4 Inspiring Prayers for Hope in Troubled Times
A few years ago I met a woman who smiled more than anyone I’d ever met. She lived with a kind of hope I longed to uncover for myself. My smiling friend had faced hard seasons, losses I couldn’t even fathom, and grief no woman should ever have to bear. And yet she kept smiling. She inspired me to start praying passionate prayers for hope in my life.
I want to be a hopeful woman.
I want to live with optimism in my heart and a deep belief God is with me in the darkest valleys.
Not long ago, I stumbled upon the following words: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future” (Proverbs 31:25).
I thought of my friend when I read these words. My friend has learned to smile in the middle of life’s hardest seasons. Her hope is palpable, and I want to be this kind of hope-filled woman.
4 Inspiring Prayers for Hope in Troubled Times
My prayers for hope are changing me. I’m beginning to see life’s struggles differently. I’m discovering trials are gateways to hope when we use trouble to prompt us to pray.
I imagine you’re here because you could use a fresh outpouring of hope as well.
Here are four inspiring prayers for hope in your life. I pray these prayers deeply bless you.
1. Ask God to help you know him more deeply as you put your hope in him.
My dad used to take me on long walks in wild forests. We walked until my little legs ached from scurrying to keep up with his long strides, and then we walked some more. Most of the time, I had no idea how to find my home and was fully dependent upon my dad.
I was rarely fearful on our excursions because I had full confidence Dad would protect me. I was confident because I knew my dad through experience. Our relationship wasn’t a theory; it was proven by experience. Dad had never left me alone in the woods, and I knew he would guide me.
When we know the one who leads us through the wilderness, we have a living hope. We can smile because we know he will protect us, carry us, and never fail us. When you pray prayers for hope, ask God to help you know him more deeply. Ask him to reveal himself to you through the Bible. Also, ask him to help you discover his presence in your everyday life. He will answer these prayers.
2. Ask God to help you overcome fear.
A worrying woman can fear just about anything from a checkbook that won’t balance to sudden death. I can smile hopefully in hard times because I know the worst-case scenario isn’t the end. I can lose all this life has to offer, but I rest in the promise that God’s love can never be taken away from me.
As you pray for hope, ask God to help you overcome fear. You will overcome fear in life when fear becomes a prompt to remind you to pray. Use fear to send you running to the arms of Jesus, and you will soon replace fear with hope.
Even if my world falls apart, I rest in the promise that God's love can never be taken away from me. #hope #hopeinGod #suffering #faith Click To Tweet3. Tell God you trust him to use life’s troubles for good.
I can smile hopefully in hard times because I trust God will hold true to his promise (in Romans 8:28) to use it all for my good. The circumstances might not improve. However, troubles mold me to the image of Christ. When I look more like Christ, God’s will has been done, and God’s will is always good.
Difficult seasons build my faith more than any other. Ask God to help you trust him to use troubles for good. Watch for his hand. He is using your trial to shape you into a more beautiful version of yourself.
4. Prayers for hope remind us of our end-goal.
I can smile hopefully in difficult seasons because I know my future isn’t wrapped up in a temporal goal, accumulating more material possessions, or even accomplishing something for God. My future is face-to-face communion with my Maker. He is my goal. I live to know him more. He is my future. I keep gazing in his direction, ever-confident I will make it through.
Ask God to help you remember your end-goal. Your goal is not success or a comfortable life. Your goal is Jesus Christ, and he is your hope.
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