MAY 4

GOD IS HOPE

The world is full of uncertainties, but in Jesus, we have a certain and secure hope that transcends anything this world can offer. The hope that we have in Christ is not wishful thinking—it’s certain, future hope. Hope isn’t just something we look forward to; it also changes how we live now. Because of the hope we have in Christ, we are called to purify ourselves, to live with an eternal perspective that influences how we handle the challenges of today.

Work through the following questions and scriptures on your own or get together with your group, spiritual running partners, or family to talk through what you are learning. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

   1.  When you were a child, did you ever have something you hoped for that looking back now seems silly or that you are glad did not come to pass?

   2.  Read 1 John 5:13–15.

Make some observations about this passage (What does the text say?):

• What stands out to you about this passage?
• What do you notice and what are you curious about?

Make some interpretations (What does the passage mean?)

• What do you learn about God in this passage?

Now make some applications (what’s my response?)

• How are you encouraged, challenged, or convicted by this passage?

   3.   Have you ever found yourself struggling with hopelessness? What did that season feel like for you? What helped you out of that season?

   4.   Verse 14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God…”
Can you think of times when you approached God like a vending machine in the past? Or can you think of times when you had a Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump type moment or better yet a time like David expresses in the angry Psalms or Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane?

   5.    What do you think it means to “ask according to His will”? How do we begin to discern God’s will in our everyday lives?

   6.    Has there been a time you prayed for something and later realized God had something better in mind?

   7.    Eternal life is not just about the future—it’s about a relationship with God right now. How does that shift the way you think about faith, prayer, and everyday living?

KEY SCRIPTURE

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 

PRAYER

Start your prayers this week by saying, “God, I trust You even when I don’t see how things will work out.”

 Invite Him to align your heart with His will.  

PRACTICE

   1.  Read one chapter of 1 John each day

As you read, ask: “God, what do you want me to know about who You are and who You want me to be?”

   2.  Take a moment as a group or on your own to reflect on this: “What would change if I truly believed that God is my source of hope, no matter what I’m facing?”