A Sermon To Preach To Yourself: Finding Faith In Hope

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

Wherever there is complete confidence of hope, there is faith. Faith is the full assurance of hope.
 
Hope emanates from having a purpose that you long for or desire. God gives humanity the sense to live righteously through His vision and hopes to be accepted by Him when judgment day comes. Prayer is founded on faith; one must have hope in God's promises to find faith. When you hope for something, you pray that God hears your struggles and blessings. This article will expound on theological definition, biblical foundation, and practical application of hope and prayer.
 
Theological Definition And The Biblical Hope 
Bible study tools define hope as trust in, waiting for, looking for, or desiring someone or something; or to expect something beneficial in the future. You can say hope is the starting point on the map; you look forward to your future endeavors. 

Ordinarily, when one expresses hope, he is expressing doubt. But this is not the specific biblical meaning of hope. The Scripture states that Biblical hope is not just a desire for something good in the future, but rather, biblical hope is a passion and confident expectation for something good in the future. Biblical hope not only wishes something extraordinary for the future; it awaits to happen. And it not only awaits for it to happen; it is confident that it will happen. The moral certainty is that the good you expect and desire will be done.

However, hoping in God does not come naturally for sinners like you. You must preach it to yourself and preach diligently and forcefully, or you will give way to a downcast and disquieted spirit.
 
Scriptural Evidence
The Scriptural evidence begins in Hebrews 6:9–12. Apostle Paul warns his readers that it is possible for people who have had miraculous religious experiences to apostasy and go beyond the point of no return. He then says, "Though we speak thus, in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things that belong to salvation. This is because God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love you showered for His sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And they desire each one of you to show the same earnestness in realizing the full confidence of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through patience and faith inherit the promises."

Now comes the warning in verses 11 and 12 to not become sluggish and press on. But now, the battle is characterized in terms of hope, not just in terms of service and love. Having all the zeal of the past, one must pursue the full assurance of hope to the end. There is no fight, quest, challenge, or war more urgent than this. Keep your hope hot!

Similarly, Lisare's book talks about Strengthening hope and faith in The Other Side Of Fear, from having low self-esteem, abuse, and crippling fear to knowing the ultimate love of God. Author W. Veronica Lisare has discovered courage, joy, hope, freedom, and fulfillment as she embraces her original identity as a daughter of Jesus Christ. 
 
The Connection Between Faith And Hope
Is there a relationship between full assurance of faith and complete confidence of hope? Faith is the more significant idea, and hope is essential to Biblical faith. Hope is that part of faith that centers on the future. Biblically, you can call it hope when faith is directed to the end. But faith can concentrate on the past and the present, so faith is the more extensive term. You can check this in Hebrews 11:1. This is the closest thing you have to a definition of faith in all of the New Testament.

Faith is the confidence of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Meaning wherever there is full assurance of hope, there is faith. Faith is the full assurance of hope. Biblical faith is a confident desire and expectation for amazing things in the future.

However, faith is more than that. It is also the belief of things not seen, and some of these are not the future. Faith can look backward (to creation) as well as forward. So faith is the more significant idea. It covers hope but is more than hope. You can also say faith is one's confidence in God's Word. Thus, you can call their confidence in its hope whenever that word references the future. Hope is faith in the future tense.
 
Concluding Words
Placing hope in God, you pray that He hears and answers your prayers. In hope people find their faith, prayer strengthens your faith in God, and through prayer, you place your life in God's hands, for He will show you the future.