“How can we pray for you, today,” we asked.

She shyly skirted out of her home either out of shame we would see the inside or she didn’t want who was inside to hear her answer.

Once she was on the porch in the bright sun, I could see the tears beginning to well up in her eyes. I could see she was hurting. Despite her slight smile, I could see she was a woman in the midst of a battle.

She looked down and up again wrestling with the question. After seconds, she found the words that encapsulated her pain.

Trying to hold back the tears, she whispered, “I need hope.”

So we prayed for hope. We prayed for the power of God to invade her circumstance. We prayed she would see the goodness of the Lord on this side of heaven. We gave her all we had; we gave her Jesus.

When we were done praying, we hugged. For minutes, she held me tightly and sobbed in my arms. I hope she felt seen by God. I hope she felt loved by Jesus. I hope she knew when I hugged her she was being hugged by the Father.

I think she did. When we were finished, that slight smile had become a laughter. The pained eyes now glimmered with expectancy. She had found Hope.

My Christian friends,
The world needs Hope! Our communities need Hope. And we carry within us, the Hope of the World. Let’s go out today and freely give away the Hope of the world.

What is Hope anyway? Hope is a joyful expectation of good.

King David was well acquainted with hard times but he expressed hope beautifully. David wrote,

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

This is Hope! An expectation that trouble is temporary, but God is forever faithful. Hope is knowing trials may come and go but His goodness is for a lifetime and an eternity.

How do we give away Hope?
Let us be as bold as lions and pray for people.
Let us be generous in giving our time and resources.
Let us be transparent in our struggles as we demonstrate hope.

Let’s give away Hope today!