Day 5: Faith or Hope?

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

“I will walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Many Christians are disappointed and frustrated with prayer because they do not receive what they think they should. Often it is because they are praying in hope, but not in faith.

An essential difference is that faith is in the heart, while hope is in the mind. In Romans 10:10, Paul said, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (KJV). True biblical faith originates in the heart. In this verse it is followed by the preposition “unto,” indicating the result that it produces: “righteousness.”

Faith is never static. A person who truly believes will be changed by what he believes. Everything that finally decides the course of our lives proceeds from our hearts (see also Proverbs 4:23). Mental acceptance of truth is not faith. True biblical faith proceeds from the heart and determines the way we live.

However, God does not leave the mind without its proper provision. Faith at work in the heart produces hope in the mind. We see this in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (KJV). Faith in the heart is the substance, the underlying reality. This provides a valid, scriptural basis for the hope that we entertain in our minds.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Paul mentions the areas of our personalities that are affected by faith and those that are affected by hope: “Let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” Faith and love are the breastplate, and protect the heart. Hope is the helmet, and it protects the head, or the mind.

Hope, in the biblical sense, is a confident expectation of good—a steady, persistent optimism. Hope protects our minds. Every Christian should wear this helmet of hope twenty-four hours a day. If we lay aside the helmet and begin to dwell on negative thoughts and gloomy forebodings, our minds are vulnerable to Satan’s subtle attacks.