Pregnant Expectation

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19

Father God, the world we live in will never be the same. The world talks about the new normal. But we know that this is not a surprise to you. You have plans and purposes for your church through all that is happening.

Lord, this time, is like a pregnancy. Your bride, the church, is expecting, and nothing will ever be the same again. There is waiting and discomfort. There is excitement and apprehension. Just as a child is knit together in the unseen place of the womb, so you Lord are creating something we cannot see.

We need to let go of the expectations that everything will go back to how things were. We must forget the former things and not dwell on the past.

Indeed, please help us to look to the future with excitement and anticipation. You, O, Lord, are doing something new. You are making a way in the desert, streams in the wilderness. You are changing how we do church.

Lord, help us to be ready, just as expecting parents find themselves busy preparing for the new arrival, help us to prepare for what you are doing.

Make us alert to how your Holy Spirit is moving so we can join you in what you are doing. Please help us to get rid of those practices and traditions that we don’t need and instead be ready to respond to the leading of your Holy Spirit.

Make us ready, in a posture of expectation, we ask this in the name of Jesus, the head of the church, Amen.