HOPE IN PRAYER

This is the week we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the hope of the world.

In our modern world, especially in the time which we find ourselves living today, hope seems to be such a lost cause for many.  Economic downturns, jobs lost, marriages on the rocks, children having no futures, people murdered, wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters are the headlines of the day.  What is the use of hope in such a dark world?  Is there hope?  Where are we headed?  The Bible tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick.  There are many today whose hearts are sick and not whole.

Many will say that the next statement I make is trite and useless.  But here’s the bottom line:  worldly hope produces nothing but heartache because it is dependent upon circumstances.  Hope in God produces expectancy because it is dependent on God Who never fails.  He is bigger than economies.  He is bigger than death.  He is bigger than divorce.  He is bigger than natural disasters.  He is bigger than wars.  He is bigger than anything you can see here in the negative.  God is bigger!  God is a good God!  We can hope in Him.

Where is your hope today?  Without hope in God, there is no faith.  Without faith, prayer produces nothing.  Hope is not wishful thinking, hoping something will happen.  Godly hope is a white-hot expectation, based on the Word of God, that God is in charge, and everything is going to be alright.

This Godly hope is not based on what you do or don’t do.  It is based on God.  It is not dependent on you.  It is dependent on God.  It is knowing that He is in charge, and He will hold you up, regardless of what you encounter in this life, whether it is good or bad.

In the end, Godly hope will produce results.  All we have to do is look at Abraham in the Bible.  For 25 years he had an earthly hope, based upon what he and Sarah could produce as an heir.  Then we are told in Romans 4:18 that against earthly hope Abraham believed in Godly hope that he might become the father of many nations.  We know the rest of the story.  Within the year he and Sarah had a baby boy born to them as a result of their union in their old age—-an impossible situation because they were too old to conceive.

But God——————!  God is the factor in our equation of hope always.  Without Him, there is no hope, only artificial clouds of expectancy that evaporate as quickly as they were formed.  People go from one worldly hope to another, never quite satisfied, never quite achieving the peace of knowing all is well.  On the other hand, Godly hope produces a sense that all is well.  We can truly say shalom, all is well, nothing is missing and nothing is broken.  That is what the prayer of Godly hope produces.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  HOPE IN THE ONE WHO WAS BORN TO GIVE YOU HOPE!