“Every area of our life not glistening with hope

means we are believing a lie and that area

is a stronghold of the devil in our life.”

When I first heard this Francis Frangipane quote, I became discouraged. I realized I had good Biblical doctrine but bad life beliefs. My life was changed when I realized every belief or conclusion not having hope was under the influence of a lie. 

Hope is the belief that the future will be better than the present and we have the power to help make it so. Hope is an overall, optimistic attitude about the future based on the goodness and promises of God. I believe that after love, hope is the most powerful leadership and influential quality there is. Our hope level determines our influence level, and he who has the most hope has the most influence. Truly, it is very difficult to influence that which you do not have hope for. 

In Ezekiel 37, when God asked Ezekiel,  “Can these bones live?”, he was basically asking, “Ezekiel, what do you think about this? What you think will determine what I can do. Do you believe these bones have a good future?”  After Ezekiel responded with, “Oh Lord God, you know,” God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones and tell them they were going to live. He didn’t say, “Ezekiel, watch me prophesy and change this by myself.” No, the Lord has to partner with someone who has hope to accomplish His will. (By the way, these bones came to life and became a great army.)

God is not afraid to show us how dry things are, as long as we do not get our beliefs out of their dryness. We live in a time where we see dry bones - dry morality bones, dry unity bones, dry leadership bones, dry family bones, dry freedom bones, dry church bones, and more. Yes, we are to do everything God has called us to do to help bones from getting dry, but, ultimately, it does not matter how dry they get. What matters is whether we have renewed our minds enough to believe the bones can live. 

We all have at least one area in our lives (a very dry area) that is screaming at us, “This really is hopeless! Things will never change! It is only going to get worse!” You are hearing this and so am I. Recently, I was battling for hope in an area of my life and could not seem to get over the heaviness I was feeling. So, I went to my wife, Wendy, for help.

She asked me a powerful question,

“Steve, what do you need to believe

to have hope in this area of your life?”

Bingo! That is the question. It led me to focus on the promises of God, my biblical identity, and to believe my past prayers were working (even if I did not see them working). As I did, my hope increased.

I want you to consider an area right now where you lack hope.

As you ask God the question,

“What do I need to believe to have hope for this?"

I believe He is going to speak powerful truths to you which will demolish lies creating anxiety, hopelessness, the victim mindset, and discouragement.

As I close, let me say this: Believing what God is saying will always lead to hope. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13). Increasing hope is the evidence I am renewing my mind with truth, while decreasing hope is the evidence I am renewing my mind with lies. Our hope level is the indicator of whether we are believing lies or truth. 

I believe that right now as you are reading this, God is revealing truth to you that will bring personal breakthrough and increased influence. You are a modern day Ezekiel who has hope for the world, and you will see dry bones in your life and in your nation come alive in astounding ways.

– Steve Backlund