How You Can Have Hope This Day
Play this music in a quiet room to be comfortable and completely relaxed for a good period. I find that Airpods or headphones work well, helping me draw inward, block out possible distractions, and be attentive to my heart as the music plays.
To begin, spend some moments consecrating your heart to God, surrendering all your worries and concerns, and asking him to guide you and help you hear his voice.
Lord, I give you (name each worry and concern)...
I consecrate my heart to you. I bring myself under your authority. I am under your cover. I trust my whole heart to you.
Lead me in this encounter with you. Help me to experience your love for me. Help me feel your closeness and hear you if you want to say anything.
Next, contemplate the following three verses, letting Holy Spirit guide you to deeper understanding. Read them a few times. Notice what words, phrases, and images feel essential to you. What is God saying to you through these words? You might want to write down what you hear him say in your journal.
“Enjoy every day of your short life. God has given you this short life on earth—and it is all you have. So enjoy the work you have to do in this life. Every time you find work to do, do it the best you can” (Ecclesiastes 9:9-12).
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34).
As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Hebrews 3:15).
We will engage in an imaginative exercise for the next part of this encounter. Lie down–or sit in a comfortable chair–and close your eyes, letting your mind and heart guide you through the experience Jesus has for you now.
The words below are just a guide, offered to help you if needed. Enjoy an experience of Jesus leading you deeper into your heart–for rest, hope, and experiencing Jesus’ deep, deep love.
You are in a field of flowers. The stalks brush your legs, tickling your toes. You feel the weight of each step, your feet pressed firmly in the soft dirt.
Take a deep breath.
The air is sweet.
What do you hear? Close your eyes. Listen.
Place a hand over your heart now. Feel your bare palm flat on your skin. Feel the air entering your lungs, feeling them expand with air.
You are more than okay.
Stay here, eyes closed, arms at your side, palms open, or one arm down and the other, considering your heartbeat as you breathe.
Now bend low, your knees in the dirt. Sweet, soft grass is in the dirt–you hadn’t noticed it before. The air is lovely and fresh around you, the sun shaded from your eyes by a tree's thick, green, leafy branches.
With your hands pressed into the grass, you move from your knees to gently roll down onto your back, palms open, eyes closed. You are so comfortable. The air is the perfect temperature. You feel a gentle breeze on your skin, rustling strands of your hair so it tickles the edge of your face. You gently push it away.
You stay here, on your back, so comfortable, and then you hear footsteps near you, behind you, and then a person’s breath next to you as he lies himself down next to you on the ground, the two of you touching fingers as you both lay, eyes closed or gazing upwards at the green leaves of the tree. It is Jesus. You are so comfortable with him being here.
“This day,” Jesus says…”This day….,” and he doesn’t complete the sentence.
His gaze is upward toward the tree, and he speaks softly but surely. He is relaxed, his presence captivating you. You feel both weightless and grounded to the soft, grassy earth underneath you as you breathe deeply, your inhales and exhales matching the rise and fall of his chest.
“This day…” he says again, “Don’t give up hope.”.
What does he mean about this day? In what specific area of your life is he promising to give you hope?
Stay here with Jesus, the two of you lying on your backs on the soft, cool grass, the tree branches offering shade as they sway in the gentle breeze.
Listen to his breath next to you. Listen–and feel–your breath next to him. He is with you. He is in you. He is speaking to you now.
Stay here…listen….His words to you are more than words. They are deeper than language. Trust them. Trust in his love. Be attentive and expectant and captivated by his love for you.
Let the phrases below prompt you to engage your heart even more deeply, continuing your conversation with Jesus about what hope he is promising you now. Try to be as honest and vulnerable as you can:
This day...
This day...
I have hope...
Amen.
Worship Ideas:
