hope for churches in stress

A Gift of Hope

The Hebrew word for hope literally means a “rope.” As this picture word depicts, with hope we hold tightly to our faith in God. With hope, we sustain our grip on motivation, encouragement, stamina, and expectation.

You can give the gift of hope to churches that are disheartened, distressed, or disadvantaged. Through your prayers, the God of Hope will encourage beleaguered churches and ministries with renewed faith and fresh resolve.

Recently, people in one disheartened church, inspired by Daniel (Daniel 10:2,12), committed themselves to 21 days of sustained prayer. Using prayers drawn from Scripture, they prayed for their church for three full weeks. Over this time, people came to Christ, several were healed, some were reconciled, and new people came to worship. Most significantly, the church was renewed in hope—and is now taking purposeful action.

Is your church disheartened? Are nearby churches stressed? Is there a disadvantaged segment of churches within a whole community (or network) of churches? What about smaller churches across America and around the world?

Use seven biblical prayers, day by day, to intercede for these churches. In this way, you can “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:1) “to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

By your prayers, God will stir hope—and by this “rope” pull disheartened faith communities back to a fresh grip on faith and purposeful action.