Prayer as an Expression of Hope
The Lord’s Prayer begins with the glory of God, and His glory remains the focus throughout the prayer. We pray that in God’s power, his kingdom will come and his will be done. Then, we acknowledge our weakness and sinfulness. Only God can and will provide our daily needs. Only God can and will show us mercy and forgive us. Only God can and will deliver us from evil and give us the strength to overcome trials and temptations. God forgives. God protects. God delivers. When God does these He shows himself as our Father in heaven, his Name is made holy, his kingdom comes, and his will is done. All for God’s glory. So it is no wonder that some scribe some time added the traditional ending to the Lord’s Prayer. Because when we pray this prayer sincerely, we cannot help but burst forth in praise and say — For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. And as such, prayer is an expression of hope because hope is found only in God’s kingdom, power, and glory.
1. The Power of Hope, the Power of Vision
Hope is powerful. Hope is to have a clear vision of the future, of what will be and where we will be. Hope is forward-looking faith. Helen Keller said, “Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” ILLUSTRATION — train & mentor leaders clarifying their vision with dreaming & drawing exercise.
Once our hope, our vision, becomes clear and certain, we gain confidence in that hope, and so it becomes very powerful. It becomes a force that pulls and pushes us forward. It motivates and energizes us. It enables us to endure and overcome obstacles and setbacks. ILLUSTRATION — rubber band; seen this power firsthand. Our hope, our vision of the future, impacts our present. It shapes and determines what we do now and how we live now. John Maxwell said, “Where there is no hope in the future, there is no power in the present.” It is those who were able to find hope for the future who have the strength and empowerment to succeed in the present.
Sadly, there are many people today who are without hope. They have given in to despair and given up on life. Others are looking for hope in the wrong places and wrong things. They have fallen for the lies and false promises of the evil one and this world, but these false hopes do not deliver. They do not give purpose. They do not satisfy. They are temporary. They are powerless and lead only to frustration, anger, fear, depression, and ultimately, despair.
2. God's Vision Is Our Hope
However, hope is not to be found in the kingdoms of this world. We have a hope that is true, certain, powerful, and eternal. This hope is not based on our efforts or desires. God’s vision is our hope, that is the vision of his kingdom, power, and glory. He gives us this hope through his power. “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” (Rom 15:13). God has chosen us, and the gospel of his kingdom came to us not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction (1 Thess 1:4-5). As Paul says, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor 2:4-5). “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Cor 4:20).
Therefore, our hope is found in the power of God. Our hope is forward-looking faith. And “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb 11:1). Our hope is the confident belief that God will bring about his vision for the future. Our hope is biblical hope because it is based on God’s Word. The Bible tells us God’s Story and portrays God’s vision. That is the story and vision of the Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. This is the story and vision of God’s kingdom, power, and glory. It’s all about his glory. This story starts with the glory of God. His power created this glorious universe that proclaims his rule and glory. God’s power redeemed us in Christ. His power makes us kingdom citizens who are to proclaim God’s kingdom, power, and glory in this world. This story ends with the glory of God. His power will restore his creation to its intended purposes. He will make all things new and restore his glory. God’s power will accomplish this vision, and turn this hope into reality.
We know this for certain because God powerfully and faithfully acted in history. He fulfilled his promises in the past and will do so again. He is always good. His love is everlasting. His goodness and faithfulness rule over the whole universe forever. There will be no end to His wonderful and mighty reign. God’s kingdom is real. It has come, is here, and is coming in its fullness. All because Christ has come. Christ has died. Christ has risen. He is alive. And Christ will come again. This is God’s Story, his vision. This is our story and our vision.
Thus, we have confidence in our hope. It is clear. We see the invisible, we feel the intangible because we have God’s assurance, that it is true, real, and it is coming. One day we will see it with our own eyes. We will see it, touch it, feel it, experience it, and enjoy it forever. For now, we see with the eyes of our hearts and minds. We feel it with our spirits and souls. And this hope drives us with the power of the Holy Spirit in Christ, to do the impossible, to run this race, fight this fight, and so live the radically different, counter-cultural kingdom life.
3. Prayer Is an Expression of Hope
However, for this to happen, for the power of this hope to be effective, we must maintain our focus on God’s vision. We must fix our eyes on Jesus Christ, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith, our hope. And we do this through prayer. Prayer is an expression of hope. Prayer is based on hope, infused with hope, informed by hope, shaped and strengthened by hope. Prayer expresses hope. If there is no hope why then do we pray? With no hope, prayer becomes empty words, a hollow ritual, a meaningless ceremony. A life without prayer is a life without hope.
When we focus on this broken, dark, and messy world, we will become frustrated, begin to doubt God’s hope and give in to despair. ILLUSTRATION — runner in race looking around; creative tension of rubber band. We don’t find hope by looking around but by looking up. That’s why the Bible tells us so many times to set our minds on God’s kingdom, to focus on Christ, and to have the same mind and attitude as Christ. He did not lose focus. The hope, the vision, that the Father gave him kept him going obediently and faithfully to the cross and his death to complete his mission. And so He accomplished the vision of redemption and restoration, the hope of the new, eternal life in God’s kingdom. God fulfilled that vision by resurrecting him from the dead and exalting him to rule as Lord overall. Now, in prayer, we abide in Christ, and He abides in us, and we bear much fruit. We become like Christ, and by the power of the Spirit, we experience a foretaste, evidence of the eternal hope that awaits us.
Praying is not wishing. It is not throwing a coin into a wishing well hoping that by luck my wish may come true. No, praying is putting our hope and trust in God, who is able to change our circumstances and answer our prayers because He is the Lord, the God of all humankind, and nothing is too hard for Him (Jer 32:27). Genuine hope is found in the power of God who invites us to bring our doubts, questions, problems, struggles, and needs to Him. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Pet 5:6-7). In prayer we commit our ways to the Lord; we trust in Him, and He will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun (Ps 37:5-6). “Cast your care on the Lord and he will sustain you” (Ps 55:22). And again, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil 4:6).
Yes, our prayers express our confident hope because God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” And so, we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Heb 13:5-6) Prayer keeps our hope, God’s vision, alive in our lives.
4. Praying for the Coming of the Kingdom
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. When we pray this prayer we are praying for the coming of the Son of Man. “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (Mk 13:24-27). We pray for the appearance of the future kingdom in its fullness, in power, and glory. God’s kingdom has already come in Jesus Christ. It is already here. So, when we pray for the coming of God’s kingdom, we are also praying for his kingdom to be realized in our own lives. We pray that his kingdom will come and his will be done in our hearts, in our lives, in our families, churches, communities, and in the world. And where his kingdom comes, God’s power and glory are revealed. We are part of God’s Story, part of his vision. That means that we participate in the coming of his kingdom. How?
First, we participate in the coming of the kingdom by living the kingdom life. We are kingdom citizens and to be in the kingdom is to obey the will of God. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 7:21). Effective prayer involves finding the will of God and putting it into practice so that his kingdom will come in and through our lives. We offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is our true and proper worship. We do not conform to the pattern of this world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom 12:1-2).
Then, we participate in the coming of the kingdom by proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to all nations in the whole world. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mt 24:14).
While we wait patiently for our hope, for God’s vision to be fulfilled, “… while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), we never stop praying for the coming of God’s kingdom. In prayer, we rejoice in our struggles because we know that they produce hope. “… And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Rom 5:3-5).
This confident hope, this future certainty of God’s vision, gives us joy, peace, and patience in the here and now, in our suffering, and in this broken and hurting world. Therefore, we are joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer (Rom 12:12). We know that His plans are always for His own glory and for our own good. We will not lose hope. We will not be discouraged. In continuous prayer, we will express our hope. Regardless of our circumstances, we declare the greatness of our God. In prayer, we remember, and we know that He is accomplishing his vision, and He will be glorified in all things. The kingdom is his. He rules and is in control of every situation, and in each of them, his purpose will be fulfilled. Therefore, we never stop praying, For Your is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.