May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
Heavenly Father, what a great verse for focusing, fueling, and filling our hearts this last Monday of July. It’s awesome to begin our work-week thinking of you as “the God of hope,” before we get weighed down by all the stuff we need to get done this week.
So, Father, fill us with your joy, for your joy is our strength.
- The joy of knowing you are with us and for us, and that nothing can separate us from your love
- The joy of knowing that you love us as much as you love Jesus, for you’ve clothed us in his righteousness, hidden our lives in his, and will complete your good work in us.
- The joy of experiencing your presence in our storms, your grace in our weakness, and your mercy in our messes.
And Father, fill us with your peace—the peace that passes all understanding.
- The peace of knowing your heart and hand are engaged in the lives of our children, the weather fronts of the world, and the politics of the nations.
- The peace of believing that history is still your story, and that you’ll send Jesus back right on time.
- The peace of knowing the pressure’s off. None of us is the 4th member of the Trinity! We can relax and trust you to do more than we can ask or imagine.
Father, we’d love to “abound in hope,” as your Spirit works in our hearts. If we could see, taste, and smell the future you’ve secured for us by Jesus, we’d spend the rest of this week with hands lifted in praise, more so than with shoulders stooped under stress.
We’d live more by faith than fear; we’d worship more than we worry, and would encourage one another, more than we scrounge for ourselves. May it be, Father. Free us to love others this week as you love us in Jesus, period. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ triumphant and tender name.
