“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” Romans 12:12

Hope

When I was talking with Floyd’s and my friend, we reflected on the many, many people praying for us—and how we haven’t seen the answers we hoped for. I’ve prayed lots of prayers, and I’ve seen answers to some things…but not everything. I believe the Lord has spoken some important guidelines to me.

First, I need to keep hope alive in my heart. When we don’t get answers to our prayers—especially when it’s over a long period of time—it’s so easy to let that flickering flame of hope die out. But I know I must keep the flame of hope burning brightly in my heart.

I do that by worshiping God for who He is. He hasn’t changed regardless of my circumstances. I also speak out His many promises from the Word. Those haven’t changed! I thank Him for all the prayers He has answered!

Second, I keep asking, keep praying the prayers that haven’t been answered yet. It’s not wrong to keep asking. Remember the widow who kept asking (Luke 18:4-7)? God doesn’t stop listening because we’re asking for the 100th time. We can continue to come boldly to His throne!

Third, I must be on guard to not lose my trust in God. I can’t allow that trust to be shaken by whether or not my every prayer is answered. God is not a butler that we have on call! He sees the big picture and knows how and when to answer our prayers—or not answer them if He has another plan. I can look back over my life now and be grateful that God didn’t answer all my prayers!

I heard about a man who prayed for someone and saw the person raised from the dead. It was a mighty miracle. People all around knew about it. Then his wife became ill with cancer. She wasn’t healed, and she eventually died. It’s hard to understand. Why was one raised from the dead…and then his own wife died?

For me, this is where trust comes in. I don’t understand everything, but I can choose to trust when I don’t have the answers and it doesn’t seem to make sense. We live in a fallen world, and we’re impacted by that fallenness. I can trust the One who sees and understands it all.

I was watching a movie recently about Winston Churchill. He said, “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is courage to continue that counts.”

“Lord, grant us courage to continue in our hope, prayer, and trust! Be glorified in us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”