Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope! Romans 15:13

Today’s verse is what Paul prays for every believer to experience. When we read a verse like this, it can either fill us with excitement over what we have and the possibilities of where we can go from here, or it can be a bit daunting. “Does that verse even come close to describing me? Does my life is filled with all joy and peace in believing? Do I abound in hope?”

To varying degrees we all fall short of experiencing the uncontainable joy and perfect peace and life-radiating hope that Paul prays for each of us. But considering the dullness of many Christians’ faith-experience, it makes sense to seriously seek God to fill us with all joy and peace, so that we will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So in a sense today’s verse is one of the most practical passages in the Bible for us all as we navigate life in a world where we are promised trouble (Jn 14:33). Firstly, if we face discouragement and disappointment, the place to go is God. He’s the source or supplier of hope. In fact, He is also the focus of our hope. Paul describes Him in 15:33 and 16:20 as “the God of peace.” He gives peace to His people. If we lack hope or peace or joy, the first place we should look for it in God, who is the source of all three.

Secondly, while the foundation for this abundant is hope found in Jesus, the structure of hope that is built on that foundation is being filled with all joy and peace. And Paul doesn’t pray that we will have a little bit of joy and peace trickling into our lives now and then. He piles up these superlatives to show us that God’s method of building on the foundation of hope is to fill us with all joy and peace so that we will abound in hope.

Often, typical Christianity encourages us to settle for a partially full container of hope, peace and joy (or maybe even an empty container). Don’t settle for less than the superlative hope that overflows with peace and joy that Paul speaks of.

So, practically speaking, how do we get this kind of faith that abounds in hope even in the midst of trials? Part of the answer is to know our God and His ways. Two important ways we do this is through living out our experience of Him and through internalizing His written Word; we get to know God and His character and love better as we walk with Him day by day. And in the Bible we learn from the lives and teachings of other godly people as they faced all sorts of troubles and trials.

Knowing God and His ways builds trust and hope within us because we know Him personally, we know His character, we personally experience His love and care.

Finally, all three members of the trinity are all mentioned in today’s verse and each plays a role in our hope: God the Father is the God of hope. The focus of our hope is Jesus, and the power for joy, peace, and abundant hope comes from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s power is the resurrection power that gives new life to dead sinners (Jn 3:6-8) and new attitudes to troubled hearts.

As a side thought: A person with Holy Spirit-produced joy is not just a person with a naturally bubbly, optimistic personality. Someone with Holy Spirit-produced peace is not just a laid back dude who never gets ruffled at anything. These qualities are not natural. And they do not come from being in favorable circumstances where just about anyone would be joyful and full of peace. In fact, they are often most noticeable when a person is in a situation where almost everyone would be depressed or anxious, or offended. But the Spirit-filled believer is full of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.