Delores Liesner
Activating Faith in everyday life
Prayers of HOPE
Have you ever been offering someone HOPE by sharing a scripture and then have the HOPE boomerang right back into your heart?
That happened to me this week. I was sharing Acts 11:14 and he shall speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ and Acts 16:31 “And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.”
The original word meaning in this verse is anyone and everyone belonging to the household: with the whole extended household of generations and (including the servants).
Wow! What a promise!
As we talked about how this friend was discouraged that her wandering child might never come to Christ we excitedly shared in the remembrance that this verse is not a maybe, a might, or a possibility, but a PROMISE OF HOPE.
If we truly believe this verse to be a promise, how, we brainstormed, should that change our prayers for such children and family members?
A prayer of HOPE would not be desperate – it would be calm and grateful for what God is going to do in our family life.
A prayer of HOPE would not be pressuring but inviting and anticipating.
A prayer of HOPE would be frequent and excited – for we would think of the coming promise every time we saw or even thought of that person!
A prayer of HOPE would be an accepted fact, for doesn’t Christ keep His promises!
A prayer of HOPE would be loving and trusting for the Master to make the point, to draw them to Himself, and to show us how to do the loving and believing.
If that longing for a member of your household to know Christ is your prayer this season, just say Yes and the number you would like us to pray for. We will believe with you, whether we live to see it happen or not, whether we are the one to share or pray them into their eternity journey or not, and whether they are loving to us or not.
Hopefully these verses give you the same eye-opening moment and fill your heart with joy to rest in the promise that they will come – in God’s time.
A little house ornament is on my tree to remind me of His promise. Maybe I need one for my refrigerator J too. For we will both pray and live differently in light of the promise of HOPE.
I pray that this also gives you HOPE to do as a friend’s story goes. The woman was concerned about her husband and wondering how she could convince him to come to know Christ. The advisor she sought gave her an unexpected answer – go be the best wife you can be and let God do the saving.
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Be the Miracle! – with journaling pages
Delores Liesner: Author
American Christian Fiction Writers Association
Delores Liesner 
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