Cristina’s life was marked by rejection, homelessness, addiction, and jail before the God of hope restored her heart and life. In this five-day devotional, she offers prayers that will stir faith and hope as you trust God with every part of your life. Through Jesus we can have confidence in God’s constant love and protection. It doesn’t matter how dark the circumstances; God can turn the most impossible situations around!
HarperCollins/Zondervan/Thomas Nelson
Day 1
Scriptures: Isaiah 61:3, Romans 8:38-39, Revelation 21:4-5
In Need of a Miracle
I prayed my first prayer in the back of a police car. “Why are You doing this to me?” Even as I sat there, arrested for driving high and with drugs, I had a deep sense I wasn’t alone. Though I was a self-proclaimed atheist, I blamed God.
What have I ever done? I said silently. Who will take care of my son? In that moment I blamed God for everything bad I had ever gone through. It was a litany of punishments He’d given me. This is all Your fault. Except, I didn’t believe God existed. Did I? “You are putting me through something else,” I whispered to, well, to whatever was out there listening.
I thought God was for simpleminded people. Weak-willed people. I wanted nothing to do with Christianity until I had completely reached the end of my rope, desperate to cling to some kind of hope that offered help.
That night, my atheism began to fall apart. I wasn’t ready to fully surrender and give my life to Jesus, but I knew I was deeply lost and in more trouble than I could get myself out of this time. I was a total failure on my own. I wanted love. I wanted someone strong and kind enough to step in and help me turn my life around. I needed a miracle, and God soon provided it to me. Several in fact.
If you need a miracle today too, here’s a prayer for you.
Prayer
Father, I pray for Your miracle-working hand to move in my life like never before. Open the eyes of my heart today to see Your Son, Jesus, and deeply know His heart. I set my faith in agreement with Your Word for the release of miracles in my life. Father, I declare, “Let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” You are the great I AM, and I know that nothing is impossible for You! Make the impossible possible in my life! I pray that faith and hope would arise in my heart, because all things are possible for those who believe. Lord, thank You for going before me today and blessing me. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray, amen.
Day 2
Scriptures: Psalms 30:5, Romans 5:1-5, Romans 8:24, Hebrews 3:1-6
The Giver of All Hope
Whether we know it or not, we yearn to connect with the One who created us. God has been awakening us, calling us to the foot of the cross, inviting us into His heart, beckoning us to hear His voice and know Him. Jail is where I met the God of redemption. The giver of hope. The mender of souls. The healer of hearts. He found me in my darkest hour and loved me with an everlasting love. God wants to give you hope in the midst of your trials, to reveal that a better day is coming.
Hopelessness is a disease that tries to rob you of your dreams. Before we can talk about all of the blessings that come from having a relationship with Jesus, you must have hope. Hope that will fill your soul to keep on moving despite what you see. We can find this hope only in the giver of all hope—Jesus Christ.
Don’t let life extinguish the hope in you. Lean into the heart of God and take hold of His promises for you. Maybe you’ve been in the valley of weeping much longer than you ever thought you would be. But we serve a God who fulfills every promise He gives to His children, and He will see you through your trials.
Prayer
God, You have numbered all my days, and You know my end from my beginning. You hold me in the palm of Your hand. You took care of me before I even acknowledged Your existence. I am amazed that You set angels around me to guard, guide, and protect me even when I didn’t know You. You kept me when I was running from You, and You keep me still. Thank You for sending angels with skin on— unlikely heroes— to show up in my path and point me toward You. What great hope this gives me when I think of all the people I love and You love who have not yet found their way into Your arms. For there You are, watching from heaven and adjusting the earth to create a path to meet with You. Amen.
Day 3
Scriptures: Luke 5:12-13, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 John 4:9
God Desires You
Many of us spend our entire lives just wanting to be accepted. This desire can drive us to do all sorts of things. For me, it drove the way I dressed and presented myself to the world around me. For many years of my life, I felt just like the lepers of the Bible: outcast, lost, and unworthy. I didn’t know that I had a Father in heaven who loved and accepted me. As a result, I carried shame.
Even when we don’t know how to put it into words, our hearts long for acceptance by the One who fashioned us. We want to be loved by God—our heavenly Father. We want to understand how we were made and why we were made. Each of us longs to know our identity and rest in the security that God created us for a purpose.
