God of Hope

As we read and study Scripture, we often see that the mind holds knowledge, the heart holds understanding, and our soul is our inner, eternal being held in hope by the God of hope. In this Psalm we join King David pouring out his praise-filled prayer to the God of hope, His only rock, stronghold strength and salvation. David’s soul cannot be shaken by the turmoil, tragedy, or the tricks of man that swirl and surround his life. God is his anchor, and the Psalms reveal that David’s prayer life is filled with the practice of pouring out his heart to the God of hope. Like David, we must pour out every situation that seeks to deceive, discourage or distract our hearts , so we remain pure and filled with hope. It is this joyful confident expectation in the one who gave us our salvation that we pour into prayer and put into practice every moment of every day.

We must be careful not to let our Spirit-led, Spirit-fed understanding in our heart get muddled with earthly trouble and temptation. The solution is to pour out our hearts before God. In 1 Peter 5:7 we are told to cast our cares on God because He cares for us. We do not cling to any thoughts or feelings that wage war against our fruitfulness. If there is anything in your life that seeks to get you to surrender your joy, peace, faithfulness, patience, or any aspect of the fruit the Holy Spirit has cultivated in you, then you must cast it out. Promptly pour out anything and everything that is trying to sneak in, shake you, and steal, kill and destroy the trust and victory you claim in Christ. This is a “take heart” and “not lose heart” decision. Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that we will encounter trouble in this world but to “take heart” because He has overcome the world and in Luke 18:1 Jesus says, we should always pray and “not lose heart.”

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 6 tells us that Jesus is our hope, the anchor of our soul. All of us who have taken refuge in the Lord, “have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast…” Notice that we must take hold of hope. The God of hope is holding you, but we must hold on to His Word and work in us. All that the Holy Spirit has sealed in you cannot be stolen but sadly, it can be surrendered. Never surrender your hope, never surrender your joy, never surrender your peace, never surrender, but take hold and hold on to the hope set before you, and in you.

Pouring out our hearts in prayer, empties them of the trash the world throws at us, the lies and temptation Satan tries to sneak into us, the anxiety, fear and worry that tries to take root in us, and washes it all away for the God of hope to fill us with all joy and peace in believing so that we will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Will you please join me in prayer now?

God of hope, we pour out praise to You as our Source, Strength, Savior, Sustainer the Author of our days, our Lord. We pour out our confession and repentance for the times we have not fully trusted in you and allowed the troubles of this world to trouble our hearts. We pour out our guilt and thank you for filling us with grace and forgiveness. We pour out our thanks to You for every blessing, every lesson, Your mercy and miracles that fill our lives. We pour out our cares and concerns to You knowing our worry accomplishes nothing, but our worship delights You. We pour our burdens out to You believing Your goodness and righteousness will bring Your heart and holy purposes to every hurt, situation and person we place in Your hands. We hold fast to You. Thank You for holding us strong and steadfast in every storm and being the joyful confident hope that fills us in every moment of life. In the worthy and wonderful name of Jesus we pray, Amen!

Serving Him with gladness,

Kathy Branzell

President