Let us pray this prayer about hope laid out in Psalm 119:80-81—Let my heart be sound in (be in complete accord with) Thy Statutes (the prescribed limits You have set for my life); that I be not ashamed (confounded, or confused). My soul fainteth (it is failing from exhaustion in waiting) for Thy salvation: but I hope in Thy Word. This means, “I wait with expectation to see the fulfillment of what You have promised in Your Word.”

We often have the idea that prayer must be answered immediately, but this is often not the case. The two lessons Jesus taught in Luke 11 and 18 show quite clearly that prayer can be work. I would never have taught those two lessons like Jesus taught them, but He knew. He knew that prayer was not to be a quick and easy means of getting what we want or need. Why did He spend all night in prayer if this were not the case? If you go back and read those two parables, you will see the strong hope and the strong faith that Jesus was presenting as he told of the man who needed the bread and of the widow who needed the help of the judge. The way they made their supplications is the way Jesus taught us to come before our Heavenly Father.

When hope and faith are made strong by the Word of God, when we have committed ourselves to His call and purpose, when all known sin is put away from our lives, the kind of praying that Jesus taught comes through with an amazing outflow of miracles. But, sometimes, even the slightest whisper of our heart’s request receives just as great an answer. There is much mystery in prayer, but it is hope that carries us through to see the answer. Hope is the evidence of faith born in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

DEAR LORD, I have some matters about which I‘ve prayed long and hard. The answers do not even seem possible. As I wait before You today, a faint hope is beginning to be born in my spirit. With that hope, I have a sense of faith coming back into my heart. My soul has almost failed from exhaustion, but You are reviving my heart’s expectation. I know it is with my heart that I must believe, even if my understanding remains in the dark. Where my understanding has grown weak, HOPE is returning.

I cried unto the Lord.—Psalm 18:6; 66:16-20