Hello dear friends, I "Hope" you are doing well today. My hope for your well-being is not a hopeful assumption but a hope that is intimately connected with my hope... in the Lord and that He is at work in your life in a special way.
There are many believers who live the Christian life according to the way of "hope so," hoping and praying that God might (maybe, possibly, perhaps answer their prayer) instead of knowing and believing that God is at work in supernatural ways. Prayer is the portal where we are given insight where our hope is no longer based upon how we feel but upon the Lord's character and His great promises to us.
Thirteen years ago to this day, I placed my hope in the Lord. At age 41, after experiencing a heart attack, I was not given much hope to survive much less live a quality life. How did it turn out for me? I found the Lord to be full of mercy and grace, choosing to heal me. How does hope come to the disciple? Hope is not what we can conjure up with our own strength and will. Like all other good things that come from the Lord, hope is a gift He gives to those who trust in Him. What I learned years ago still remains true: For I hope in the LORD; He did (and will still) answer my prayers. He will answer yours too.
Hope you will hope in Him,
Denny
Key Scripture: For I hope in You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God. Psalm 38:15
Core Value: Prayer
Hope is an important component in the life of the believer. Without hope, we sink into a hopeless depression. Without hope, life has no meaning and no future. However, hope has to be connected in the right way. To have hope in the fragile strength of mankind will prove to be disappointing, to say the least. To have hope that the ominous storms of life will avoid us and strike somewhere else instead is nothing more than the foolish act of placing all of our tokens on the poker table and taking a risky bet against the house (and we know, the house always wins). To have hope in oneself, although noble, still sets us up for an eventual failure. So, what are we to do with hope? The Psalmist helps us see this more clearly. We are to place our hope in the Lord. We are to hope in His Word (Psalm 119:81; 130:5, 7).
Principle #25 & Personal Application: The quality disciple has a confident hope in the Lord who answers prayer.
• Our hope in the Lord is personal: “For I hope.”
• Our hope in the Lord is precise: “In You, O LORD.”
• Our hope in the Lord is fully persuaded: “You will answer, O Lord my God.”
Reflect & Respond: Some Really Good Questions To Ponder…
When I pray, is my hope in “my faith” or is my hope in “my faith in the Lord?
When is the last time I can remember where God answered one of my prayers?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, may my hope in You always be personal (“For I hope”). May my hope in You always be directed to You and not to some man-made methodology of prayer (“In You, O LORD”). And may my hope be fueled with a confident hope and be fully persuaded that You will answer my prayers (“You will answer, O Lord my God”).
The Essential Core Values Of The Quality Disciple Are…
Grace—Worship—Bible Study—Prayer—Community—Service—Evangelism
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