THE THRILL OF
“HOPE”

                         

Lord, if we didn’t need “hope”,
         If we knew everything ahead of time,
                  What a dull life it would be.

Hope is the “incentive” for victory.
         Hope is the Joy of “expectation”.
                  Hope is the “excitement” and “mystery” of not knowing
                            the outcome.

HOPE IS THE THRILLS OF LIFE

The thrill of the “challenge”.
         The thrill of the “journey.”
                  The thrill of the “unexpected.”
                            The thrill of “competition.”
                                     The thrill of “seeing” things that be not.
                                               The thrill of “exercising” spiritual muscles.

The thrill of “seeking” what God’s Word says.
The thrill of “taking the first step of faith.”

         Hope is the thrill of mental pictures or dreams. What a dull life…if we had no dreams. Hope carries with it the element of surprise. Hope in the spirit can be experienced many times before we see the natural manifest.
         It is hope that brings us to faith…and faith brings us to God, Who shows us how to pray…backed by the power of His Word.
         If all we had to do was go straight from a “hope” to receiving our every desire…what a dull life that would become. Romans 8:24b says:
“…hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth (in the natural) why doth he yet hope for (it)?”
         How many hopes and dreams have we enjoyed in life? So often, they are a pleasure in themselves…just thinking about them. They are things that haven’t come to pass, yet. And we aren’t convinced that they will. But we enjoy thinking about them anyway.

WHEN HOPE BECOMES A
NEED

         Then, some “hopes” rise above others and are no longer just pleasant thoughts. We know then, that we are ready to take the next step…because these hopes have become a need.
         Some of these needs require a quick action of faith; others require long term, consistent Faith. But, each begins with “hope”.
         One day you may receive an e-mail that a dear friend has been attacked by cancer. Your first “hope” is that she/he not be in pain and that she/he be healed.
         You know from experience that you must move now from “hope” to “faith”. This is a physical person and situation that you must pray about.
         So, you’ve been out somewhere enjoying your hopes. Now, something has happened in the natural that requires you to act on it in Faith.
         In times like this, we all run to our Heavenly Father…with “hope” that He will help us. We hope that He will show us how to pray because we know He is the only One who can change the situation we are looking at in the natural.
         When HOPE becomes a NEED, our Faithful Holy Spirit will remind us of the lessons we learned in the past when we have prayed for another friend’s need.
         “Our” need at this point will usually be our Personal Faith Rising to pray. One hint: “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17).
         So we search the scriptures and review God’s Promises to us so that our prayers are FULL of FAITH. That is the kind of prayer we “hope” to offer for our friend. This pleases God and satisfies our desire to pray with power.
         Confidence comes when we stand on His Word. “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know the He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” (l John 5:14-15).

HIGHER REVELATIONS

         Many of us won’t be surprised, that as we pray in Faith, God may reveal a higher revelation of His will than we first expected. First the natural prayer, then the spiritual prayer.
         May I ask you to specifically pray today for my friend Norma Pontiff Meredith. She is my high school friend who has battled cancer off and on for a long time. If you don’t know her, just please tell God that you are in agreement with the HOPE, FAITH, and PRAYERS of her friends.

ACTION: Look up the word “Hope” in your concordance.

         “But if we “Hope” for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities (weaknesses): for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:25-26).

NEVER GIVE UP “HOPE”.
It’s the FIRST STEP to Answered Prayer.