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 biblical truth that faith needs hope. So what does that statement mean? It means that as we hope in the promises of God to be made manifest in our lives, we attach our faith to those promises which we are hoping for. The above quoted passage of scripture tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for. In other words faith cannot work without hope, and hope without faith won’t get the job done. How many times had you heard this statement, “lets’ just hope and pray”? To pray in hope alone will not receive from God, because the scripture teaches us that whatever we ask for in prayer “believing” we will receive, it does not say whatever we ask in prayer “hoping” we will receive (Matthew 21:22). Hope always looks to the future and faith is always in the present. Hope says I am eagerly waiting for the promise of God to be manifested in my life. Faith says I have already received that promise. And so when faith and hope work together as they should, hope says I am looking forward to seeing the manifestation of God’s promise in my life, while faith assures me that the promise is already mine. Because hope always looks to the future by definition hope cannot be seen, and the scripture confirms that truth to us (Romans 8:24-25). And so just as hope cannot be seen so it is that faith can be seen, which is why the apostle Paul teaches us in the above passage that “faith is the evidence of things not seen”.
Michael E.B. Maher
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