Having Hope, Patience, And Prayer

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

 

Romans 12:10-13

 

 

 

In this passage Paul is encouraging the Christians in Rome to live in a way that brings honor to God. It begins with kindness and love, honoring each other by giving preference to others. In other words, we are not to look to get our needs met, but are more interested in being a blessing to others around us.

Next, he talks about not lagging in diligence, but being fervent in spirit. It is a commitment to work hard for the God, with a passionate love and joy. Not being lazy or apathetic, but sincerely excited about God and truly grateful for the amazing things that He has done for us, is doing, and will do.

 

But then he talks about rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, and continuing steadfastly in prayer. These three things:

 

1. Rejoicing in hope – means rejoicing in daily life, even when we cannot see a reason to rejoice, but knowing that because of God we have every reason to rejoice.
2. Patient in tribulation – means being patient in the midst of trials and hard times, knowing that God is completely in control.
3. Continuing steadfastly in prayer – means meeting with God in prayer faithfully as this is our means of communicating with Him.

We can boldly rejoice in hope, be patient in every difficulty, and continue in prayer steadfastly because we trust in God and believe in His presence in our lives. The bottom line is that the quality of our life is determined by our attitude from moment to moment and by applying these three keys as apart of our daily life, is only going to allow us to become better vessels for God to use to further His Kingdom and for His glory alone.