"Hey you!"

"Who me?"

"Yes you! Has anyone ever told you that you have an attitude?"

Hmmm...as a matter of fact—yes! You know, come to think about it, I have been accused of simply believing that I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me; that God meets all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

I also believe that should any sickness or disease come upon me, that I will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord, and that all things are possible to them that believe God.

"What kind of attitude is that?"

An attitude of faith and expectation in God Almighty.

I believe the Believers of the twentieth century are establishing the attitude that God can and will do great and mighty works in this generation. This generation of Christians is also expecting to see demonstrations of His power and manifestations of His Spirit that the world hasn't seen since the birth of the early church in the Book of Acts almost 2000 years ago.

The Body of Christ currently upon the earth are here for such a time as this! To usher in the greatest outpouring of God's spirit and to reap the largest Harvest of Souls from the initial seed planted by God—Jesus Christ. To take the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. To turn every place they go "upside down."

The common denominator in all of this will be the Believers' exhibiting an attitude of faith and expectation.

To get this attitude, one first needs to know what it is and how to develop it. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

The word "hope" here can also be "expectation" - so faith is the substance of things you're expecting. We should know that without hope (expectation), you cannot have faith, because without hope, your faith will not have anything to give substance to. And we know faith is what moves mountains and the hand of God on our behalf.

Let's define some terms for faith, expectation and attitude:

Faith:
(1) Absolute certainty in the trustworthiness of another
(2) Mental acceptance of the truth or actuality of something. (syn. belief)

Expectation:
(1) To look forward to
(2) To look for as likely to occur or appear (anticipate)
(3) Implies a considerable degree of confidence that an event will happen
(4) It suggests a reaching out in readiness to receive

Attitude:
(1) A manner of acting, feeling or thinking that shows one's disposition (character) or opinion
(2) A frame of mind affecting one's thoughts or behavior
(3) A general cast of mind with regard to something

Attitude And Expectation
Developing this attitude of expectation into your life is a progressive process. I encourage you to read Mark 4:26-29 (AMP) and 1 Corinthians 3:1-7 (AMP), in order to see this more clearly portrayed in the Word.

These two passages of scriptures both are referring to the Word of God as "milk," "solid food" or "seed." The Word of God is also referred to as "The Word of Faith" (Rom. 10:8). How does faith come? "...by hearing and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17). How does expectation figure into this? (Remember faith is still the substance of things we are expecting).

The more you hear the Word of God and speak your expectations, the more you and your attitude will develop and continue to grow. The more you feed your faith and expectation with the word of God, the more it will begin to develop; like a muscle.

The more we feed and exercise our muscles, the more they develop and grow. The less you do, the less they will grow. Feeding (hearing, reading, mediating, speaking, etc.) upon the Word of God is key to developing an attitude!

After this becomes a daily part of your lifestyle, you will take upon a disposition (character); one of a person that will not cast away their confidence no matter what obstacles or hindrances that may come, for they know it has a "glorious compensation of reward" (Heb. 10:35).

I like how one minister described expectation, "an inward belief expressed by an outward action." One of the best examples I have read that illustrates this description is in Mark 5; the woman with an issue of blood.

Now here is a woman who, for twelve years, spent all she had and was no better, but rather grew worse (v. 26). This woman must have had access to a lot of finances to be able to spend it on many doctors over a twelve year period, then to end up not only sicker, but broke!

This woman had nothing to look forward to, but to death itself. Besides, I know of at least five areas she was virtually hopeless in.

First was financially. Even if a cure was found, she had no money left to pay for the treatment. Second was medically. There was no cure for her, although there were over 10 ways to treat an issue of blood, none were effective in her case.

Third was socially. According to the law she was not allowed to be out in public. Fourth was spiritually. Also according to the law, she was considered unclean and not allowed to engage in any religious functions or practices. Fifth, and the last was maternally. She could not bear children with this medical problem.

This woman probably had an attitude and it wasn't of faith and expectancy, but of failure and hopelessness. She was probably living to die. But one day, she was going through her regular routine, and she heard reports of what this man named Jesus was doing (healing the sick, the lame walking, the blind seeing and most likely the dead being raise).

Then something happened. What happened, you say?

She got an ATTITUDE!

When she heard of Jesus, faith came in and shoved out all the hopelessness in her heart and she had an expected end that she would be healed. "For she kept saying, if I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health (v. 28 AMP).

When you get an attitude of faith and expectation, you need to do something. It is acting upon what you believe and expect. Remember James 2:17 (AMP): "So also faith if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up) by itself is destitute of power - inoperative, dead."

What did she do in response to this "new attitude"? She got up and came up in the midst of the crowd behind Jesus and touched his clothes (v. 27). Notice what happens to Jesus, when she touched Him. He recognized in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth (v. 30).

Let's put this into perspective - there were a lot of people touching Jesus that day. Even the disciples said in v. 31: "…You see the crowd pressing hard around You (from all sides), and you ask, who touched Me?" Some may have touched Him out of curiosity, others maybe accidentally, but this woman touched Jesus with a touch of faith and intense expectation.

Her "Expected End" was to touch His garment and to be made whole. This is actually what happened. Jesus even acknowledged it by saying "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole" (v. 34). She would not quit or be denied. She didn't sit around and "wait upon the Lord," wishing Jesus would help her. She got up and went to the source.

This woman got healed because she had an attitude.

The Father Of Faith And Attitude!
The last example, Abraham, had an attitude that should influence us all. He was 99 years old and had no children, but God told him his name would be Abram no longer, but instead, Abraham (father of many nations - Gen. 17:5). Abraham not only took on a new name, but also a new attitude!

His first child was a son named Isaac; Abraham became a father at 100 years of age (Gen. 21:5). Some time later, God asked Abraham to do something beyond comprehension - to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:2).

Truthfully, I don't know if I could do that, unless God's grace and power helped me. But Abraham obeyed. How could he do such a thing? Because he had an attitude.

This attitude of tremendous faith and expectation that Abraham possessed was put to the test…and he passed. We can see that Abraham was willing to give his only son in order to obey God, but throughout this test, Abraham kept his attitude of faith and expectation alive.

Notice in vs. 5 when he said, "…I and the young man will go yonder and worship and come again to you." Again in vs. 7 when Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was, Abraham responded by saying "…God will provide…" And we know that God did provide a sacrifice.

Today Should Be The Same
In this day and age, Christians will not likely be asked to do what Abraham was asked to do! But we will be expected to have the same attitude Abraham possessed and demonstrated—one of faith and expectation in serving God.

Fellow Christians, regardless of what you are going through or believing God for "…let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint" (Gal. 6:9 AMP).

In other words, simply be like Abraham. If you are in the midst of your greatest challenge, get an attitude of faith and expectation, for like Abraham, "The Lord will provide!"

Copyright © Todd Bailey Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.