In Him we find the acceptance and love our souls long for. We find hope in the Lord when we call on the name of Jesus; He stretches out His hand and pulls us out of the pit of despair. He touches us—grabs hold of our hearts. Jesus sympathizes with us when no one else can. He wants us when no one else does. When the rest of the world turns their backs on you, He always turns His face toward you. He desires you.
Prayer
Father, You have been with me in the darkest hours of my life— You will never leave me nor forsake me. You are the God who sees me, who draws near to me. When I think about how You died for me so we could be together forever, I am overwhelmed. You know me— every part of me, the best and worst of me, and You love me still. You see me for who I will become through Jesus, my mighty champion. I’ve never been alone; Your eyes are set on me. I have never known a love like Yours. I want to fall more in love with You Jesus. Take me deeper. Engulf me in the sweetness of Your presence. May I have no fear in my heart as I step out in faith, believing You for the impossible in my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Day 4
Scriptures: John 3:16, Hebrews 4:16
Set Free from Shame
You may struggle with the sins of your past. You may feel disqualified from the great destiny God prepared for you, unworthy of His love.
But we find this powerful hope in our Savior: Jesus’ love for you is so great that He was willing to die in your place. The blood of Jesus Christ covered your sins and made a way for you to come boldly to the Father’s throne of grace for help in your time of need. He took the punishment for every sin you ever have or ever will commit. He made a way for the removal of anything that could separate you from the Father’s love, for reconciliation with Him forever. When you come to Him in repentance and ask for His forgiveness, His blood removes every sin you ever committed.
Jesus specializes in taking the most broken, lost cases and making them brand-new. His very presence changes us from the inside out. You don’t need to have it all figured out before you come to Him. By faith, reach out to the One who created you and loves you. Coming to the end of ourselves and surrendering gives God the opportunity to step in and do what we can’t: the impossible.
Prayer
Father, I run into Your arms today. Thank You for every divine appointment You have ever created for me. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to be hope for me—my everlasting hope and my reward. Lord, I receive Your gift. I accept Your Son as my Savior and Lord. I call on His name now, Jesus Christ, and invite Him to live in my heart for eternity. I open my life to You. Order my steps and use me as a vessel for Your presence to bring hope to others. God, bring me to my knees; give me eyes to see and ears to hear what You are doing and saying. This is the hour for revival. Fill me with Your Spirit and make my life a witness to those around me. I long to drink from the living water You gave to the woman at the well, the well that never runs dry. Touch me and make me whole. Fill me with the fire of the Holy Spirit and draw others to Yourself through me. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, amen.
Day 5
Scriptures: Matthew 19:26, Hebrews 13:5
With God, All Things Are Possible
When I met Jesus, I was overcome by the truth that God had walked with me through the darkest days, even when I didn’t believe in or know Him. Since then the Lord has taken the years of my life and righted every wrong, those that weren’t my fault and those that were.
When we come into a relationship with Jesus Christ, He doesn’t promise that the problems will go away. He promises that He will be with us. We all face hopeless situations. But He is the God of the impossible. Jesus has walked with me through some intense suffering. I may walk with a limp, but I am closer to Him than ever. In His gentle kindness, He has allowed the pain of my past to come to the surface to heal and deliver my heart—and He’s not done yet!
In reality the Lord is never finished with us. We go from change to change, from glory to glory. In the pressing and crushing moments of life, our Father offers an opportunity and an invitation to go deeper with Him and transform into the likeness of His Son, Jesus. Whatever you face in this season of your life, I encourage you to keep pushing forward, no matter how bleak it may look.
Prayer
Father, in Jesus’ name, I thank You for all You’ve done. I adore You. Lord, please make a way in the desert for me. With You, all things are possible. I trust You with my whole heart and know that Your plans for me are good. I ask You to level the mountains that stand in front of me today. Lord, break off any form of fear that resides in my heart; I want to walk by faith, not by sight. I trust You with my future, believing that You have already gone before me. I thank You, Lord, for Your love that knows no end. Your miracles are a memorial; I look back and see Your faithfulness; I know that it is eternal. I want mountain-moving faith to believe You for the impossible, that all will see Your hand move in my life, to the glory of Your name. I love You, King Jesus. Amen.