Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
In this section we want to discuss the necessity of hope as an ingredient in praying the prayer of faith. We also want to discuss the difference between praying the prayer of faith and praying the prayer of hope. Both prayers are completely scriptural when applied in their correct context; a problem occurs however when believers pray the prayer of hope, thinking that they are praying the prayer of faith. So what is the difference between these two prayers? The first difference between the two is that the prayer of faith knows the express will of God in a given situation, whereas the prayer of hope does not know God’s will for the situation in question. The second difference between the two is that the prayer of faith is reliant on the promises of God for results, whereas the prayer of hope is reliant solely on the goodness and mercy of God for results. The final difference between the two is that hope is a required ingredient in the prayer of faith, whereas faith plays no part in the prayer of hope. In relation to this last difference mentioned, the above quoted passage of scripture teaches us that faith is the substance of things hoped for. So what does that statement mean? Hope is our desire to receive a certain outcome from God. If the will of God is known regarding our desired outcome then the prayer of faith can be prayed, because we have full assurance that God will grant us our desired outcome. And so we see that faith requires hope, because faith is our assurance that we will receive the things which we are hoping for. On the other hand, because the prayer of hope does not know the express will of God in a given situation, faith plays no part in that prayer. And so we see that the prayer of faith goes one step further than the prayer of hope, for the prayer of faith expresses our desires to the Lord, being fully assured that He will grant them to us. Whereas the prayer of hope expresses our desires to the Lord purely in the hope that He will grant them to us.
Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”
Our Lord Jesus did not teach us that whatever things we ask in prayer hoping, we will receive. Rather He taught us that whatever things we ask in prayer believing, we will receive. It is on this point that many Christians stumble, for most ask “hoping” that they will receive rather than “believing” they will receive. How many times have you heard the following statement? Let’s just hope and pray. Those who just hope and pray are reliant on the goodness and mercy of God and cannot be assured that God will grant their request, for God has not given His word that He would answer the prayer of hope. As revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture, hope and desire are very often synonymous terms. And so when we pray in hope we are expressing our desires to the Lord, in the hope that He will be merciful to us and grant us our desires. Most Christians pray this type of prayer, thinking that they are praying the prayer of faith and when their prayers go unanswered then they become disillusioned. There is nothing wrong with praying the prayer of hope however; it’s just that we need to recognise the difference between the two types of prayer. For God is not obliged to answer the prayer of hope, whereas He is obliged to answer the prayer of faith, for He has given His word that He would.
Romans 1:9-10 “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, (10) making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.”
When we do not know the express will of God regarding a situation then it is entirely scriptural to pray the prayer of hope. Paul only preached the gospel where the Holy Spirit led him to go and preach. In the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul did not know God’s express will regarding his situation. Therefore he could not pray believing that God would make it possible for him to visit the church in Rome. And so in this instance he prayed hoping that God would allow him to visit the church in Rome. In effect Paul was praying “Lord if it be Your will, let me go to the church in Rome to minister there”. In this instance Paul prayed correctly by asking “Lord if it be Your will”. The reason that he was praying correctly was because Paul did not know the Lord’s will regarding his request, for there is no verse of scripture in the bible that dealt with his request. And so to paraphrase Paul’s prayer, he was praying “Lord I would really like to go to Rome to minister there. And so Lord, if you can find a way of fitting Rome into your will for my life, I would really appreciate it.” As it happened, Rome was on the list of cities that our Lord had planned for him to minister in (although Paul didn’t know it at the time), and so Paul received his request from the Lord. And so we see that praying the prayer of hope can still receive from God, but unlike the prayer of faith, it is not assured that it will receive from God.
Michael E.B. Maher
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