How do you develop that kind of hope? You
stay in the Word until your neck stretches
out. I particularly like that part of the
definition of hope because I know what it
means to have your neck outstretched.

When I was a little boy, my grandfather
was my hero. He was a full-blooded
Cherokee Indian and I wanted to act like
him, look like him, curse like him, chew
tobacco like him and spit like him—much
to my mother’s chagrin. When my mother
would tell me that he and my grandmother
were coming to see us, I would get so
excited I could hardly wait.

Every minute or two, I’d run to the window
to see if they had arrived. Every noise sent
me running for the door. I tell you, my neck
was stretched out in anticipation. My
Pawpaw was coming and I expected him
any moment.

That may sound like a silly example, but the
Lord once told me if people would just
expect Him to move as much as a child
expects his grandparents to arrive, He could
move on their situation and change things
drastically by the power of His Spirit.

That’s what happened in Acts 3 to the
crippled man at the gate Beautiful. He had
been sitting by that gate begging, his head
down and his eyes to the ground. But when
Peter and John walked by and said, “Look on
us!” that man lifted his head and began
to expect.

Hope rose up in him because he was
“expecting to receive something of them”
(verse 5).

Of course, he received a lot more than he
was expecting—he expected alms, but he
got legs! That’s because his expectancy
hooked into their expectancy—and, believe
me, their expectancy was running high!

It hadn’t been more than a few days since
Jesus had risen from the dead, defeated
the devil and all of hell with him. It hadn’t
been but a few days since Jesus had looked
the disciples straight in the eyes and said,
“Now, you go into all the world and use My
Name to cast out devils. You lay hands on
the sick and they’ll recover.”
(See Mark 16:15-18.)

I can just imagine Peter saying, “Hey, John,
you know that crippled beggar down there
by the temple? Come on, let’s go use the
Name on him!”

They could see themselves doing what
Jesus said they could do. Their hope was
“white hot.” So they went charging down
to the temple and said to that cripple, “In
the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise
up and walk.”

When they said it, they grabbed him. He had
to walk, brother! They yanked him completely
off the ground (Acts 3:1-8). What made them
do such a thing?

Expectancy!

They didn’t tiptoe up to that gate, look
around to make sure no one was watching
and then whisper, “Dear Lord, if it be Thy
will, heal this poor crippled man.”

The only people who pray “if it be Thy will”
are those who don’t have any hope or
expectancy. If you’ve been praying that
way, stop it! Go to the Word and find out
what God’s will is. The Word of God is His will.
It is His will for you to be well. It is His
will for you to be prosperous. It is His will for
you to lay hands on the sick and it is His
will for them to recover.

So stay in the Word until you’re so confident
and expectant that your neck is stuck out
in anticipation. Meditate on the Word until
your hope gets crisp and that image inside
you gets strong and clear.

Stay in there until you’re so full of expectancy
that when someone walks up to you and says,
“Good morning,” you jump on them like a
chicken on a bug saying, “Yes! Bless God!
It is a good morning. Do you have anything
wrong with you? I’ll lay hands on you right
now and you’ll get healed!” Once hope gets
that strong, it becomes courage...and hope
plus courage equals the spirit of faith in
action!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries