I recently spent a wonderful week in Colorado Springs, CO attending the Andrew Wommack Minister’s Conference. Andrew spent his time speaking to us about Biblical hope. It blessed me so much, and I wanted to share a bit with you today.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1, Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hope is vital for faith! But what is hope? So many of us would define hope correctly – “a favorable and confident expectation.” Yet, how many times do we really define hope as wishing. We will say, “I hope I will get healed,” having no confidence that healing will actually come – just a wish that we would not be sick anymore. We say, “I wish I had enough to meet all my needs,” while not having a confident expectation that all our needs will be met! When we think this way, we do not have hope! We are just wishing for things to be different.
So what is hope? Hope IS a favorable and confident expectation. Hope is your positive imagination. What do you see? I heard of a story of a woman who had an eye problem. She was the wife to the pastor of the church, and a healing evangelist came to preach at their church. She did not want him to pray for her – she had been prayed for by the “best” and never received her healing. The last night of the meetings, the evangelist cornered her in the sanctuary as he was praying for the sick. He told her to close her eyes, he was going to pray and God would heal her. He laid hands on her, and prayed. Then he said, “Can you see?” She began to open her eyes, and he said, “Don’t open your eyes! Can you see?” Once again she started to open her eyes, and he declared, “Don’t open your eyes!” Again he asked her, “Can you see?” She started to open her eyes again, and he said, “I did not tell you to open your eyes – I asked you can you see?” She realized that he was asking her what she was seeing in her spirit…and as she meditated on that and worshiped God, she saw herself seeing! When she opened her eyes, she could see perfectly. She had to have a positive imagination inside and see herself seeing before the power of God could effectively work in her life.
What are you seeing today? What is in your imagination? Do you see yourself walking and enjoying the benefits of the finished work of Jesus Christ? Or do you see only your circumstances! We need to take the time to begin to dream again what God wants us to dream! Hope builds a picture in your imagination of you doing and living what God has in store for you.
The last few newsletters, we have talked about the life of prayer and the benefits of speaking in tongues. We used Romans 8:26 as an example of the Holy Spirit praying for us when we don’t know how to pray. When you read that in the context of the rest of the chapter, you see Paul is talking about hope. From verse 24, Paul is saying, For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. 26Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but eh Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. As I read this over this week, I began to see that sometimes what I “see” in my spirit often looks impossible to my mind! I don’t even know where to start to pray for this! That is my weakness! And in that weakness, the Holy Spirit takes over and intercedes for me. As I pray in the Spirit over what I hope for, faith arises to take hold of hope and bring it into reality.
Our prayer for you today is that hope will arise in your hearts! Not just wishful thinking, but Biblical hope…a confident expectation for the promises of God in your life! Together we really DO make the difference!
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1, Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hope is vital for faith! But what is hope? So many of us would define hope correctly – “a favorable and confident expectation.” Yet, how many times do we really define hope as wishing. We will say, “I hope I will get healed,” having no confidence that healing will actually come – just a wish that we would not be sick anymore. We say, “I wish I had enough to meet all my needs,” while not having a confident expectation that all our needs will be met! When we think this way, we do not have hope! We are just wishing for things to be different.
So what is hope? Hope IS a favorable and confident expectation. Hope is your positive imagination. What do you see? I heard of a story of a woman who had an eye problem. She was the wife to the pastor of the church, and a healing evangelist came to preach at their church. She did not want him to pray for her – she had been prayed for by the “best” and never received her healing. The last night of the meetings, the evangelist cornered her in the sanctuary as he was praying for the sick. He told her to close her eyes, he was going to pray and God would heal her. He laid hands on her, and prayed. Then he said, “Can you see?” She began to open her eyes, and he said, “Don’t open your eyes! Can you see?” Once again she started to open her eyes, and he declared, “Don’t open your eyes!” Again he asked her, “Can you see?” She started to open her eyes again, and he said, “I did not tell you to open your eyes – I asked you can you see?” She realized that he was asking her what she was seeing in her spirit…and as she meditated on that and worshiped God, she saw herself seeing! When she opened her eyes, she could see perfectly. She had to have a positive imagination inside and see herself seeing before the power of God could effectively work in her life.
What are you seeing today? What is in your imagination? Do you see yourself walking and enjoying the benefits of the finished work of Jesus Christ? Or do you see only your circumstances! We need to take the time to begin to dream again what God wants us to dream! Hope builds a picture in your imagination of you doing and living what God has in store for you.
The last few newsletters, we have talked about the life of prayer and the benefits of speaking in tongues. We used Romans 8:26 as an example of the Holy Spirit praying for us when we don’t know how to pray. When you read that in the context of the rest of the chapter, you see Paul is talking about hope. From verse 24, Paul is saying, For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. 26Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but eh Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. As I read this over this week, I began to see that sometimes what I “see” in my spirit often looks impossible to my mind! I don’t even know where to start to pray for this! That is my weakness! And in that weakness, the Holy Spirit takes over and intercedes for me. As I pray in the Spirit over what I hope for, faith arises to take hold of hope and bring it into reality.
Our prayer for you today is that hope will arise in your hearts! Not just wishful thinking, but Biblical hope…a confident expectation for the promises of God in your life! Together we really DO make the difference!
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