Feeling hopeless is common though that should not be the case. Jesus paid a heavy price for us to have hope. Good for us, there is a way to pray whenever we feel hopeless.
Before I dive into the formula of praying when you feel hopeless, I will help you understand a few fundamental issues.
Feeling Hopeless is a Sign
Before you lift up your voice to pray to God, it is important to understand that feeling hopeless is a sign that you have drifted away from God.
In God there is great hope. Away from God there is hopelessness. When you understand this fundamental reasoning, it becomes easy to pray to overcome hopelessness.
We draw away from God when we allow our sinful desires to get the better of us. When you give in to sinful desires, the sin you commit separates you from God and you start feeling hopeless.
For others, it is not necessarily sin that separates them from God; some people draw away from God when they focus on carnal activities more than they focus on God.
According to the law of God, you become what you meditate upon. It was for this reason that God asked us to meditate on His word day and night.
Those who think about carnal activities all the time become carnal and in the process they draw away from God.
When they draw away from God, they start feeling hopeless because all hope is in God.
Therefore, the fact that you are feeling hopeless means that you have drawn away from God. The first step in your prayer to overcome hopelessness is to ask God to forgive you.
You ask for forgiveness because you did not meditate on His word day and night as He commanded you.
When you ask for forgiveness. The Lord will forgive you and the sin that was separating you from Him will be no more. As a result, you will draw close to Him and He will draw close to you and every hopeless feeling will disappear.
Praying to overcome Hopelessness takes Time
Praying to overcome hopelessness is not a one-time event rather it is a lifestyle. When you draw closer to God, there is still the temptation to draw away from Him.
There are people who draw close to God and find hope in life but then they slowly drift away and feel hopeless again.
When you go to God to pray to feel hopeful, expect a change in lifestyle. At the moment, the lifestyle you are living is the one making you feel hopeless. There is no way you can find hope in life and still maintain the same lifestyle.
When you ask God to bring hope in your life, God will lead you on a journey to change your lifestyle. This is why praying to overcome hopelessness takes time.
It is difficult to abandon your current lifestyle when you have no other lifestyle to shift to. God will guide you slowly to build a lifestyle of hope before He completely takes you away from the current hopeless lifestyle you are living.
I outlined the steps that God takes you through in a book I wrote called Entering Rest. You can get a copy if you want to understand the journey God takes people through before they find hope in life.
Feeling Hopeless has levels
Lastly, before you make a prayer to overcome hopelessness, understand that feeling hopeless has levels. The level of hopelessness you feel is dependent on how far you have drifted from God.
The further you are from God the worse the feeling of hopelessness you will experience.
Also, you need to understand that you can feel hopeless in one area of your life but fulfilled in another area.
For example, you may feel hopeless for not having stable relationships in your life but be hopeful because you have a stable job. In this case, you will need God to direct you on how to find meaningful relationships.
God Himself should be your first friend. Jesus told us that He no longer calls us servants but friends. This means that you need to have Jesus as your friend and in the process, He will introduce you to other friends of His.
If you are feeling hopeless because you don’t have meaningful work to do, you have to go to God to get meaningful work.
God had a purpose when He allowed you to be born into this world. If you go to Him, He will not only tell you what to do with your life but He will also empower you to do it.
I’ve elaborated in detail what you need to do to hear from God in the book I wrote.
Once you cooperate with God, you will slowly but surely start experiencing hope in your life.
Encouragement to Pray to Overcome Hopelessness
No matter how terrible you may be feeling right now, there is hope. I have felt terribly hopeless several times in my life but I sought the Lord and found Him.
The journey may seem too hard to start but remember that if you don’t start the journey of finding hope, you will live in the current miserable state for the rest of your life. Is that what you want?
I believe you want to feel better!
Therefore, gather the little strength left in you and seek God. The reward of your effort will be worth it. A life full of hope is more precious than gold and silver.
The beauty of a life of hope is that God gifts you everything you need to live. Everything aligns for your good. Who doesn’t want that?
Go for it!
Sample Prayer to overcome Hopelessness
Heavenly Father, I come to you for you are my Lord and my God. I confess that I have relied on carnal thinking instead of relying on you.
Today I choose to rely on your word and to meditate upon it day and night that I may find hope in you. Have mercy on me and help me in my journey to find hope in you.
Guide me by your Holy Spirit and enable me to live a life of hope in you. Though I am in darkness right now, you are my light. Though I feel hopeless, you are my hope and my salvation.
I trust you and look to you Lord now and forever more.
Amen!