LIGHT OF THE WORLD PRAYER GROUP, CCRN
OUR LADY QUEEN OF NIGERIA CATHOLIC PRO-CATHEDRA,
AREA 3, GARKI, ABUJA
DAILY MEDITATION
SUNDAY, 6TH DECEMBER, 2020
TOPIC: WAITING IN JOY
TEXT: ROM. 15:13
May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing (through the experience of your faith) that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing with hope (Rom. 15:13).
Joy means a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. To want something to happen is hope and in it there must be a waiting. In the Scriptures, hope and wait are sometimes used as the same as in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31.
Again, as Christians or Believers, what keeps us going in the hope of seeing the Christ we gave our lives to, is Joy. This was the reason why Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans in our anchor Scripture praying that God should so fill them with all Joy and Peace in believing which is through the experience of their faith that by the power of the Holy Spirit, they may abound and be bubbling over with Hope. Hence, our waiting must be characterized with Joy no matter our challenges.
Child of God, practicing your faith in all your endeavours must not be free of persecutions, hardships, sicknesses and other challenges. You ought to believe that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). Waiting in Joy involves not looking at the persecutions, hardships, sicknesses and other challenges but the Joy that awaits you. Joy can only await you when you wait in Joy. That was the case of our Master Jesus whom we are to fix our eyes on as the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the Joy set before Him endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).
Waiting in Joy should be your attitude as a Christian. This helped the Apostles and other Ministers of old to succeed, taking after Jesus, our Lord. John the Baptist stressed the need for us to have this attitude. He said, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom’s arrival, waits for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That Joy is mine, and it is now complete ” (Jn. 3:29). As we await the coming of the LORD at Christmas, let us wait in joy irrespective of the challenges we face, knowing fully well that when the LORD appears, He will take away all our sorrows and fill us with everlasting peace.
Finally, you must partner with the Holy Spirit as He is the one Who can make this Joy real to you and in doing so, you will be able to serve Christ properly and please God (Rom. 14:17-18). May His grace abide with us as we wait.
MEDITATION
* In your challenges, do you wait in Joy or in complaints, regrets and sorrows?
* Read and meditate on Isaiah 40:31.
PRAYER POINTS
* Pray earnestly to have the attitude of Waiting in Joy.
* Pray that nothing should separate you from the Love of Christ which guarantees your Joy.
* Ask the Holy Spirit to make you abound and be overflowing with hope by His power.
THE MEMORARE
Remember, Oh Gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implore thy help or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother, to thee I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petition but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.
