Three prayers to say to God when everything looks dark, to keep hope, receive his strength and lean on his promises.
Pick a categoryHope sometimes wears thin, as the waiting grows longer, through trials or after a loss. This page is for you if you are tired of hoping, or if you are praying for a loved one who is sick or downcast. You can tell God that your hope is weak: he is the God of hope, and he knows how to lift it up again.
Lord, today my hope is fragile. I do not always have reasons to smile, but I come to you. Father, you are the God of hope: fill me with joy and peace as I trust in you. By the power of your Spirit, make hope overflow in me. Lift my eyes when they drop. Remind me of your promises and of yesterday's faithfulness. I do not know what tomorrow holds, but I know you are here. In Jesus' name, amen.
Romans 15:13
Father, I lay before you what worries me: my situation, my disappointed expectations, what I do not understand. You know the plans you have for me, and they are never against me. I do not ask you to show me everything, but to hold my hand. Deliver me from despair and from the thought that nothing will ever change. Help me wait for you without being consumed. I also entrust to you those who have no strength left, the sick and the discouraged: give them your comfort. Lord, my future is in your hands. In Jesus' name, amen.
Jeremiah 29:11
Lord, thank you for being the anchor of my soul, sure and steadfast. The waves are sometimes strong, but you hold me. Thank you for all you have already done in my life: you lifted me up, you carried me, and you did it faithfully. I choose to hope in you again. My life does not rest on my circumstances, but on your promise and on the victory of Jesus. Father, grow in me a quiet hope that shines around me. In Jesus' name, amen.
Hebrews 6:19
« Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. »
Romans 15:13
I proclaim that the God of hope fills me with all joy and peace in believing, so that I abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
« This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. »
Hebrews 6:19
I declare that this hope I have is an anchor of my soul, both sure and steadfast, holding me firm in every storm.
« Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. »
Romans 5:5
I proclaim that my hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into my heart by the Holy Spirit who was given to me.
« Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. »
Psalm 42:11
I declare to my own soul: hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, the help of my countenance and my God.
« The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him! »
Lamentations 3:24
I proclaim that the Lord is my portion, therefore I hope in him, whatever today looks like.
Simply tell God the truth: that you are at the end of your strength and that you need him. The psalms show believers who complain, then take hold of themselves and say, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God.” You can pray the same way, without forcing a smile.
No. Biblical hope does not rest on a positive temperament or on circumstances, but on God himself and on his promises, of which the resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee. It can therefore hold in the middle of a trial, when optimism has already gone out.
Pray that God will sustain the person with his peace and presence, and that those around them will support them too. You can read them verses of comfort. We entrust the sick person to God without imposing an outcome: he alone knows the way.