From Praying the Names of God Week Twenty-Two, Day One
The Name
Hope is the great stabilizer. It steadies us in times of fear and difficulty, not because we know that everything will turn out as we want, but because we know that God is trustworthy. Hope is what helps us stay on course regardless of circumstances. Biblical hope finds its roots in God and in his goodness, mercy, and power. We exercise our hope when we endure patiently. We nurture our hope when we read God's Word. Though we hope for earthly blessings, our greatest hope is aimed at the life to come, when God will not only wipe away our tears but invite us to share his joy forever. When you pray to Miqweh Yisrael, the Hope of Israel, you are praying to the One who saves all those who trust in him.
Key Scripture
A blessing on the man who puts his trust in the LORD, with the LORD for his hope. He is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream; when the heat comes it feels no alarm, its foliage stays green; it has no worries in a year of drought, and never ceases to bear fruit... Hope of Israel, LORD! (Jeremiah 17:7-13 JB)
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Monday
GOD REVEALS HIS NAME
A curse on the man who puts his trust in man, who relies on things of flesh, whose heart turns from the LORD. He is like dry scrub in the wastelands: If good comes, he has no eyes for it, He settles in the parched places of the wilderness, a salt land, uninhabited. A blessing on the man who puts his trust in the LORD, with the LORD for his hope. He is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream; when the heat comes it feels no alarm, its foliage stays green; it has no worries in a year of drought, and never ceases to bear fruit... Hope of Israel, LORD! Those who turn from you will be uprooted from the land, since they have abandoned the fountain of living water. (Jeremiah 17:5-8, 13 JB)
Lord, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, what you have prepared for those who love you.Thank you for all that you do, for all that you are, and for all that you promise.Help me to wait and to watch, to trust and believe. You are my hope and my strength. Amen.
Understanding the Name
In the Hebrew Scriptures, hope is often connected to the expectation that God is a deliverer who will save those who trust in him. It urges us to wait confidently for him to act. In the New Testament hope is rooted firmly in Jesus—in his life, death, and resurrection as well as in his coming again in glory. We can also have hope for this life because the Holy Spirit indwells us, re-creating the image of Christ within us. Biblical hope is a new kind of strength, enabling us to be patient and enduring regardless of what we face. Miqweh Yisrael (MIK-weh yis-ra-AIL), the Hope of Israel, he is the God who saves his people.
Studying the Name
- What does it mean to put your trust in people? Give some examples.
- What does it mean to put your hope in the Lord? How have you been able to hope in him?
- How have you experienced God's provision? What can you do to root yourself more firmly in God?
- Describe what you are hoping for in your life.
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Meet your spiritual ancestors as they really were: Less Than Perfect: Broken Men and Women of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them.