How to Overflow with the Hope of God
Hope – elpis - New Testament Biblical definition: expectation of God’s finished work of salvation and in the promises of God; confident expectation; belief of future good; assurance of God’s favor
Hope – elpis - New Testament Biblical definition: is NOT wishful thinking; is NOT a speculative desire
Romans 15:13 NIV
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What does that say? What did Paul just tell us?
The power of the Holy Spirit can cause me to overflow with hope (expectation) for God’s good in my life. Yes, our Helper can give us hope, expecting God’s goodness in his promises.
However, this is not simply confidence (hope); this is overflowing assurance. This confidence (hope) will abound exceedingly. This confidence (hope) is supplied with great measure. This is flooding.
You may overflow with hope (confidence, assurance, belief) by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your Helper will bring about a flood of hope in you. You will drown in hope! The word drown is usually thought of as a negative thing, but not when it comes to hope! I want to drown in the hope and confident expectation of God’s goodness!
How?
How do we get it from our Helper, the Holy Spirit?
Ask.
Ask? That’s it? That’s all?
What about my faith? Don’t’ I need to grown more faith first? Shouldn’t I go deeper in my Bible reading? What about prayer? Surely I must first increase my time in prayer. I definitely need to step up my meditation. Oh my, I could go to church more often also.
Let me check the verse again for us.
Romans 15:13
I DON’T SEE –
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
after you:
attend church frequently
pray often
read your Bible more
meditate regularly
grow more faith
Of course all of these things most definitely serve to benefit you in many ways and boost your trust in God and his promises. So certainly continue to pursue them. Today we are going to focus on the role of the Holy Spirit, our Helper, once again. I am learning so much from this study that God placed in my hands to write. I now consider and think about the character and love of the Holy Spirit in a whole new light. I genuinely see my Helper in my daily life.
Romans 15:13 says the power of the Holy Spirit can make you overflow with hope, full assurance, of God and his Word.
If we work to find expectation (some call it faith) in God’s goodness and favor, it exempts God’s grace. God’s grace is a free, unconditional gift. You can never earn it. You can’t labor for grace and God's goodwill, for we are all sinners. Therefore, if we labor (work at) praying, attending church, reading and meditating on God’s Word, and seek God in other ways, this is not an act of receiving a gift. All of these actions are undeniably necessary to grow a closer relationship with God. We should seek them. However, we don’t need to labor and strive for the grace of God and the hope of God. It is a gift.
Let me pray for you now from Romans 15:13.
Dear Creator of Heaven and Earth, our Father in Heaven,
I pray for those reading or hearing this now. I borrow these words from Romans 15:13 and boldly trust in them.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus Mighty Name,
Amen
Ok. Now that is done. I prayed for you just like Paul prayed for the Romans. With that prayer in place, I hope you feel more open and ready to accept the overflow of hope (confident expectation) through the power of your Helper, the Holy Spirit. Go ahead, ask your Helper to apply his power to let this hope of strong assurance flow through you. Ask that this power not simply flow through but flow in abundance, just as the Word of God states.
Ask the Holy Spirit, your Personal Assistant, to drown you in the hope of God, the high expectation of God’s promises.
I call you to this action, and I will make it easy.
After my prayer for you, God has filled you with all joy and peace as you trust in him. That’s pretty nice!
Now – ask the Holy Spirit this:
“Holy Spirit Almighty, all loving Helper sent to me at the request of my Savior Jesus; sent by my Creator God - let your power drown me in the hope of God, expecting every good and beautiful thing from God now and in the future in heaven and on earth.”
It is done. You are no longer on your own striving to believe in God’s promises and his goodness in your life. Your Helper is using his power to fill you with an overflow of hope. You now need to accept it. You will find a way to accept it! A great way to start is to meditate on Romans 15:13 and thank God for this overflow of hope that he granted you through your Helper.
Write Romans 15:13 on index cards and place them in your home, car and at work. Read it often.
Romans 15:13 NIV
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Also say these words throughout your day:
“The power of the Holy Spirit gives me an overflow of confident expectation (hope) in the goodness of God.”
Next week we will learn how to be active in our overflow of hope! We will begin to take real action. This week we need to meditate on the truth of this verse, so it can reach our hearts. And it will!
