Words of Hope: How to Pray
I have been praying for the discipline to trust the Giver of Good Gifts. I believe God loves to surprise and delight us beyond what we ask for. I have been praying for this wonder and delight, this faith to trust God to answer my prayers for those I love.
“Give her the desire of her heart and make all her plans succeed.” I LOVE to pray this prayer.
I know that some of Dad’s big dreams were not fulfilled before he died, but I feel tremendous joy and certainty that anything that Dad desired was answered 100-fold.
Furthermore, I believe that this finite moment on earth is a mere set up for the grand work of eternity. Dad can rejoice! We can rejoice knowing the God of infinite love, goodness, and generosity is a giver of good gifts. The best and most perfect gifts for us.
Henri Nouwen writes, “When we live with hope we do not get tangled up with concerns for how our wishes will be fulfilled. So, too, our prayers are not directed toward the gift but toward the One who gives it. Ultimately, it is not a question of having a wish come true but of expressing an unlimited faith in the giver of all good things. . . . Hope is based on the premise that the other gives only what is good. Hope includes an openness by which you wait for the promise to come through, even though you never know when, where, or how this might happen.”
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21
