HOPE: Holding on with Patient Expectation

When someone asks me to pray for them, I like to include Scripture as part of my prayer. For example, if someone says they need prayer for wisdom, I’ll pray something along these lines: “Lord, you promised in Scripture that if anyone lacks wisdom, let them ask of You, and you will give it generously. So now, Lord, we pray for wisdom.”

Or maybe someone is battling fear. I’ll pray, “Lord, you promised in Philippians that we should not worry about anything but should pray about everything. You promised the peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. We lay hold of that promise and pray for that now.”

That is something Jonah did from inside the belly of the fish. He quoted Scripture. I don’t think he had scrolls to read from. But he carried God’s Word in his heart. In the second chapter of Jonah, we see that he quoted from the Book of Psalms, eight times.

When I quote Scripture in my prayers, I’m not doing it to remind God of what He said. Rather, it’s to remind those I’m praying for of what God said.

Jonah said, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple” (2:7 NKJV). Jonah began to lose hope. And his hope was restored in a relationship with God.

The same is true for us today.

So what do you put your hope in? Don’t put your hope in people. People will disappoint you. Parents will disappoint you. Children will disappoint you. Friends will disappoint you.

Don’t put your hope in money or in technology. They will disappoint you. Don’t put your hope in any human solutions. Put your hope in Jesus Christ.