He has brought us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God's glory!

We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance,

May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure,

You will show me the path that leads to life; your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever.

You have sent troubles and suffering on me, but you will restore my strength; you will keep me from the grave.

I will indeed praise you with the harp; I will praise your faithfulness, my God. On my harp I will play hymns to you, the Holy One of Israel.

You guide me with your instruction and at the end you will receive me with honor.

My mind and my body may grow weak, but God is my strength; he is all I ever need.

The hopes of good people lead to joy, but wicked people can look forward to nothing.

Wicked people bring about their own downfall by their evil deeds, but good people are protected by their integrity.

The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.

So it is best for us to wait in patience---to wait for him to save us---

Even though the fig trees have no fruit and no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no grain, even though the sheep all die and the cattle stalls are empty,

I will still be joyful and glad, because the LORD God is my savior.

Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted.

But don't be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven."

Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.

In conclusion, my friends, be joyful in your union with the Lord. I don't mind repeating what I have written before, and you will be safer if I do so.

May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice!

God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.

But we belong to the day, and we should be sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet.

Be joyful always,

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope,

encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.

as we wait for the blessed Day we hope for, when the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ will appear.

so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for.

But Christ is faithful as the Son in charge of God's house. We are his house if we keep up our courage and our confidence in what we hope for.

To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise.

We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary.

Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope,

They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God's power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Rather be glad that you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may be full of joy when his glory is revealed.

See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children---and so, in fact, we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God.

Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.

Some people keep on doing good, and seek glory, honor, and immortal life; to them God will give eternal life.

We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance,

endurance brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope.

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.

Be patient and wait for the LORD to act; don't be worried about those who prosper or those who succeed in their evil plans.

I waited patiently for the LORD's help; then he listened to me and heard my cry.

The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.

Stand firm, and you will save yourselves.

May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience. And with joy give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of light.

For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love made you work so hard, and how your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ is firm.

That is why we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God. We boast about the way you continue to endure and believe through all the persecutions and sufferings you are experiencing.

May the Lord lead you into a greater understanding of God's love and the endurance that is given by Christ.

But you, man of God, avoid all these things. Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

But you have followed my teaching, my conduct, and my purpose in life; you have observed my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance,

We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised.

Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised.

You need to be patient, in order to do the will of God and receive what he promises.

As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us.

for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.

Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Be patient, then, my friends, until the Lord comes. See how patient farmers are as they wait for their land to produce precious crops. They wait patiently for the autumn and spring rains.

My friends, remember the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Take them as examples of patient endurance under suffering.

We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.

God will bless you for this, if you endure the pain of undeserved suffering because you are conscious of his will.

For what credit is there if you endure the beatings you deserve for having done wrong? But if you endure suffering even when you have done right, God will bless you for it.

to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness;

Whoever is meant to be captured will surely be captured; whoever is meant to be killed by the sword will surely be killed by the sword. This calls for endurance and faith on the part of God's people."

but he stayed behind, alone. Then a man came and wrestled with him until just before daybreak.

The man said, "Let me go; daylight is coming." "I won't, unless you bless me," Jacob answered.

What hope is there for the godless in the hour when God demands their life?

They should have desired the joy he gives; they should have constantly prayed to him.

But I call to the LORD God for help, and he will save me.

Morning, noon, and night my complaints and groans go up to him, and he will hear my voice.

Trust in God at all times, my people. Tell him all your troubles, for he is our refuge.

They oppose me, even though I love them and have prayed for them.

Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you.

You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart.

Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right.

Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours."

And Jesus said to his disciples, "Suppose one of you should go to a friend's house at midnight and say, 'Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.

And suppose your friend should answer from inside, 'Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.'

And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish?

As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged.

And there was a widow in that same town who kept coming to him and pleading for her rights, saying, 'Help me against my opponent!'

yet because of all the trouble this widow is giving me, I will see to it that she gets her rights. If I don't, she will keep on coming and finally wear me out!' "

Now, will God not judge in favor of his own people who cry to him day and night for help? Will he be slow to help them?

Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else.

The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, 'I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there.

But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his breast and said, 'God, have pity on me, a sinner!'

Some people brought their babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. The disciples saw them and scolded them for doing so,

Remember this! Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked him. "No one is good except God alone.

The man replied, "Ever since I was young, I have obeyed all these commandments."

But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.

It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."

Jesus answered, "What is humanly impossible is possible for God."

"Yes," Jesus said to them, "and I assure you that anyone who leaves home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God

Jesus took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "Listen! We are going to Jerusalem where everything the prophets wrote about the Son of Man will come true.

They will whip him and kill him, but three days later he will rise to life."

As Jesus was coming near Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road, begging.

"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by," they told him.

The people in front scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, "Son of David! Have mercy on me!"

"What do you want me to do for you?" "Sir," he answered, "I want to see again."

At once he was able to see, and he followed Jesus, giving thanks to God. When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.

They gathered frequently to pray as a group, together with the women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

They spent their time in learning from the apostles, taking part in the fellowship, and sharing in the fellowship meals and the prayers.

We ourselves, then, will give our full time to prayer and the work of preaching."

So Peter was kept in jail, but the people of the church were praying earnestly to God for him.

Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away.

Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.

And pray also for me, that God will give me a message when I am ready to speak, so that I may speak boldly and make known the gospel's secret.

Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart.

And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.

Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God.

Greetings from Epaphras, another member of your group and a servant of Christ Jesus. He always prays fervently for you, asking God to make you stand firm, as mature and fully convinced Christians, in complete obedience to God's will.

pray at all times,

In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him.

This prayer made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the sins they have committed will be forgiven.

So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.

The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray.

We have courage in God's presence, because we are sure that he hears us if we ask him for anything that is according to his will.

He hears us whenever we ask him; and since we know this is true, we know also that he gives us what we ask from him.