Hope nonetheless.
Hope despite.
Hope regardless.
Hope still.
Hope where we had ceased to hope.
Hope amid what threatens hope.
Hope with those who feed our hope.
Hope beyond what we had hoped.
Hope that draws us past our limits.
Hope that defies expectations.
Hope that questions what we have known.
Hope that makes a way where there is none.
Hope that takes us past our fear.
Hope that calls us into life.
Hope that holds us beyond death.
Hope that blesses those to come.
Gracious and Loving God,
we delight in singing praises of our Faithful God:
Blessed be the Lord our God,
for favoring His people with grace and mercy,
with peace and joy.
We celebrate Your direct relationship with Your people,
for the way Your mighty promises
have been revealed as fulfilled and completed
to a struggling humanity.
Our minds cannot comprehend the magnitude of these gifts,
and so together, with our whole hearts, we say:
“Praise to the Lord our God for the gift of Your presence with us
and the hope found in all of Your promises.”
Just as Zechariah celebrated the new hope
he had been given through Your revelations,
so we, too, praise and thank You for renewal,
by which Your hope continues to bless us.
This gift of hope - confident expectation -
is always new and precious to us;
the hope we find in You is
so much more that our idle day-dreams,
or our wistful wishes;
Your hope is abundantly more than
our ambitions of personal or professional success;
and Your hope supersedes our most optimistic plans.
Through Your gracious gift of a living hope,
we have something to cling to that is tangible and real;
something that we can believe in,
to trust and rely upon.
You promised hope to the Israelites,
and You kept Your promise.
You promised hope in the coming of Your Son,
and He is hope for the world.
You promised hope to the early church,
and that hope was not denied.
You promise hope to us,
and we pray for strength when our faith falters.
We confidently trust You, believing that Your word is true.
And so, O Lord, we lift up our heads,
our hearts and hands in prayer.
We lift up to You our longings for hope in a despairing world.
We lift up to You our need for hope
in a time of deep hopelessness in our world.
We lift up to You our deep desire for hope
in a bleak and sometimes depressing world.
O Lord, anoint us with Your lavish love,
so it fills our lives
and splashes over on everyone around us.
May our minds stay focused on you,
our hearts filled with You,
and our arms outstretched for You.
We pray all these things in the name of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray as one people...
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Hope despite.
Hope regardless.
Hope still.
Hope where we had ceased to hope.
Hope amid what threatens hope.
Hope with those who feed our hope.
Hope beyond what we had hoped.
Hope that draws us past our limits.
Hope that defies expectations.
Hope that questions what we have known.
Hope that makes a way where there is none.
Hope that takes us past our fear.
Hope that calls us into life.
Hope that holds us beyond death.
Hope that blesses those to come.
Gracious and Loving God,
we delight in singing praises of our Faithful God:
Blessed be the Lord our God,
for favoring His people with grace and mercy,
with peace and joy.
We celebrate Your direct relationship with Your people,
for the way Your mighty promises
have been revealed as fulfilled and completed
to a struggling humanity.
Our minds cannot comprehend the magnitude of these gifts,
and so together, with our whole hearts, we say:
“Praise to the Lord our God for the gift of Your presence with us
and the hope found in all of Your promises.”
Just as Zechariah celebrated the new hope
he had been given through Your revelations,
so we, too, praise and thank You for renewal,
by which Your hope continues to bless us.
This gift of hope - confident expectation -
is always new and precious to us;
the hope we find in You is
so much more that our idle day-dreams,
or our wistful wishes;
Your hope is abundantly more than
our ambitions of personal or professional success;
and Your hope supersedes our most optimistic plans.
Through Your gracious gift of a living hope,
we have something to cling to that is tangible and real;
something that we can believe in,
to trust and rely upon.
You promised hope to the Israelites,
and You kept Your promise.
You promised hope in the coming of Your Son,
and He is hope for the world.
You promised hope to the early church,
and that hope was not denied.
You promise hope to us,
and we pray for strength when our faith falters.
We confidently trust You, believing that Your word is true.
And so, O Lord, we lift up our heads,
our hearts and hands in prayer.
We lift up to You our longings for hope in a despairing world.
We lift up to You our need for hope
in a time of deep hopelessness in our world.
We lift up to You our deep desire for hope
in a bleak and sometimes depressing world.
O Lord, anoint us with Your lavish love,
so it fills our lives
and splashes over on everyone around us.
May our minds stay focused on you,
our hearts filled with You,
and our arms outstretched for You.
We pray all these things in the name of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray as one people...
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
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