Losing hope spiritually is the same as losing your heart beat physically. When you have lost hope, you are spiritually dead. Hoping against hope is the key to the Christian life.

In Romans 4:18 it says; Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him. So shall your offspring be. Just as with Abraham experienced, there will be times that God puts His plans in your heart, and then strengthens your faith as you learn to hope against hope.

What looks hopeless on your prayer list right now? Which prayer does God seem to be ignoring? Hanging onto hope is what propelled Abraham into becoming the father of a great nation. Everyone thinks of how hopeless Job's situation was. I wonder how Joseph found strength to keep hoping after God showed him in a dream that his brothers would one day bow down to him, yet they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. How did David find hope when he had been anointed as king as a teenager, yet was an outcast of Israel for his young adult years? How do you hang on to hope?

The key to hanging on to hope is faith. Hope is the seed of faith. Hebrews 11:1 says; Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is the action of hope. You cannot have in your hands what it is you hope for, or it wouldn't be hope. You must have faith to hope for what you do not yet have, but remain certain that you will have it.

What is a life without hope like? Ephesians 2:12 tells us; Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. There is only one time that you can be without hope and that is when you are without God. You may feel hopeless right now, but if you are a Christian; you are not without hope. I think of all the people in this world that don't feel hopeless, yet really are.

I meet many people who have lost their hope. Their struggles with depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other issues have worn them out. They think they are hopeless. The deepest, true, healing answer I can give them is to trust in God. I teach them the truth that they do not need to be without hope, because God loves them. God's love drives out our hopelessness.

In fact, I believe that knowing God and knowing God's love is what motivated Abraham to hope against hope. He kept in the game even though his body was too old to father children, and his barren wife's was far beyond childbearing. What gave him hope was that He knew God. Knowing God breeds hope for impossible situations.

Do you feel out of hope today? Get to know God better. Pray, read the Bible, talk to a Christian friend about knowing him.