05/02/2020 -
Are you feeling out of sorts in this time of COVID-19? You say that you aren’t depressed, and you aren’t anxious, yet you Still feel differently? You say that your energy is gone, you just can’t seem to get started in the morning, and even the good news you hear in life doesn’t seem to be enough? Well, I was listening to a good friend talk about feeling this way yesterday, and it dawned on me that what She was describing was quite simply hopelessness. She was feeling an ebb in her ability to hope, but remember; we serve the God of hope! So I ask that each of us consider this question... "when was the last time I prayed for hope?"
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13 ESV
We have faith in the midst of our suffering, and we hold fast to it when all else is failing, even the normalcy of the world around us, but there is an equally important attribute that we receive from God that we can lose our hold on, and it is much like the faith we hold so dear... it is hope, and hope is tightly coupled with faith; they are twins in God’s Word.
“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
Romans 8:24-25 ESV
This is how the Bible describes faith...
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 ESV
We pray for faith. We talk about it all of the time, and ask to be led in it, made strong in it, and that we never lose it, but when we read scripture closely we see that we must hope before we can have the assurance that faith brings. In times like we are experiencing now during the plague of Coronavirus it is easy to lose sight of what we should hope for, or to even forget how to hope at all.
The world would have us believe that we have been defeated, and that our only hope is to somehow learn to survive in a “New Normal”, but that isn’t true. As men and women of faith we hold firm to our belief that God will heal us, but even so, we mustn’t lose hope in our desire return to a normal life.
Are you feeling the twinges of hopelessness; the subtle loss of joy as the dark one tries to steal your hope from you? Are you praying for God’s deliverance, His healing, and the other things that life once held, while clinging to your faith, and believing that He will answer, yet somehow, despite your faith, are you finding yourself losing hope in ever returning to a full and normal life... into how life once was? Well, we endure, and have patience by exercising our faith, but our joy comes by hoping...
“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
Romans 8:25 ESV
So how should we pray when we feel this way, how should we pray for hope? How should we pray in a way that will return the joy to our life? Well we just read that we should hope for what we don’t see, but to know how to pray for this we only need to read the very next verse...
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Romans 8:26 ESV
From our deep groaning, and from the Holy Spirit, comes the prayer that we need so desperately to pray. In the midst of this odd feeling of hopelessness that we haven’t been able to understand, we need to let our soul groan before God. Let the deep seated need for hope come forth in a longing so pure, and so intense, that there are no words we can speak to convey them. In this way we find our joy is restored, healed...
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Proverbs 13:12 ESV
Are you ready to let go with your mind, and let your soul speak? Are you ready for the joy of God to come to you, to return to you, in unspeakable fashion? Then hold fast to hope!
“so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 6:18-20 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the hope which I find in your word, and the mustard seed of faith that grows within me, but thank you most for your love that gives rise to my desire for the very hope, and faith, that brings your joy and peace to me. Give rise to my hope Lord, so that I can rest in the assurance that you hear me, and sustain me in times such as the world is experiencing in this great plague. Satan knows my faith is strong in you Lord, so he whittles away at it by attempting to undermine my ability to hope. Hear the prayers and longing of my soul Merciful Father, and let your Holy Spirit intercede for me in the groanings, and utterances of my soul as it calls out for eternal hope... for your joy and peace. Open my eyes to what is possible, my heart to what is good, and my soul in how to seek these things of hope through prayer. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God In whom all hope is realized. Great are you who loves me without bounds, strengthens me in my faith, and gives me joy by the very hope I have in you. Take away all feelings of hopelessness Father, and return to me the rest, peace, joy, and comfort, that I find in you by the everlasting hope I find in your Word. Praised be your name now, and forevermore, as I hope and believe in your Holy Word, and the return of your Son Jesus. Give my soul rise in this it’s greatest hope, and joy.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”
Psalm 42:11 ESV
Rich Forbes