Hope Has a Name- Part 3: Practicing Hope Every Day | Lamentations 3:21–26 // April 19th, 2026
Teaching overview
This week, Riley Taylor closed out the series on hope by focusing on what it actually looks like to practice hope in everyday life. Drawing from Lamentations 3 and several Psalms, he emphasized that hope must be anchored in something outside of ourselves; ultimately, in God. Without a secure source, hope collapses under pressure.
He explored how practicing hope isn’t one-size-fits-all, but often takes three primary forms: letting go, taking action, and waiting. Sometimes hope means releasing control and resting in God’s presence. Other times it means stepping forward in faith and doing good, trusting that God is at work. And often, it means patiently waiting for God’s promises, even when we don’t see immediate results.
Ultimately, hope is sustained by fixing our eyes not on present circumstances, but on the future God has promised, reminding ourselves that the darkness we experience now is only temporary, and something greater lies ahead.
Our prayer for your Community
Lord, teach us to anchor our hope in You, not in our circumstances, our control, or what we can see. Help us to discern how You are leading us this week: whether to let go, to step forward in faith, or to wait with trust. Fill our hearts with a vision of the future You have promised so that we can live with steady, unshakable hope today. Amen.
Group questions and further meditations:
Discerning Your Next Step
Meditation:
Reflect on the idea that hope can look like letting go, taking action, or waiting. Consider which of these feels most relevant to your life right now.
Question:
Which expression of hope: letting go, taking action, or waiting, do you feel most drawn toward right now, and why?
Remembering Past Hope
Meditation:
Take time to look back on a season where you experienced hope, especially in a difficult moment. Notice how God met you, sustained you, or brought you through, even if it looked different than you expected.
Question:
When you look back on your life, when have you seen hope show up, and how might remembering that shape how you face your current situation?
Waiting with Expectation
Meditation:
Think about a place in your life where you’re waiting: healing, change, direction, or restoration. Instead of seeing waiting as wasted time, reframe it as trusting that God is working beyond what you can see.
Question:
In the area where you’re waiting, what does it look like to hold onto Jesus as your living hope?
