Expectations Too Small?

"Oh Lord, you have gone beyond my expectations, and I want to sing of your mercies." 

-Saint Therese of Lisieux

These words of Saint Therese make me realize how limited our belief can be - in God, and in His power; how conservative our expectations of Him are; how small our hope can be! It reminds me of Jesus' words to Saint Faustina: "I am and will be for you such as you praise Me for being." (Diary, 1707)

How incredibly laughable can our prayer be sometimes! How much more God can and will do for us if only we believe, hope, and expect it! And even still, He often goes beyond those expectations.

It is up to us to do one important thing: to praise God - to praise Him for His greatness; because He will be for us what we praise Him for being; i.e., if we praise Him a little, expecting little, He will give us little. If we praise Him big, He will give us big! Now, it might not always be in the way that we want or expect, but we CAN expect greatness of our God. He knows the best way - it is only up to us to praise Him big. And He will still exceed even our greatest expectations - how & why? Because His Divine greatness is far superior to our human understanding of even the greatest greatness!

So let us pray:
Jesus, help us to pray BIG; to truly believe that you can triumph over all that our hearts desire to be freed from; that you can fulfill even the deepest hopes, longings, and desires of our souls! Help us to praise you for your greatness, and so witness your power and presence in our lives... in ways that exceed our expectations! Amen.

*Photo source: https://www.littleflower.org/therese/life-story/