Laying It Down and Living in Expectation
Scripture:
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
– John 8:36 (NKJV)
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
– Matthew 18:20 (NKJV)
Devotion:
Pastor Darren described how many times he “left it at the altar” and then picked it back up on the way out the door—because he didn’t really trust God to handle it. He kept thinking, “I’ve carried this this long; I can carry it a little longer.”
Holiness is inseparable from trust. You will only truly separate from sin, from old patterns, from control, if you believe God is big enough and good enough to carry what you lay down. It is a faith-bound relationship.
He also challenged us about expectation. Jesus promised that where two or three gather in His name, He is there. Pastor Darren asked us to imagine: if two or three show up in faith and God moves, what would happen if twenty or thirty—or twenty or thirty thousand—showed up expecting God to be God?
He dreams of a church that doesn’t gather just to “check the box,” but to meet a living God; a people who live holy all week and then gather in burning expectation—ready to see God heal, restore, and save.
You are on borrowed time. You are not here to play games, straddle fences, or waste years. You are here to know God, be made holy, and display His power and love to a broken world.
Today, God invites you to a deeper surrender and a higher expectation:
Reflection:
1. What do you keep picking back up that God has already asked you to lay down (sin, shame, control, worry, offense)?
2. When you gather with other believers (church, small group, prayer), what level of expectation do you actually carry?
3. Pray:
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
– John 8:36 (NKJV)
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
– Matthew 18:20 (NKJV)
Devotion:
Pastor Darren described how many times he “left it at the altar” and then picked it back up on the way out the door—because he didn’t really trust God to handle it. He kept thinking, “I’ve carried this this long; I can carry it a little longer.”
Holiness is inseparable from trust. You will only truly separate from sin, from old patterns, from control, if you believe God is big enough and good enough to carry what you lay down. It is a faith-bound relationship.
He also challenged us about expectation. Jesus promised that where two or three gather in His name, He is there. Pastor Darren asked us to imagine: if two or three show up in faith and God moves, what would happen if twenty or thirty—or twenty or thirty thousand—showed up expecting God to be God?
He dreams of a church that doesn’t gather just to “check the box,” but to meet a living God; a people who live holy all week and then gather in burning expectation—ready to see God heal, restore, and save.
You are on borrowed time. You are not here to play games, straddle fences, or waste years. You are here to know God, be made holy, and display His power and love to a broken world.
Today, God invites you to a deeper surrender and a higher expectation:
- Lay it down at His feet and leave it there.
- Show up—in prayer, in worship, in community—expecting Him to move.
- Live each day as if your life really does carry His presence into every room.
Reflection:
1. What do you keep picking back up that God has already asked you to lay down (sin, shame, control, worry, offense)?
2. When you gather with other believers (church, small group, prayer), what level of expectation do you actually carry?
3. Pray:
“Lord, I don’t want to play games anymore.
I lay down my sin, my hang-ups, and my need to control.
I trust You to be big enough to handle what I give You.
Change me daily. Grow holiness in my heart.
And when I gather with others, teach me to come expecting You to move.
Make my life a testimony that causes others to say,
‘Look what the Lord has done.’ Amen.”