How Does Practicing Prayer Give Us Hope
Written by Emma McCoy
4 minute read
Send this article to a friend:
When I texted Matt and Jessie this week, wondering what to do with the blog, I was given a very specific prompt (yay!):
When you think about people who seem to live with God’s hope, do you see any of these four ancient spiritual practices (scripture, prayer, eating together, hospitality) in their life?
Over the next few weeks at Spring Church we’re talking about how four ancient spiritual practices (prayer, scripture reading, eating together, and hospitality) lead to hope. I’m going to be writing about how I see ach of these work in people’s lives. Can these practices give us glimpses of God’s future breaking in right now? Spoiler alert: the answer is yes.
To begin, prayer is not a gift I have. It doesn’t come naturally to me, I don’t usually turn to it, and it can feel awkward. Most of the time when I try to pray I end up sitting down with my eyes closed, and the “hey God, it’s me…thank you for today…thank you for my family” turns into “...and when I’m done with work I need to swing by Trader Joe’s…should I get two or three heads of broccoli?” It’s hard for me to discipline my thoughts toward God because I’m always thinking about the work I could be doing. Practice is going to make it easier—and I’d like to practice, because I’ve seen how prayer can transform someone’s life from the inside out.
Let me tell you about my friend Deborah.
She’s my dad’s friend from college, and I have cheerfully co-opted her friendship. She is one of the most joyful people I know. She is incredibly kind. She makes me laugh even when she’s not trying to be funny. She’s one of those rare people who exudes joy and makes you feel like the world isn’t such a bad place after all. Like maybe God’s kingdom could be breaking in right now, and you’re standing in that beam of light.
Deborah is also someone who prays constantly. She prays while she grocery shops, when she wakes up, before she walks into church, as she walks out of church, when she takes the wrong exit on the freeway, and when she’s petting dogs. As I was putting a cake in the oven before writing this blog I said, “man, I hope this cake turns out good.” Without hesitating, she stretched her hand out toward the oven and said, “Jesus, watch over this cake!”
Deborah is the kind of person who instinctively turns to God in every situation, in praise and grief and request and awe. I’m not sure how she does it, but I’d sure like to.
The ancient spiritual practices are ancient for a reason—they’re effective. No one is going to keep a tradition going for thousands of years if it doesn’t yield fruit. I don’t even keep a cake recipe around if it isn’t tasty. So there has to be some kind of tie between the practice of prayer and the sort of hope and joy I see in my friend Deborah. Being around her is like getting a taste of the best cake in the world: the kingdom of God.
Now, to be clear, I’m not saying that you have to be perfect in our routine: you pray all the time, read the Bible morning and evening, offer your home to anyone who asks, and fasts regularly. Following “the rules” isn’t how we get God to love us. But when we tap into what Christians have been doing for a very long time, our relationship with God begins to change. When we read Scripture, the words of God become written on our hearts. When we practice hospitality, the generosity of God begins to flow from us. When we pray, our hearts becomes more and more tuned to what God might already be doing in our lives.
Does that give you hope? Because it sure gives me hope. When I see people like Deborah on this earth I’m seeing God’s future now, which gives me hope that I’ll keep getting a taste of what the Kingdom is like. It’s enough to make me break out in prayer.
Follow us on Instagram @springchurchbellingham and here on the blog for new stories every week!
Who in your life would you like to share this with?
About the author
Spring Church member, Emma McCoy (M.A.), has two poetry books: This Voice Has an Echo (2024) and In Case I Live Forever (2022). She’s been published in places like Across the Margin, Stirring Literary, and Thimble Mag. She reads for Chestnut Review and Whale Road Review. She’s probably working on her novel right now. Catch her on Substack: https://poetrybyemma.substack.com/