"Knowing Hope"

"And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee." (Psalms 39:7) When it comes to receiving an answer from God on anything that we are praying for, especially something that appears hopeless, our greatest way to know God is listening to our pray is to give everything to Him, including that which we are praying for. In other words, we must not make that which we are praying for the condition of our answer, but just trust He has heard our prayer, and then know that He loves us. As easy as that might sound, it requires us giving up on what we want, and accepting what ever it is that God wants for us; something that might be hard for some people to actually accept in their heart, but it is the heart that needs to be resting in God perfect will. The heart of the matter, is our heart; and if something is the matter with our ability to put all of our trust in God, then that something is the heart, is what is the matter. I just want to be closer to You Lord! That is what my heart should be saying, not trying to guess what He might do or not do, or trying to judge why it is that He is doing or not doing something; but just to know that He loves me, He hears me, and that He only wants the very best thing for my life; regardless of what it might appear, or regardless of nothing appearing at all, because hope is not about any of these things which are given or taken, but about our life in Christ. Some things just need to be placed in the Lord's hands, and then taken off the "I Need This To Happen" list, so that we can begin to focus on loving God; it is really hard to focus on loving God, if our real focus is on whether or not He loves us... "Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine Husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer." (Isaiah 54:4-8)