Father God, I long for that hope You sought to give to your people when exiled in Babylon. You told them overwhelming circumstances can change. You told them they would once again know Your glory and majesty as in days of old. You told them that they were not forgotten. You told them You still had plans and purposes for them. Though enduring hopelessness, You gave them reason to hope for a new day. Father, I need to hear those Words anew in my life. I need the hope only You can give.
Open my eyes to see. Open my ears to hear. Open my heart to know. And, it is not just me. There are so many like me who need a dose of Your hope in their lives. Help me to look up from the places where I search for peace and purpose and divine presence so that I might see Your majesty and glory as did Isaiah in the Temple. What is found where I spend so much time looking is nothing that has the power to bless me with an overwhelming hope. I know it is found only in Your presence. Give me that blessing of seeing You high and lifted up for there is the hope needed for today's living.
But, it is not just about me. I pray, too, Father, for this troubled world. How it must grieve Your heart to see how we are living. Nations fight nations and folks like me struggle to live in right relationships with others. How I long for the day when battlefields will no longer give birth to orphans and widows. I pray for that day when war and strife and brokenness exist only as a memory. I pray for that day when caring for the earth will be more important than possessing it. I pray for that day when more and more people will heed Your teachings and will walk in Your ways. I pray these things, Father, because Your Word gives me hope that one day Your Kingdom will truly prevail over all that now seeks to undermine it. Come quickly. Amen.
Open my eyes to see. Open my ears to hear. Open my heart to know. And, it is not just me. There are so many like me who need a dose of Your hope in their lives. Help me to look up from the places where I search for peace and purpose and divine presence so that I might see Your majesty and glory as did Isaiah in the Temple. What is found where I spend so much time looking is nothing that has the power to bless me with an overwhelming hope. I know it is found only in Your presence. Give me that blessing of seeing You high and lifted up for there is the hope needed for today's living.
But, it is not just about me. I pray, too, Father, for this troubled world. How it must grieve Your heart to see how we are living. Nations fight nations and folks like me struggle to live in right relationships with others. How I long for the day when battlefields will no longer give birth to orphans and widows. I pray for that day when war and strife and brokenness exist only as a memory. I pray for that day when caring for the earth will be more important than possessing it. I pray for that day when more and more people will heed Your teachings and will walk in Your ways. I pray these things, Father, because Your Word gives me hope that one day Your Kingdom will truly prevail over all that now seeks to undermine it. Come quickly. Amen.
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