HOPE - Jeremiah 29:11-13

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.  Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:11-13.

A reminder that God has plans for us, and that even as we ask and search, God is himself the answer.

How timely to find this passage right after considering the Hebrews narrative of the long journey of faith of our forefathers.  Through this old testament prophet we are reminded, even in the midst of our journeys, that God has great plans for us, not for harm but for our well being, a future of not uncertainty but of hope.

Notice too how this passage expands profoundly on the simple truth of what Jesus said at Matthew 7:7: "Ask and you shall receive, search and you will find."  Here, as if finishing the "I am" sentence, the prophet Jeremiah adds God to the prayer: Ask for God and God will hear you, search for God and you will find God.

With God in these words, God in our prayer, yesterday's passage from Mark 11:24 makes more sense too. Not just ask and you shall receive but ask in prayer and believe, in God, that you have received it.

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God, you lay it all out for us.  You give us a one word direction (Pray!) and it ought to be easy.  But I... the self gets in the way, and yet you have given us the self, too, God; you leave us all sorts of mysteries and then you give us this mind, that wants so much to know... I am afraid of relinquishing myself, even to my maker, but thank you God for your ears and your hand and your presence.   Thank you for your strength and your smile and your grace, your light and your direction. 

--- Journal archives, 1990

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So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. - Mark 11:24.

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Dear Lord, thank you for having plans for me, and thank you for remembering my welfare and giving me hope in what lies ahead.  Thank you for hearing my prayer, for being there when I seek you and for asking me to keep you in my heart. 

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