Hope Exists Despite Unhopeful People

Life isn’t the easiest thing to navigate, and we’re all intermingled in a web of struggle, chaos, and confusion — that is until we look for the hope hiding just a little farther into the maze.

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People all over the world spend countless hours, days, months, and even years trying to figure out all the answers to the tough questions. Life isn’t the easiest thing to navigate, and we’re all intermingled in a web of struggle, chaos, and confusion–that is until we look for the hope hiding just a little farther into the maze. Steve and Wendy Backlund founded Igniting Hope Ministries which strives to implement universal ideas that will create a society full of people who look for the light in a cloudy mess. Its mission statement is “Equipping individuals with hope, joy, and divine strategies for success.” Upon encountering a few books by Steve Backlund–Divine Strategies for Increase, Let’s Just Laugh at That!, and Declarations–I concluded that the ministry has done nothing less than provide fortified tools for people to walk out their faith in any given situation.

As I was reading through each book, I noticed a key element that encompassed all three: speaking truth. Validation in the Lord and in who we are as His children radiates from cover to cover of each compact devotional. The Backlunds and their team pinpoint lies from the enemy that we believe, cancel them out with the Word, and give us the supernatural realities of the Kingdom in their place.

One of the main objectives of Igniting Hope is reminding others that there is hope in the world even if unhopeful people cannot see it. These books are designed to equip the hopeless with a better perspective. Looking inside them, I found each page outlined simply. Headers guided me through the main ideas and key points. In Let’s Just Laugh at That!, a humorous lie is given at the top of every page. Backlund and friends give silly assumptions we make related to the respective lie. Then, they debunk the lie with the truth of God. Next, they give strategies to overcome the enemy’s whispers in our ears. Lastly, the team provides a few declarations we can make over our minds and hearts every day to combat the lie when it tries to sneak up on us.

I resonate with Igniting Hope’s methods because daily confessions transformed the atmosphere around me as I was growing up–and they still influence my life today. There were times uneasiness was tangible in the room, and obstacles felt too challenging to overcome. If school wasn’t weighing me down under mounds of homework, then my parents were sorting through disagreements. If we weren’t asking God for provision for bills and groceries, my family and I were squabbling. Later, when I got to college, life flipped me completely upside down during my first ever heartbreak amidst challenging classes with rigorous syllabi and endless papers to write.

This isn’t to say peace never reigned in my household or in my heart. On the contrary, my family and I spent time in prayer, claiming that which we knew was in the supernatural into our natural circumstances: hope, joy, and truth. As a result of my personal affirmations, I have found my paradigms shifting. Words are powerful. The very Word of God tells us in Proverbs 18:21 that we hold life and death in our tongues. Our speech not only reflects what is already in our hearts (Luke 6:45) but also feeds the light or darkness that resides there. If I change the way I speak on a regular basis, what I say will begin to magnify what is in my mind and heart and can change the direction I go. Therefore, if I speak life (blessings), I will see life, but if I speak death (curses), I will see death. That’s why it is important to continue to choose life. Goodness will prevail.

Many times, I have found myself in rough places and have chosen to speak positive declarations over myself. Even though it is difficult to keep believing that trials will turn into victories, I press into the Father and remind my mountains who I serve. Maybe my mountains don’t necessarily bow in the way that I think they will, maybe they don’t exactly move. But more incredibly, my faith does.

Here are some guidelines to consider when writing your daily confessions:

  1. Thank the Lord for another day of life, for new mercies and grace
  2. Claim the healing that Christ freely gave to you over your body
  3. Speak provision and prosperity over your finances
  4. Declare success in your work and/or school environments
  5. Decree victory over tough situations
  6. Remind yourself who and Whose you are (I am statements)
  7. Reiterate the truths of the Word of God

Next time you are faced with a tribulation or even if you are at a high peak, take a moment to remind the enemy that you’re not defeated. Write out your own declarations and speak them over yourself daily–multiple times if you’d like, morning and evening.

Featured Image by Jeffrey Blum

The views and opinions expressed by Kingdom Winds Collective Members, authors, and contributors are their own and do not represent the views of Kingdom Winds LLC.

About the Author

Becca is a gentle soul who seeks the best in the world and in others. She is easily touched by the beauty of books, music, and art. Though she aspires to write as eloquently as Emily Dickinson or Lang Leav, she hopes to make her own mark on the world one day. She dreams of leaving behind a voice that sparks creativity, imagination, hope, love, joy, and faith.