PRAYER PROMPT ••• Our key verse for today is Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
The verse is such a perfect summation of what we need to do as we walk with Christ.
Let’s start with hope and do a little verse-mapping.
Hope, of course, is a feeling of expectation and desire.
Romans 15:13 says, “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.”
God of hope.
God of expectation.
We are told in Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
In other words, God is consistent.
He’s trustworthy.
He can be EXPECTED to do as He’s promised.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary beautifully defines hope as, “The confidence that, by integrating God’s redemptive acts in the past with trusting human responses in the present, the faithful will experience the fullness of God’s goodness both in the present and in the future.”
Now for a little verse-mapping.
Going back to Romans 15:13, let’s swap “hope” with “expectation.”
“May the God of EXPECTATION fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in EXPECTATION.”
Through our faith in Jesus, we can expect to feel joy.
And the Holy Spirit gives us peace.
God promised it, we can expect it.
He delivers.
Let’s also replace hope in the first part of the signature verse, Romans 12:12: “Rejoice in EXPECTATION.”
We can be joyful because we know God cares for us (1 Peter 5:7), Jesus is the author of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), and in Him, we can place our expectations for good because He’s promised He has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11).
We’ll break down the rest of Romans 12:12 over the next couple of days.
But now, today as you pray, thank God that He gives us hope.
Acknowledge the joyful confidence in His trustworthiness.
Thank Him that even in moments of disappointment, we can still place our hope in His hands because He knows the big picture.
