Return to the stronghold [fortress], You prisoners of hope.
Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.
Zachariah 9:12 NKJV

Have you ever been a prisoner? Personally, I have not been, in the sense of being incarcerated. Usually that is what we think of when the word is mentioned. I looked up the meaning of “prisoner” in Miriam-Webster Dictionary and these were the definitions: 1. a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody; especially one on trial or in prison 2. someone restrained as if in prison [a prisoner of her own conscience].

Am I reading this wrong or does it imply that someone can be a prisoner, not only physically, but mentally, emotionally or spiritually as well? We all know the answer to that. Have you ever known someone who seemed in bondage to fear, anger, depression, worry, alcohol, drugs or any number of other things we could name. Many people are incarcerated in a prison of their own making. Now, I’m not saying it is deliberate. Oftentimes the bricks are laid by other people who hurt us, even in our childhood. But we supply the mortar by our reactions to those hurts in the form of anger, resentment, low self-esteem, fear, etc. And each time we put on a layer of mortar, someone places another brick until the prison is completed and we are captive to its seemingly impenetrable walls. Have you ever thought to yourself, “Why am I acting this way? What is wrong with me? I want to stop doing this…I want to stop reacting this way but it seems beyond my control.” Let’s face it, you’re not just in prison, you are in solitary confinement and it’s very lonely and restricted there! Let me help you find a way out. I say “help YOU” because just like you supplied the mortar for the bricks, it is you who will have to tear down the walls, perhaps one brick at a time. God will help you. God will guide you if you just lean heavily on Him one day at a time. May I give you some guidelines that have worked for me. They say, “Experience is the Best Teacher”… and believe me, I am the voice of experience on this subject!

(1) Don’t lose Hope! You may be thinking, “I lost hope a long time ago. I’m just surviving now.  Well, if that’s the case, go back and find Hope!!! You didn’t lose it. You just misplaced it. You CAN find it again! In my experience, the place to get hope is in the promises in the Bible, the infallible Word of God. Remember what David said, “I would have been without hope if I had not believed that I would see the loving-kindness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

(2) Run to God and hold fast to Him! “The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Savior; my God is my Rock, in Whom I find protection. He is my Shield, the Power that saves me, and my Place of Safety.” (Psalm 18:2)

(3) Have faith (fully believe) in the promises in God’s Word! There are those who say that Hope has nothing to do with faith and if you’re hoping, you’re really not believing. Well let’s see what the Bible says about it. “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1) The Lord explained it to me this way…“Hope is the Outstretched Arm of the Hand of Faith.” Hope must first reach out in order for Faith to grasp the desired result. Flex your muscle of Hope until it is strong once again. Then reach out and grasp your dream with the Hand of Faith! You can do it with God’s help! I know you can! I believe in you and so does God!!!

And if you’re going to be a prisoner of anything…be a Prisoner of Hope!!!