ROMANS 15:13 – 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.”
How do we pray? Go through our praying. What do our prayers consist of? Are we just filling the air with words? Do our hearts match our tongues? Are most prayers mechanical with mindless, repeated phrases? Do our prayers reflect the awareness of who we are addressing? If we matched our prayer lives with how Jesus taught His disciples, we would be affirmed – Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:9-13).
What about the pattern of prayer we read from the Apostle Paul? Please read his prayers in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, and compare them with ours. Here is one – For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:15-20). Do we pray like Paul? And what about today’s scripture?
The prayer from the Apostle Paul for the Roman Christians is a wonderful and needed prayer for us. Within its short structure, there are three spiritual qualities the Christian is to experience on a regular basis. These are the evidence of a life controlled by God’s Holy Spirit and will empower one’s witness for the Lord Jesus. These qualities are joy, peace, and hope. They form a “trinity” of influential heart conditions that impact how we live before a watching world. Remember, the world of unbelievers knows nothing of joy, peace, and hope. All they experience is stress, unrest, and hopelessness. For the Christian, the cultivation of a life of joy, peace, and hope gives the observing unbeliever a stark contrast within themselves. And the Lord will use the joyful, at peace, and hope-filled Christian to reach non-Christians.
So, as we evaluate our prayer lives, let’s add today’s scripture to our evaluation and learn to ask God for the most important things in life – a life that mirrors not only the Lord Jesus but manifests the fruit of joy, peace, and hope in believing in Him.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for the grace gifts of joy and peace because of Your Son.”
QUOTE: “Learn to pray according to God’s will and that by learning to pray His Word.”