I remember when I found myself in a season of hopelessness, weariness, and despair. I had been holding on to a promise from God, but after many years, the promise was still so far off.
I started to lose hope. And as I lost hope, I lost faith. My prayer life became non-existent, and when I tried to worship, I often left God’s presence feeling drained and defeated.
Have you found yourself in a similar situation? You begin seeking God but you just can't connect? In those moments, God feels so distant and you feel so helpless.
You’ve lost hope.
Hebrews 11:1 NIV says: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Our faith produces hope. A hope that expresses itself in joy, peace, and contentment in our hearts. And as we walk in that hope, it opens us up to believe God for more, thus fueling our faith.
But without hope, our faith has nowhere to grow. The two are deeply connected.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
It takes faith to come to God in prayer, believing that God will hear us as we pray and answer us. It also takes faith to enter boldly into His presence through worship.
When we’re discouraged, our prayers lack fervor and we’re distracted as we worship. Discouragement, or hopelessness, is one of the biggest roadblocks to our faith because it saps our strength.
He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. Lamentations 3:4
When we’re discouraged and without hope, we can’t pray with conviction as we desire. Those negative emotions become so strong that they blot out the promises and spiritual blessings of God.
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:11
How do we regain the hope that fuels our faith?
As the Psalmist states, we place our faith in God by praising Him in spite of our circumstances. Our praise to God, no matter how bleak things look, reignites our hope which fuels our faith.
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31
As we continue to wait patiently on God, praising and thanking Him, we’re growing our faith. Thus giving ourselves a strong foundation to produce the hope which causes even greater faith.
Because when we have faith, we hope.
We hope for what we’ve prayed for. We hope for the salvation of our family. We demonstrate an earnest expectation that what God said in His word will come to pass.
So no, I don’t believe you can have faith without hope. Through God’s great design, both faith and hope cause us to lean into God and rely on His faithfulness alone, not our own abilities.
I encourage you to renew your hope in the Lord today by praising God in spite of your circumstances. Let hope fuel your faith to believe God for even greater things!
Be blessed.