5 Proven Ways to Keep Hope Alive

Hello Royalty!

I’m sure you will agree with me that a number of “questioning” things have happened this year in terms of world events and maybe, even in your personal life, but as believers, we refuse to have our hope and our lives tied to circumstances so we will always overcome. In light of the most recent events, I realized that we need to keep hope alive and trust in the Creator.

Here are five proven ways to keep hope alive – who proved them? Myself and the testimonies of others. Fasten your belts – a lot is about to be shared and implied in this post, so please read closely and carefully.

On Keeping Hope Alive
Source: Unsplash
  • Head between your knees

When the Bible speaks of Elijah in 1 Kings 18, we see that he was praying for rain, and we are told in verse 42 that Elijah “bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.” Head between your knees is also a known position for dealing with anxiety. People advice that when you’re feeling faint or dizzy, one of things you can do is to put your head between your knees because it allows blood flow to your head. While I am not particularly asking you to put your head between your knees, I hope you see the connections I am trying to make. I’m asking you to pray in whatever position you choose – just pray.

Prayer is allowing yourself to be in a position of surrender where you accept that things are out of your control and you need help. When we leave things to chance, we panic because we know nothing is being done. However, in prayers, we gain confidence because we trust in the One to whom we have spoken and we know God hears.

Last week on Instagram, I shared something on why prayer is important and this was the first chapter of Kenneth Hagin’s book: The Art of Intercession. If you haven’t seen it, I hope it helps in understanding the importance of prayer, especially intercessory prayers for the world in times like this. Find it here:

  • Sound in your ears

I love music. I have a personal concert everyday – hours streamed on YouTube and iTunes every day. Music gets me through my day, through my prayer time, through Bible Study, in my commute, through house chores, you get it. What we listen to is important and it either fills us with hope and purpose or not. The thing about music is that it plays when it’s not playing. So, in these times, fill your playlist with the songs that give you hope.

I’ve been listening to two songs on repeat in the last few days, and I’ll leave their YouTube links here:

  • Holding on to the intangible

Okay this is something you have probably heard at some point and it works like fire. I have personal testimonies about this, and what does this mean? How do you hold on to the intangible? That’s the Word of God. Now, I don’t mean simply holding on to the words in the Bible, but I mean choosing one to three verses (as many as you can but as little as you can remember). You meditate on these verses and believe that they will produce as testimonies in your life. In this case of COVID-19, you can think about healing scriptures, scriptures about God’s protection and God’s presence etc. For example, Zechariah 2:5 implies that God will be a wall of fire around you and verse 8 says that you are the apple of His eye. So, chew on these kinds of things.

  • Doing the recommended

In trying times, it’s always best to be as precautionary as possible. It not only shows wisdom; it shows that you care not just for yourself but for other people. If we are being advised by health professionals to keep social distance and strengthen our immune systems and all of that, then we should. It’s alarming how people still defy these things “just because.” Stubbornness due to selfishness has never done any good and it never will.

  • Reaching out to others

In times like this, people will react differently. As believers, we are in a privileged position to identify other believers and unbelievers who might be anxious or depressed or what not. It always pays to offer hope to someone else. For instance, scientists have linked optimism to prolonged life, and I’d like to extend that to mean faith. A text, a call, helping someone understand a course you already know now that schools are online, checking in on those who are working from home, checking on friends who are die-hard extroverts and are being forced to stay home, sending messages of love and praying for the health care professionals you know, gifting people essential amenities…the list is endless. As John Wesley said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

Why is this a way to keep hope alive? You only give what you have, and the more you give, the more returns you get (maybe not in the exact measures or ways, but in ways that will benefit you).

One last thing: I shared this on Instagram yesterday, and I hope it helps you to see things differently:

Remember:

  1. Head between your knees
  2. Sound in your ears
  3. Holding on to the intangible
  4. Doing the recommended
  5. Reaching out to others

Have a wonderful and hope-filled weekend!

PS: I say special prayers for my blog’s readers, so I really appreciate you being here. Thank you!

Goodbye Royalty,

With Overflowing Love,

Alexandra Zion.

About the author
Christocentric. Academic. Writer. Poet

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