The
letter to the Romans ends with several short prayers. This is my favourite: “May
the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you
may overflow
with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
Sadly,
some seem to believe that anything holy, pure or good must also be
difficult,
boring or depressing. This
prayer
confronts that thinking by stating that joy and peace are to be
the marks of
Christian people. In fact,
we are not to
have just a little joy, or some peace occasionally. Rather, Christians are to be
filled with
these qualities. This does
not mean that
life will be easy, but it does mean that we will approach it in a
certain way
while looking for our blessings.
By
the
way, did you notice the title attributed to God? What could ever be hopeless
when “the God of
hope” is involved? Why
would we ever
give up on someone, or quit in difficult times when we serve a God
who is
defined that way?
Note,
too, that these blessings come to life as we begin to trust. As we learn more about God
and put his teaching
into practice, we find a better way to live and that allows us to
trust him
even more. Joy and peace
are not found by
chasing after them. They
cannot be
travelled to or bought. Rather,
they are
the result of moving my trust from what I can do to what God can
do in, around
and through me.
Lastly,
the prayer is that the power of the Holy Spirit would cause hope
to overflow from
them. God’s blessings are
not just for
me to enjoy. We make a
huge mistake when
we think that faith is just about me, God and the Bible. God’s blessings are supposed
to spill out from
us and on to others so that, “… they may see your good deeds and
glorify your
Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
Are
you
joyful, peaceful and hopeful? Is
that
how others would describe you? Would
those words describe your congregation? Is
that what is overflowing from you?
If
not,
it is time to start praying this prayer.
Comments