Hope in the Kingdom of God: The Gospel

Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. . . .  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  (Romans 8:24b, 25, 26b)

This then is how you should pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. . . .  (Matthew 6:9)

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 14:17)

Hope and prayer are tied together.  As Paul writes, "Who hopes for what he already has?"  It is no accident that his next section deals with prayer: "We do not know what we ought to pray for."  The prayer of faith springs from the hope that delivers me:  "That faith and hope that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel."  (Colossians 1:5)

Without hope, faith has no basis.  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  (Hebrews 11:1, KJV)  As an idea gives birth to an invention or a feeling sprouts into a desire, faith stands on hope.  Hope waits for and eagerly anticipates what is not yet seen.  It is not wishing, but joyful anticipation of what is yet to come.  Faith naturally springs from hope as its consequence in the present.  What is truly hoped for is trusted in.

One of the truest expressions of faith in God is prayer.  It acknowledges trust.  If I do not trust, I do not pray.  Prayer without trust, without faith, is just religious babble.  "And do not keep on babbling as the pagans do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him."  (Matthew 6:7-8)  How does God know this?  It is not so much because he his omniscient, but because he loves each person so deeply that he knows them so well.  This is the prayer of faith: knowing the God who knows me as a dearly loved child.

Such prayer also springs from hope.  If I do not hope, I do not pray.  Prayer without hope is just fatalism.  It takes the words "Your will be done" in the wrong way.  Instead of joyfully anticipating the work and will of God in this present age, hopeless prayer anticipates abandonment instead of deliverance, predictable outcome instead of joyful surprise, keeping the trinkets of this world rather than acquiring the treasures of God's kingdom, turning away quickly in disappointment rather than waiting patiently for the wonders of God.

Hopeless prayer is like a king's servant who was commanded, "Put this money to work," but on the return of the king says, "I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man.  You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow."  The conclusion of the king: "I will judge you by your own words.  To everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away."  (Luke 19:11-26)  Hopeless prayer receives little and even that little is lost.

So my prayers express my faith and my faith is the substance of what I hope for.  Jesus focuses my hope on the kingdom of God in his model prayer.  His kingdom is not a matter of external matters like food, drink, or mere religious practices, but of living with and in his Spirit who "intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will," in accordance with God's kingdom.  I think that the Lord's prayer is an expression of what I am to hope for.

The good news according to Jesus is this: "the kingdom of God is near."  This is not opposed to other expressions of hope, but stands in concert with them.  Another famous passage of the good news is 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, which can be summarized, "Christ died for our sins.  Christ raised.  Christ appeared."  The King is near as is his kingdom.  He redeems each person from his slavery to sin, defeats all sin and evil through his resurrection, and appears to each person to invite them into his kingdom.

Lord, I have often neglected the hope you have given.  I have wondered about where my faith goes in trials and temptations.  I see now that it goes where my hope lies.  I find myself like a lot of people: without hope.  I see that is also without God.  Please deepen my hope, so I can eagerly await what I do not see.  Amen.

Faith is opposed to sight.  Hope that is seen is no hope at all.  This means not that I need to live in complete ignorance.  Faith is not opposed to knowledge, nor is hope without knowledge, since it lives in those "who have the firstfruits of the Spirit."  No, faith and hope are opposed to sight because what is seen is temporary and passing away.  What is seen holds no hope since it will leave me empty.  It is the God who is unseen that I hope in and his kingdom that rules over all and yet remains holy and hidden in these days.

Doubt as Disbelief

The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8)

Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23)

FAITH here is understood, not as a profession of something you do not believe, but as belief, trust, reliance upon something. You believe in A, or that P, if and to the degree that you are ready to act with reliance upon A or as if P were the case. We always "live up to" (or "down to": really, right at) our beliefs. (The Faith of Unbelief, Dallas Willard)

When I do things while doubting them, I think I sin. I am thinking of doubt not as mere uncertainty, but mixed with skepticism. To doubt something is not merely to say, "I don't know," but to say, "I suspect it's not so." I must work to relieve my doubts before I go about my practice, otherwise I find my efforts to be hindered and biased. Doubt indicates some level of distrust. It indicates that my will is not settled, but divided.

James pictures doubt like a wave in a storm. It is blown here and there. There is a lack of control. The person in doubt “wavers.” Living in doubt is like living on a boat with no sails or oars. It is a life not only without direction, but without the means of steering.

Another picture is that of a person with two minds. He (they?) possesses two sets of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs and goes back and forth between them. The stumbling between the two minds makes him unstable, staggering and unable to be steady in anything in his life. A poignant picture of this is split personalities and neuroses.

Paul indicates that a person who doubts proceeds with something other than faith, trust, and confidence. We must live by trust if we are to live at all. The consequence is of not living by this trust is to steer completely out of God’s desire for us and away from God himself. I cannot walk with God and distrust him as well.

So doubt is characterized with wavering, instability, and missing out on God. Trusting God (not just trusting something about him) brings certainty, stability, and relationship with him. When my relationship with God is well, doubt does not remain in my mind.

Using Dallas Willard’s description of faith, I find that doubt is not being ready to act with reliance on or trust in someone or something. Doubt is hesitation that comes from divided loyalty. “No one can serve two masters,” Jesus says (Matthew 6:24). Trying to do so brings doubt.

Like anger, doubt is part of the human condition. Nothing is wrong with either in themselves. But when a person harbors anger, it becomes rage or contempt and becomes sin. Similarly, when I hold on to doubts without addressing them, they bring the life that James writes about, one that is wavering and unstable and unable to receive anything from God.

God does not intend for me to live in doubt; he wants me to live in trust and confidence. It is not that God doesn’t want me to ask questions. I am told to ask. In doubt, however, the questions become accusations and God becomes silent for the most part. It is not so much that he won’t answer, but that I can’t hear him.

As my trust and confidence in God grows, I encounter doubts. They come as assumptions that have to be torn down and thoughts and feelings that have to be replaced (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). I find they cannot be safely ignored, but some battles go on for quite a while.

Lord, I see how doubt can identify areas of distrust in my life. I do not want to let them remain, poisoning my life in you and with you. Conquer these places that stand against you. You are my help and shield. Amen.