A Prayer for Hope and Renewal This Easter Season

　　By Ashley Moore

　　“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, ESV

　　What comes to mind when you hear the word hope? For me, I often think about specific outcomes first.

　　I hope I get this opportunity.

　　I hope we get there on time.

　　I hope things work out for them.

　　While these statements emulate hope in one way, they are short-sighted for the hope Paul described in our key verse. Paul used the word hope here as a descriptor for God, the God of hope. A God who can fill you with joy, peace, and belief. A God who puts His Spirit inside of us, enabling us to believe and empowering us to hope. Not just once but to abound in a state of hopefulness. In other words, Paul is describing a hope that endures. It is not a fleeting feeling that we get when things go our way. To abound in hope is to be okay even when things don’t go our way.

　　I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time with this. I can quickly despair when life isn’t unfolding as I envisioned. Imagine the disciples when the man they followed around for years, hanging on His every word, believing He was the God of the universe in human flesh, died a publicly horrific death. Hope is not exactly what comes to mind when I think about Christ's crucifixion. But without despair, there is no need for hope. Without the darkness, there is no need for the hope of light. And without death, there is no need for the renewal of life.

　　This is what Paul meant. He wasn’t saying, everyone cross your fingers and hope for the best. He was saying God is hope, and because God is hope, we can have all the hope we need from Him. The message of Easter is this: God allowed the worst thing that could have happened to happen. God died while we were all in sin and separated from Him. From our vantage point, that sounds pretty hopeless. But that’s not it. Heused the worst thing that could have happened to accomplish the best thing we'll ever talk about and experience. His death served as our perfect sacrifice, atoning for our sins. The best part is He didn’t stay dead! Jesus conquered sin and death. He overcame the worst thing that can happen to us (eternal separation from God) by allowing the worst thing to happen to Him in our place. He rose from the grave, showing His despairing disciples and all future followers that with Him, we are victorious over our most hopeless situations.

　　Now, that is real hope. That is hope that, despite these certain circumstances going perfectly as planned, we know we can be okay. The worst has been taken care of, and if that’s the case, instead of worrying, we can experience joy and peace. May that give you hope and renewal this Easter season.

　　Let’s pray:

　　Jesus,

　　Thank you for Easter. Thank you for a yearly reminder of your death, burial, and resurrection. Thank you for Winter and how it shows us the death necessary for Spring and new life. Lord, you know how desperately we need reminders because we often get fixated on temporary circumstances. We allow things that don’t go as planned to zap our joy and belief and cause us to despair. But that’s not what you want for us! You are the God of hope. Lord, forgive us when we forget and unbelief takes over. Or when we make having hope insignificant. Jesus, renew us with your hope. Fill us with your joy and peace. Lord, this Easter, may the significance of the gospel become the best news to us again in a fresh way. May we never grow weary of hearing and sharing what you did for us! Lord, may we abound in real hope despite all circumstances. Teach us to be okay, even when it looks like things are not okay. In Jesus’ name, amen.