rejoice in hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfast in prayer” [romans 12:12 cjb]
“tribulation, hope, and prayer always go together in the new testament and it is a very good way of testing ourselves to ask whether they always go together in our experience. they should.” [martyn lloyd-jones]
rejoice in your hope- this joy is not resting on our present circumstances. rather our eternal hope is in Christ. no one can change what will come when he returns. our hope is out of anticipation for what is to come and it can and will far outweigh your present circumstances
so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. [hebrews 9:28]
then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. [luke 21:27-28]
be patient in your troubles- our troubles are not called to be a grin and bear it or even worse grin and endure it. instead, we are called to patience because of our hope in what is to come. a biblical scholar said “rejoicing in hope enables us to be patient in affliction. patience is hope in different clothing. It’s the ability to wait calmly as the Lord works everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.”
and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [romans 8:28]
continue steadfastly in prayer- do you pray without ceasing? i know i don’t. here are some verses that are only a small sample of Jesus’ and paul’s samples of prayer and our call to prayer:
Jesus:
and when you pray [matthew 6:5,6,7]
paul:
God knows how often I pray for you [romans 1:10]
pray that God will bless those who persecute you [romans 12:14]
pray to God for me [romans 15:30]
when you pray for us [2 corinthians 1:11]
i pray for you constantly [ephesians 1:16]
in all my prayers for all of you, i always pray with joy [philippians 1:4]
we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you [colossians 1:3]
in looking at this whole chapter and looking at themes within paul’s writing, you can see why he pleads this verse with believers. our suffering is not our own “for we though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.” [romans 12:5] your hope in Christ affects your brother, your troubles affect your sister, so you, please I beg you, pray for them. recently when climbing I fell and broke my foot and just as my foot being broken affects everything i do, so when one of our members is broken it affects us all.
~ holly russell