Week 3 – Praying with Boldness

Pray Rejoicing in Hope

Read: Romans 5:1–5

SOAP: Romans 5:1–2

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.

Into the text

There is only one way to have salvation. There is only one way to have peace with God and eternal life with Him. There is only one way to be counted righteous before God and only one way to have peace in life: by grace alone. By God’s grace, we are offered salvation. Through faith alone are we declared righteous, and this is faith in Christ alone. We are saved only because of God’s grace. But it is also by God’s grace that we are made new.

In Christ, we are new, brand new. In Christ, you are a new creation filled with the Holy Spirit. You are transformed as God’s child, filled with His love, peace, joy, hope, and grace. Because of this, we can rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that our suffering produces endurance in us. This endurance produces character, and that character, hope.

As we are transformed day by day into the likeness of Christ, He works through our suffering to produce this endurance, character, and hope. You are the masterpiece of God, created for a specific purpose. He is transforming you, day by day, to be more and more like Christ so you can share hope with an unbelieving and hurting world. This is all for God’s glory and His glory alone.

We have access to God because of what Christ has done. We can boast in nothing but the work of Christ. He alone has given us access to God, granting us peace, joy, and hope. These work together, allowing our lives to bring God glory. We have hope that one day we will see Him when we are united with Him in heaven.

Prayer

Father God, I thank You that I am not the person I was before I knew You. Empower me, Lord, with Your mission, free of fear, free of insecurity, free of doubt. Remind me, Lord, that anything and everything good in my life is solely because of You. I thank You that Your measure of success is not the same as mine. Remind me each day that You have not called me to be successful, comfortable, prosperous, or even outstanding; You have called me only to be faithful. In Jesus’ name, amen.