Two things are of great importance in our text. Firstly, what should be the compass of a
believer’s expectation? It is the promise of God. There is no prospect in expecting what
has not been covered by His promise. The promise of God should form the parameter
and focal point of a believer’s prayer. In his writing, James opined that one of the
reasons why prayers go unanswered is that people pray amiss. It is obvious that
praying for what God has not promised is tantamount to praying amiss. It is also good to
make a distinction between general promise and specific promise. For example, when
God called Abram at the age of 75, He promised to make him a great nation. He
promised him a child which eventually came when he was 100 years old. That would fit
into a specific promise, and it is not the type that every 100-year-old can appropriate.

“he absence of righteousness accounts for fraud, violence, and general unrest.”

Now, Peter said that based on the promise of God, they were looking for new heavens
and a new earth. This should be the grand expectation of every true believer. What
makes the new heavens and new earth special? Righteousness will be the rule rather
than the exception. We currently live in a dysfunctional world largely because of
unrighteousness. The absence of righteousness accounts for fraud, violence, and
general unrest. In the new order, righteousness will hold sway. That will be the time for
the full and final restoration of all things as God once intended it.