144 KEEP YOUR HOPE ALIVE. Hebrews 6:18.

Hope, as the world sees it, is a maybe, perhaps or even wishful thinking, 0r just wishing for something to come true. But, True Spiritual Hope is Faith filled believing it will happen. Hope combined with faith is...”Having met all the required conditions” expecting something so desperately, that despite all evidence to the contrary, you keep believing God for it. And the remarkable thing about it is that the act of True Spiritual Hoping produces a strength of its own. When Cornell University conducted a study on the effects of hope, Dr Harold G Wolff reported that people with hope can endure incredible burdens. One group comprised of twenty five thousand solders imprisoned during World War11, who were subjected to forced labour, bad food and filth, of which many died, while others showed only slight damage. Subsequent interviews with survivors revealed a far-above-average ability to hope! How were they able to keep their hope alive? It was discovered, By drawing pictures of the girls they planned to marry, designing their future homes and organising business management seminars. Hope not only kept them physically well, but mentally active and alert it kept them alive! This is why Paul describes hope in (Hebrews 6:19) as “A strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God Himself.” John Walker says, “I have struggled with my weight most of my life. I’ve dropped weight and put it back on. I’ve tried every diet and made up some of my own. I maintained a friendly battle with weight until I became extremely ill, and for a year was unable to walk any further than the mailbox. Needless to say I gained more weight than ever and found myself facing a huge challenge. I needed to loose more pounds than there are days in a month. With age nipping at my heels...it wasn’t as easy to drop the pounds as it used to be, and I found myself feeling hopeless – the kind of hopelessness that makes you think ‘what’s the use?’ I may as well not even try.” No doubt you can relate, not necessarily to the weight issue, but to the hopelessness. Maybe your in a stressful marriage, or facing health issues that have you thinking “What’s the use?” or in a frustrating job...or facing a difficult family situation...or wondering if you will ever get good enough grades to graduate...or dealing with the death of the most important person in your life. or struggling through so many failed attempts to have a child. Here’s the truth; We serve a God of Hope, and it’s a Hope that wont disappoint (us). It’s not based on feelings; It’s rooted in a relationship with the ONLY ONE who can be trusted above all others. “We wait together for this unseen hope, knowing the God of hope will not abandon or disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by The Holy Spirit.” We are not talking here about your love for God, but of His love for you. You see ...our relationship with God changes according to our moods and feelings, but not His. His love is always the same; deep, strong, constant and unchangeable in content. That means, when we pray with expectant Hope and trust, He will come through for us, even if it takes a bit of time because He is waiting for other matters or situations to line-up with His Will. Also timing is very important to God, Why? Because a gift given too early or too late is not appreciated and therefore, will not be recognised as such if the timing is wrong and the appropriate acknowledgement and gratitude will not be forthcoming. So pray, with expectant hope and trust, knowing that God will work for you, not for who you are, but for who He is,”The Fountain of Truth and reliability.” I haven’t counted them, but, I understand there are 3,573 promises in the Bible, that’s more than 10 promises for each day of the year. When you know which of those apply to your current circumstances and you fulfil the conditions that go with them, you can (according to John 15:7) literally begin to pray God’s promises into existence in your life. Will your prayer be answered overnight? Some will, others wont. But… as (Hebrews 6:12) tells us,“be like those who through faith and patience will receive what God has promised”. The most powerful prayer you can pray is.. when you remind God of His promises.”Lord You promised in your word that you would… and today I am praying and believing you for it. Here is how to pray, “1. when you need Guidance and direction (Psalm 32:8) “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye. 2. When you need deliverance from a situation or to be set free from a habit. (Psalm 50:15) “Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me.” 3. When you need the strength to stand: (Isaiah 41:10) “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will uphold you, with my righteous right hand.” 4. When you don’t have enough to meet your needs. (Philippians 4;19) “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” If You spend time every day meditating in God’s Word, each time a need arises, you will know which one of His promises to claim in prayer. Read (2 Peter 1:4). When you begin to pray Scripturally-based prayers, you will get the answers you NEED. And here is Why Because, The Bible is God’s Word, and He always keeps His Word. Here is how to pray, 1. When you don’t have the answer (Jeremiah 33:3) “Oh God hear me as I pray Your Word as you gave it to Jeremiah your Prophet. “Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” 2. When you are worried and under stress, remind God of the promise He gave His beloved apostle John in (John 14:27) “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 3. When you need spiritual insight. (John 16: 13) “When He, The Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; And He will tell you things to come.” 4. When you need power for service (John 14:12-14) “He who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; And greater works than these will he do because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do...that The Father might be glorified in the Son. 5. (Ezekiel 34:26) When you need God’s blessing on your endeavours; I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; And I will cause showers to come down in their season; There shall be showers of blessing.” Once you see the results of praying God’s promises, you will never pray any other way. Thank you for reading these words on “Keeping Your Hope Alive”. Spiritual Hope only stays alive if it’s used with Faith, and Faith only stays alive by daily Scripture reading, understanding and meditating. Understand this God is not Santa Clause, or a Magic-man, No! He is God Almighty Who loves you with an everlasting love and wants you to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. And the only way that can be achieved is by you getting to know Him personally through The Bible. Please make a commitment to do that, even if only for a few minutes each day, you will be surprised at the results it produces in all areas of your life. Short prayers of HOPE will make you aware of God’s permanent presence and will give you immediate connection with Him anywhere at anytime. Because my sight is fading in these advancing years of my life I find my trust and faith-filled “Hope” are more necessary than ever, but you know what!!... my Hope filled prayers and blessings are also forthcoming and answered more quickly. So get in there and pray with spirit filled Hope, faith and trust, then watch God reward you for your confidence in Him. God Bless. Phaline. --------------------------------