Hope. Wish.. Pray…

littlegirl2

Hello World!!!

Goodbye 2008! Hello 2009! By tomorrow, another year in the life of you and me will be over…I wonder what’s coming next! For roughly the past 10 years or so, you can find me in church on New Year’s Eve listening for God’s words to me for the upcoming year. I’ve been amazed time and time again how whatever verse or verses the pastor chooses to preach on that night sums of my experiences for the upcoming year. It’s uncanny… I’m excited to find out what I will hear tonight…

But aside from God’s words for me, I have some words for God…I want to know when some of my deepest dreams will come true…I want to believe that some of my dreams will come true this year, but if you have lived for a while now, you know that sometimes dreams are deferred. (Shout out to Langston Hughes!) If you’ve lived long enough, some of your dreams have been shattered. Maybe your husband died of leukemia shortly after you were married. Maybe your mother died of breast cancer. Maybe your father rejected you. Maybe you wrote a book that will never be published. Maybe your wife cheated on you. Maybe someone has broken up with you. Maybe the love of your life left. Maybe no one has asked to marry you. Maybe you never passed the bar. Maybe you have a crazy behind family. Maybe you never intended to be a single baby mama. Maybe you ain’t got that record deal yet. Maybe you’re a raging alcoholic and you’re impossible to deal with. I could go on and on unfortunately…

Goodness, I hate to write such pessimistic prose, but we all know that sometimes life is a b@#%*. So what are we do? For today, I have decided to hope, wish & pray that my dreams will come true…According to the Word, you are “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 When I first read this verse years ago, I thought it meant that God will give you whatever you want if you serve Him. I know that’s not true now. Now I believe that if you come to know the Lord in an intimate way, He will guide you to your true desires – that is He will give you the desires He has for you. He will guide you to your God-given destiny. So over the years, God has shown me what are my false desires and what are my true desires.(I no longer desire to date a man from every continent, ha,ha, for instance.)  Anyway, two dreams or two desires remain…at least for today. Well, that’s not true. I have more than two dreams, but I am thinking of two in particular…(What dreams do you think I am referring to? Guess?)

I don’t know about your relationship with God, but I let Him know how I feel. And sometimes I say, “Okay God, the answer to this problem is taking too long. I need for You to act right now. I cannot take it anymore.” When I get like this, my face is glistening with tears and I am prostrate on my bedroom floor. And sometimes I throw a tantrum. Yes, I get down and dirty. I take the Lord at His word. According to the Word, you can “cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you.” Psalm 55:22. So I’m steady castin’ !

But that’s the beauty of God. If you know Him, love Him and try to serve Him, you can claim His promises. I do. And so with the sliver of belief that I have left that my dreams will come true, I will hope, wish & pray that in 2009, at least one, maybe two will come true…Please God!

Any thoughts?

P.S. The title of this post was inspired by the Hidden Beach artist Lina, who sings the song “Hope, Wish & Pray.” Why she hadn’t blown up yet! Check out the song here. Isn’t it beautiful?

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17 thoughts on “Hope. Wish.. Pray…

  1. Hey girl, I’m right there with you believing God to answer those prayers that I’ve been harrassing Him with for months and years. All I can say are the words of David in Acts 2:26: “I have pitched my tent in the land of hope.” These things WILL come to pass…

  2. That was a good one, thanks Jackie. Sometimes it gets hard doing it on God’s time. We both KNOW that I have a couple of things I am believing God for (Sigh!). But God is still in control. And knowing this, 2009 is going to be our year! Happy New Year and be blessed!

  3. As I sit here reading this blog the one thing that comes to mind is how merciful God is. Yes this is the end of 2008, but it’s also the beginning of 2009. God always takes you from something into something new, refreshing, and with the opportunity to learn something new (or finally get the old lesson right). God really is wonderful. His goodness really makes you reflect on how you treat others.

    Well here are my goals for 2009… Thank you God for giving me another shot at getting it right….

    Personal Wishes – better health, become debt free, grow my own business, and continue growing relationships.

    Spiritual Wishes – better my walk with God, grow/use my ministerial gifts, personally win more souls to Christ, help my church to continue reaching the lost, and increase my giving into the ministry

  4. Well here’s to hoping, wishing and praying, too! Thanks for sharing this inspriation with us. I think I know your two biggest dreams 🙂 I’m praying this will be the year they come true for you, Jackie!

    Oh, and I LOVE Lina! I’ve been wondering when the rest of the world would stand up and notice her for ever, too. She has a phenomenal, haunting song called “I’m Not the Enemy” on her Stranger on Earth album that was also in the Morgan Freeman movie High Crimes. Beautiful stuff. I think I’ll go play her CD now 🙂

    Peace and blessings to all for 2009!

  5. @Chicki, thanks for sharing that verse!

    @Tess, we are ever learning, aren’t we? 🙂

    @Ursula, 2009 is our year…in 2009, Ima get mine, ha, ha:)

    @EL, hopefully, I will finally get some things right…things I probably shoulda got right years ago…thank God for the new year!

    @Nicola, yes, you probably can guess what these two dreams…I hope, wish & pray that both both of our dreams will come true this year

    And if anyone cares, yes that oh-so-cute little girl with the big forehead is me 🙂