It must be open to God—to see His glory, to hear Him speak anytime, anywhere, and through anyone.
Even a donkey!
“Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam…”
(Numbers 22:28, NKJV)
Expectancy is a matter of the will. It is purposely having an attitude of constant awareness of God’s presence and a readiness to hear and obey—to respond with a loud “Yes!” the instant we hear His voice or see His glory.
Tommy was ready to obey when the Spirit said “Go” and “Tell.”
I was ready to obey when the Spirit said, “Sell.”
📖 “According to your faith let it be to you.”
Let us live in daily expectancy—ready to hear, ready to obey, and ready to see God’s glory come down.
