If you are reading this, I appreciate you may be in a very dark place. You may need hope to even hope. I’ve been there, friend. I know grief can be so bleak and isolating, so all-consuming. I know the pain of loss can feel unbearable. I understand if you feel right now there’s nothing that could help.
I’m extra-thankful you are here.
I don’t know how God may meet you today—how he might provide even a glimmer of light—but I’m grateful you are taking a chance on hope by seeing what he may be wanting you to hear…or be reminded of…or believe.
The following verses that speak to me of HOPE are some of my favorites in all of Scripture. If one stands out to you as especially meaningful, take some time to dwell on it. Speak it aloud. Write it on a Post-it note and stick it somewhere you’ll continually see and read it again.
Remember, friend, these Scriptures are truth.
They are part of God’s Love Letter to you. Oh, how Jesus loves you…more than you know. Even as I write these words and you read them, he is “interceding for us” at the right hand of God (Romans 8:34). He wants you to have hope.
And if Jesus wants you to have hope, he must have a very good reason.
After the following Scriptures, I’ve personalized some of the words in case reading, saying, or praying them would be helpful to you.
May the Holy Spirit go before you, beloved, and prepare your heart to receive God’s Word…
1. GENESIS 1:2-3… “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
Spirit of God, you hover over emptiness and darkness; out of nothing, God, you speak forth light;
2. EXODUS 14:14… “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Thank you, LORD, for fighting for me; help me to be still;
3. 2 SAMUEL 22:17, 20… “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters…. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”
LORD, you reach down from on high and take hold of me; you draw me out of deep waters. You rescue me because you delight in me;
4. 2 CHRONICLES 20:6, 12… “LORD, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven?… We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
God in heaven, I do not know what to do, but my eyes are on you;
5. PSALM 130:5… “I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”
I wait for you, LORD, my whole being waits, and in your word I put my hope;
6. ISAIAH 43:19… “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
LORD, thank you for doing a new thing; help me perceive it. Thank you for making a way for me;
7. ISAIAH 54:11-12… “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.”
God, you turn brokenness into something beautiful; would you please rebuild me?
8. LAMENTATIONS 3:19-23… “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
LORD, because of your great love I am not consumed, for your compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope;
9. HOSEA 2:14-15… “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.”
Thank you, LORD, for leading me and speaking tenderly to me. Thank you for making a door of hope for me;
10. ROMANS 4:18… “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed….”
Against all hope, God, help me in hope to believe;
11. ROMANS 15:4… “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
Thank you, God, that everything written in the past was written to teach me, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, I might have hope;
12. 2 CORINTHIANS 1:8-10… “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope….”
Dear God, help me not rely on myself but on you, for you raise the dead. On you I set my hope;
13. EPHESIANS 1:17-18… “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you….”
Glorious Father God, please give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so I may know you better. Please enlighten the eyes of my heart so I may know the hope to which you have called me;
14. REVELATION 5:4-6… “I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or even look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne….”
Jesus, YOU are the LionLamb who was slain and who has triumphed. You are currently on your throne and THAT gives me hope. It’s in your Name I pray, amen.
Friend, if helpful, go back and read (silently or out loud) all the personalized prayers as one big prayer. Or focus on one Scripture that felt especially meaningful. You might even imagine what a Scripture would “look like” if it were a picture, and draw or color it however you want. No art skills required—just another way for you to dwell on and hide God’s Word in your heart.
