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
Countless times I have prayed about something, eagerly anticipating the answers to my prayers. After all, I know God has heard me, so why is it that after months or even years of praying some of my prayers may remain unanswered or so it seems. How can I be joyful and continue having faith or hope when I feel a sense of abandonment, hopelessness and dejection begin to creep into my thoughts?
At those times, I try to recall the countless testimonies from the Bible as well as from people all around me, who called upon the Lord ceaselessly, with unwavering faith and hope in the encompassing peace of knowing that their prayers would be answered according to God’s will and purpose. Yes, they had faith. They had hope, but they could not have that type of peace and joy without believing in God’s promises.
The lyrics of the fourth verse of “Amazing Grace” by John Newton reads, “The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.”
Prayer
Dear Father, please help us to keep believing in you so that our faith in you and in your Word will bring joy and peace to our hearts. We often cannot do it by ourselves, so we ask you to send us the power of the Holy Spirit, so that by His power we will have divine and supernatural hope always.
We pray for all participants coming for the women’s retreat, we ask that you will fill each and every one of us anew with the peace and joy of knowing that if we put our trust in you, as we present our supplications to you during that time, we will overflow with the hope that you will answer our prayers.
We also ask for peace and joy in faith in you, for all of the organizers and facilitators of the retreat, that Your will be done, and that the retreat will be successful to Your glory.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Thank you for prayerfully preparing with us for the this year’s retreat.
Solape Delano
Prayer Coordinator for JOY 2020
