Paul's Prayers, #5

5. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)

Hope ... it's ingrained in us to want to have hope. The power of the concept is reflected in the U.S. President-elect - who ran on the words "hope" and "change". People not only want to hope - they MUST.

That's why Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3 that we should always be willing to give an answer for the hope that is within us. Our hope, reflected in our attitude despite challenges and suffering, is the harbinger of what's inside. It tells the world that there is something different - and should provide and open door for us to tell them about Jesus.

Paul's prayer hits the other side of the "hope" issue. He prayed that the "God of hope" - what a blessed name - will fill us with joy and peace so we can abound in hope. This is part of the perfect unity of Scripture. Peter tells us that we should be willing to answer for the hope we have - and Paul teaches us to pray that God will fill us with what we need to abound in hope! As always in Scripture, the point starts and ends with God. He provides the hope - we live out lives of hope - and then we tell others about the source of our hope.

The trigger, of course, is that we must believe in Him. That doesn't just refer to saving faith - it refers to living faith. It's the day-by-day, "believing God" type of faith. When we believe God, day by day, He fills us with joy and peace. If you struggle with believing God, take a lesson from Romans 10 - focus on His Word, which is the agent of faith. As we hear - really hear, with our spiritual ears - the word of God, our faith grows. And then we walk it out. I love the acronym taught by John Piper about how to walk in faith:

Acknowledge your inability to do it on your own.
Pray for God's help and specific guidance.
Trust God's promises.
Act on His Word, even if you don't feel it or know that you can do it.
Thank Him for His victory.

As we walk in faith, He pours out His joy and peace. When God pours His joy and peace into us, hope is a natural consequence. We should "abound" in hope - it should overflow. Christians should be the most hopeful people in the world! Notice I didn't say positive. "Positive thinking" is a counterfeit for true Biblical hope. Biblical hope is based on who God is, on His sure Word, on His promises. It starts with the God of hope pouring joy and peace into our hearts, and suddenly we find ourselves hopeful in the most challenging of situations. We find that we just can't give up on that broken relationship or that wayward child. We find that the bleak economic forecasts don't keep us awake at night. We find that the critical and negative, doomsday spirits expressed by some Christians trouble us as much as the sins and problems they are attacking. We find that the mountains that are literally in the way of that tribe we're praying for don't seem quite so big and the valleys don't seem quite as deep. We find that we can look things in the face and see them as they really are - and hope anyway.

And as Peter says, the world takes notice.

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? To have that natural testimony of hope, we must first be truly hopeful! We can't work it up in our flesh - that becomes artificial or counterfeit "positive thinking". Instead, we have true hope when God gives us joy and peace. And then we have a message that is powerful and authentic - and the world takes notice. In fact, they start asking questions!

Prayer: Lord, You are the God of hope. Please fill us with joy and peace as we believe You, and cause us to abound in hope so that we will have a message of hope when people ask!