A Prayer When You Have Lost All Hope

　　Written by: Vivian Bricker, Read by: Lia Girard

　　Bible Reading: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Romans 15:13

　　Read or Listen Below:

　　Whenever I’m struggling with depression, I tend to lose all hope. Anyone who struggles with depression or has seen someone struggling with depression knows that this mood disorder can leave you feeling anything but hopeful. Sadly, even people who do not struggle with depression can have times when they lose all hope. This is part of living in a fallen world. Terrible things happen, and they cause us to feel hopeless.

　　A simple scroll through social media or a quick television check of the local news can show devastating information. A child has been abducted, a woman was murdered, or a man was a victim of a robbery. All of these things come into our lives with a simple click of a button. We don’t ask for this information, yet we are constantly bombarded with news of wars, illnesses, and deaths. It is not surprising that most of us feel hopeless at times.

　　When we start feeling hopeless, we can either feed into the hopelessness or we can feed into God. If we choose the former, life will only get harder. The choice is ours every day. To be completely honest, I have often chosen the former when times are extremely hard. I chose to lean into hopelessness instead of God.

　　Due to my situation, I fully believed things would never get better. I didn't lose hope in God, but I lost hope in myself. But rather than relying on ourselves, we need to rely on God. Even if we struggle to have hope in ourselves, we can always have hope in God. The more we find hope and confidence in God, the more we will think positively about ourselves because we know God is working in us. God doesn’t want us to be our own worst enemy, nor does He want us to be our biggest critic. Instead, He wants us to have hope in Him that He will work in our lives to bring about our good.

　　The Apostle Paul tells us, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

　　From this passage, we learn many things. For one, we learn that God is the “God of hope.” Secondly, we learn that God will fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in Him. Thirdly, this is all done for our hearts to overflow with hope by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, through this passage, we see that God will fill us with joy and peace as we trust in Him, and this will cause us to overflow with hope by the power of the Spirit.

　　In order to take hold of this hope, we need to trust in God. This can be easier said than done, but the more we learn about God and study His Word, the more we will trust in Him. If this is something that has hindered you for a long time, know that God is trustworthy, and He can be your source of hope if you allow Him.

　　God is our wonderful Creator and friend. As you are thinking over Romans 15:13, try to remember that God is the God of all hope, and He can bring abounding hope, joy, and peace into your life. All you have to do is trust Him.

　　Let’s Pray:

　　Dear God, I praise You that You are the God of all hope. Please help me to trust You more and to never waver in my faith. Bless me with your joy, peace, and hope as I trust in You. Life can feel hopeless at times, but I know You are fully trustworthy. I praise You, Amen.